Five Years of Freedom, Trust & Growth
After years working for national brokers, Michelle Eames joined Konsileo five years ago looking for greater freedom and a business model that rewarded the work she put in.
Today she leads a growing team advising clients with around £10 million in annual insurance premiums and says she’s never been busier, or happier.
Michelle credits much of that successful growth to how Konsileo trusts its brokers to lead their own placement and build direct relationships directly with underwriters, rather than being steered towards preferred schemes.
“We work primarily in construction. The types of businesses I advise are on the higher risk side of things and I work very closely with a lot of specialist MGAs,” says Michelle. “They seem more hungry for business and more negotiable on premiums. I find them easier to transact business with and that we always speak to the same person.”
That is a world apart from her previous employer.
“They had their own schemes and the big bosses would try to have a word and tell me that I should be supporting those, regardless of where I thought the client would be better served,” Michelle explains. “Here I’m trusted to make those decisions myself.”
Aligned incentives
Konsileo’s compensation structure is designed to reward individuals for the business they bring in and the service they deliver, believing the relationship and dedication is undervalued by traditional employment models.
In Michelle’s case, a capped monthly bonus meant there was no incentive or reward for exceeding targets at her previous employer.
“There was no point in pushing my team to go further. It made no sense to them to go beyond the maximum – and I was very happy to leave at 5pm.”
At Konsileo bonuses are uncapped. Even if successful individuals are working at full capacity they can still financially benefit by bringing in a team around them to support clients or making referrals to trusted colleagues.
Michelle and colleague Jamie work with two colleagues at Konsileo who know all their clients and share their ethos to work hard, respond quickly to clients and be pro-active at renewal time.
The difference has transformed her family’s life.
“It’s constant hard work but it’s paying for a lovely house for me and the girls and holidays in places we wouldn’t have been able to take them to before,” Michelle says.
“My incentives are aligned with Konsileo’s because I know that I will be rewarded from the extra work I put in.”
Freedom
When that extra work is scheduled is up to Michelle. A keen runner, Michelle wakes up at 6am to get a start on the day before heading to the gym and logging back on at 10.30am.
“I won a new client three weeks ago after speaking to him nearly every evening. I’m really happy to be available when my clients need me. But equally they know that 8.30-10.30am is when I’m focused on keeping fit.”
Advice
Michelle plans to work at Konsileo until she retires and recommends it to anyone who is self-motivated, thinks for themselves and cares about what they’re doing.
“If you’re a successful account director, enjoy building relationships and genuinely care about doing the right thing for clients, Konsileo gives you the freedom and the rewards to do exactly that.”
