Brokers were asked about their activities, ranging from marketing issues to strategic aspects. They were also asked to quantify the importance of some key issues, such as the sale of non-insurance products, the origins of revenue streams and the relevance of different distribution channels to their business. The results were checked against the data contained in Datamonitor's European insurance databases. On strategic issues brokers' views were complemented by that of executives of insurance companies who were asked to provide their evaluations of the current and future importance of the broker channel to their business. Since they are unlikely to reduce costs enough to become competitive on price with teleinsurers and bancassurers they want to concentrate on service as their key selling point.
Online technologies are a very effective means for cost-reduction.
Brokers are taking up the active use of this technology for marketing, internal communication and sometimes sales in all of the countries analysed in the report. However, brokers efforts will only yield little if insurance companies do not follow them and transfer large parts of their communication online. The future position is discussed in two parts of the report. The first analyses the distribution data in each of the 8 markets and forecasts the market share held by brokers in the year 2002. The second is contained in the key issues sections and includes future projections of revenue streams and their origins as well as the future implications of competitive pressures for brokers.