Scout InsurTech Interview with Ben Volkmer

Ben Volkmer is VP of Client Services and Strategy at Questpro, where he works with carriers, startups and vendors across the insurance ecosystem on recruiting and talent strategy. Ben was interviewed by Andrew Daniels, co-founder at Scout InsurTech and Co-Founder and President at CrashBay.

Ben, paint the landscape for us: what does the world of insurance recruiting look like today?

“I am seeing the next generation of entrepreneurs in the insurance industry start to gain real momentum. If you think about consolidation across almost every category that touches insurers, vendors, distribution platforms, data and cybersecurity, we are finally seeing a new crop of entrants begin to reach critical mass and become sustainable companies. Investors have really come to love insurance vendors and their sticky revenue, which is something I would not have expected 10 years ago when acquisition by your largest competitor felt almost predetermined if you built something good.”

How should carriers and startups rethink their hiring and talent strategies in a world where everyone already knows who the top players are?

“The honest answer is that I do not have a perfect one. Everything digital, core platforms, job boards, social channels, even the job universe itself, has become as slot-filled and disorganized as I have ever seen. That creates cascading lost opportunities for both candidates and hiring companies. The best advice I can give is to never let your professional network expansion stop. Keep your coffee, happy hour and lunch pipelines full. Join committees, boards and associations as time permits. You have to be vigilant about finding people with common threads while you are employed, not just when you are hiring or job hunting. I see seeds I planted randomly 10 years ago pop up all the time. The best P&L leaders do this naturally. They are always meeting people. Nobody loves doing it, but you pay for it if you do not.”

What kinds of insurance entrepreneurs and business models are missing today that you think the industry urgently needs?

“Three areas stand out. First is outsourced claims handling. The TPA space needs new entrants, new competitors and new startups. Second is pricing networks behind auto repair, property repair, legal and medical pricing, and how those networks get applied to claims. That area is very consolidated and ripe for innovation. Third is engagement platforms focused on mitigation. We are starting to see this, especially in homeowners and property, with tools that make the insured a proactive participant in prevention and risk reduction.”

What are the biggest talent mistakes leaders are making with the next generation of insurance professionals, and what should they be doing instead?

“One issue is a broad miscommunication across the industry around the functional value of tenure. You have two schools of thought. Stay forever and be a lifer, or be a mercenary and do what is best for you. In reality, I do not think people care about tenure as much as many assume. The bigger issue is that without a three to five-year body of work, performance in most areas of P&C cannot be judged accurately. Underwriting, claims, distribution, product, actuarial, compliance and legal can all be measured in the moment, but your portfolio needs to be evaluated over multiple years and ideally across different market cycles. Sitting at a desk or holding a role for a certain amount of time does not entitle anyone to much. What matters is the impact you had over a meaningful period. There is still a lot of miscommunication between emerging professionals and established veterans on this point.”

What’s the next big thing that will impact talent in the insurance industry, and how should today’s professionals prepare for it?

“I think the decline of old school big box marketing will have a major impact. Gen X and younger buyers care far less about name brands, financial ratings, football commercials and mascot-driven advertising. Those familiar signals are fading as reasons people buy. In the future, it will be about delivering the right solution at the right moment. If you deliver, you win, regardless of whether you are 10 years old or 100 years old as a company. That shift will cascade into employer branding. Many legacy brands have benefited from a hiring advantage simply because of name recognition, and I think that advantage will continue to fade.”

Scout InsurTech Thanks Our Partners