Q: Are there other ways to segment the SME market?
PRISK: Lifestylers constitute the vast majority of the smaller owner managed businesses. They want to be their own boss, they don't want to make squillions, they enjoy what they do and they want government off their back. A gazelle, though, is the kind of person who's looking to have a number of businesses in their life and intends to be a multi millionaire.
Q: Has anyone had to deal with a difficult client?
BROWN: I think everyone has difficult clients. It's difficult if you're trying to market to the 2.1 million self-employed home workers, because you don't have the time and the kind of premium levels to understand them as individuals. But you can get a feel for the kind of people that they are - they're time pressured and money is very key.
WALTER: It all comes down to information manipulation. You need to break it down into areas within your local catchment zone and by industry.
Q: Does the broker have a place in the future with home-based entities, given their reliance on the Internet?
McGINN: There is absolutely no reason why brokers, working with insurers and using the technology that's available, software houses and Imarket, won't be able to have their offering via the internet to clients.
