Apprentices’ delve into the SME market

Task two of The Insurance Apprentice 2018 sees the apprentices put on their thinking caps as they are faced with a completely different task.

Task two #SMEspecialistriskcover

Episode two, task two, sponsored by Sasria SOC Limited, shines a spotlight on the apprentices as they are faced with the challenging task of developing a specialist risk cover for the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) space.

The judges for this task was Simon Colman, Executive Head: Digital Distribution at SHA Specialist Underwriters - aka judge dread, Vuyo Lee, Chief Marketing Officer at Old Mutual Emerging Markets (OMEM) and guest judge Fareedah Benjamin, Executive Manager: Insurance Operations at Sasria.

The brief: pitch and present Sasria’s product offering to a group of SMEs, both in the formal and informal sector. The element of education is a critical part of the presentation.

By enabling businesses to restore their liquidity or operations quickly and efficiently after experiencing loss or damage due to special risk events, Sasria SOC Ltd plays a significant role in preventing job losses, maintaining livelihoods, restoring pride and dignity and facilitating economic stability. This is particularly important in the SME space. The apprentices were expected to conduct a needs analysis in order to ascertain the SME’s special risk insurance needs; propose a special risk insurance product that will meet the needs of the SMEs; and cover the process to be followed when it is time to log a claim. 

The fear factor

Given that the apprentices all have various skills and knowledge, team effort took centre stage as the prep for presentations began. Bearing in mind that in the losing team one, or possibly two apprentices would be eliminated, the pressure was on.

Did the apprentices win the judges and SMEs over?

Hear the verdict and what judge Simon had to say in episode two.

We would like to thank Sasria SOC Limited for sponsoring the second episode of The Insurance Apprentice 2018 and the SMEs for taking the time to be present. 

Watch the episode on YouTube

Watch the episode on Facebook 

The prize

The winner of The Insurance Apprentice 2018 will fly to London, in business class, for a week to visit Lloyds of London, sponsored Lloyds of London; the winner will also receive a bursary valued at R75 000 from INSETA and win a cash prize of R20 000 from Masifunde Training Centre. The Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) is also sponsoring the winner to go to the Insurance Conference at Sun City in July 2018.

Stay tuned

Stay tuned for episode three via the FAnews and The Insurance Apprentice websites, YouTube and Facebook.