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Earlier this month the FullCircl Insurance team headed to BIBA 2025.
As always, we brought a strong presence to Manchester Central. Our goal being to help brokers move forward into a “new era” of success - by overcoming challenges and working smarter to remove operational bottlenecks, win and retain more business in a competitive market, stay ahead of regulatory requirements, and enhance experiences at every stage of the customer lifecycle.
It was great to connect with so many brokers and partners, and chat about the cool new tech we’re developing to power their growth, as well as how we are playing our role in driving meaningful change across the industry.
If we missed you, or if you didn’t make it this year, I’ve put together my 5 key takeaways so you can tap into the all the action from this much-loved annual event.
Mastering the art of influence to win new clients
This was my favourite fringe session. Lea Cheesbrough, Jonathan Miller, James Allotey, and Laura Hancock, chatted about how brokers can distinguish themselves in such a competitive market to win and retain clients, by enhancing value and establishing themselves as trusted partners.
This really resonated with me and the rest of the FullCircl team. After all, our aim is to help brokers maintain and grow client relationships effectively, through superior life-cycle management and advanced data enrichment that reinforces their position as trusted advisors.
My key lessons were:
- The importance of developing a deep customer understanding: With a 360-degree view brokers a better placed to deliver a tailored outreach and support aligned to their specialism and markets, as well as proactively address gaps in coverage and underinsurance issues, thereby driving meaningful opportunities to maximise growth and improve outcomes.
- More face-to-face engagement is a good thing. The role of technology must be to empower the human side of broking, not replace it. With access to comprehensive customer data, real-time insights, and data-driven triggers, brokers can tailor their offerings and interactions and move beyond generic approaches to offer truly personalised experiences that improve client engagement, retention and sales opportunities.
- Sales is not a dirty word: brokers are sellers - this should be viewed as a bad thing. Quite the contrary, sales is about providing valuable advice and building relationships - two things synonymous with good broking. FullCircl empowers brokers with data and tools they need to become more effective sales professionals.
The power of partnerships
Aligning with BIBA’s 2025 manifesto emphasising the importance of “partnering to deliver value", there was lots of talk about the importance of collaboration across the industry, including with regulators, to achieve shared growth, tackle common challenges, improve outcomes and deliver more value for customers.
I couldn’t agree more. Technology has a key role to play in driving a “new era” of broking success. But I believe we need to move beyond solving a specific needs or problems in unison. Collaboration is central to success. By building a collaborative model (such as we have done with our SmartBroker + Acturis integration) we can deliver brokers a modular ecosystem that leverages more opportunity from data and technology to the benefit of the entire insurance market.
Do more with what you've got
Winning new business is great. But retaining business is just as vital to success and doesn’t require a huge investment. Operating in such an uncertain geopolitical, economic, and regulatory environment means brokers need to work smarter to look after clients in the most impactful yet efficient way.
There was also a lot of talk at BIBA about slowing M&A activity, with consolidators moving their focus to Europe and away from the UK. Add to this the other key challenge of softening premiums, and the need for more organic growth becomes even more apparent.
Automation to reduce manual tasks such as pre-population and data enrichment can free brokers up to spend more time on high-value relationship building activities. This can also provide a more accurate, holistic, and up-to-date customer view for improved decision making, the provision of tailored services, and upsell/cross-sell opportunities. As well as identify continuous opportunities to engage at every stage of the customer lifecycle and increase the value of their existing book of business.
Talent and diversity are still hot topics
It was great to once again witness BIBA's continued commitment to promoting the industry, attracting the next generation of leaders and driving greater equity diversity.
When it comes to talent, the conversation was not just about attracting a new generation of brokers, but also how we can work to retain and pass on the knowledge, experience and expertise of current industry leaders. It’s about supporting the retention of vital skills and experience that ensure the “new era” of brokers maintain the trusted advisor status so well-honed by their older peers.
Technology can help shape the skills of young brokers, enabling them to be more efficient, data-driven, and customer-focused. AI-powered tools can help manage client portfolios, improve communication, and automate tasks, freeing up time to focus on client relationships and deliver strategic advice – both key skills current leaders can pass on.
Day two began with the Women in Insurance breakfast, which celebrated leadership, inclusion, and industry progress. It was heartening to see that improving DE&I remains a key objective for industry (despite Trump’s best efforts to derail progress).
For us, “New Era” also means driving multicultural awareness and meaningful change across the industry. So, we were delighted to host a cocktail party with our friends from iCAN, the Insurance Cultural Awareness network.
FullCircl is iCAN’s newest sponsor, something we are all incredibly proud of. We support their mission to promote multicultural awareness and drive engagement in the insurance industry, which underscores our own commitment improving diversity and inclusion.
eTrade is a growing conversation
The surge in eTrade platforms continues, with real value being delivered in the specialist and SME markets - helping to make business more profitable and accurate.
FullCircl is supporting eTrade initiatives by providing data enrichment and tools that help brokers and underwriters alike navigate the complexities of online trading and compliance. This includes assistance with Consumer Duty requirements, identifying relevant trade-related risks, and facilitating efficient onboarding, risk placement, and policy management.
Once again, this pinnacle event in the insurance industry calendar did not disappoint. Relationships matter, networking counts. Bring on BIBA 2026!
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