Tangram Insurance Services: Let Us Be Your Sherpa

By Rekha Skantharaja Schipper, CEO

I recently finished watching a documentary about Everest (one of many I’ve seen over the years). Ever since I was 10 years old, I can remember being mesmerized by the prospect of human beings ascending to the top of the world’s highest peak.  How do you build the skills? What tools do you need? Who supports you along the way?

Anyone who has read or watched anything about climbing Everest, has heard about the prolific role of Sherpas. The Sherpas are local people who prepare the routes, fix the ropes, and carry the necessary gear up the mountain. Most climbers would say that without the help of Sherpas, it would be much more difficult to ascend the mountain.

I think of our team as those Sherpas in our business every day. We want to help build your skills, equip you with the right tools and support you every step of the way – on the way to your summit.

We Help Build Your Skills

Specialization is the name of our game.  And as most brokers are realizing, becoming a focused specialist is a lot more rewarding than being a “jack of all trades.”  But with diminishing training programs, inexperienced sales talent and pressure to do more with less, it’s becoming difficult for brokers to build a meaningful foundation of knowledge and skills.  However, it’s imperative to differentiating yourself with clients.

1. Training and Teaching. Our people will teach and train your team around industry trends, coverage features & nuances and service differentiators.
2. The Pitch. We will partner with you to identify opportunities to amplify value to prospective clients.  These could be in the form of highlighting product or service improvements, solving a business challenge or introducing a network connection that may benefit the prospect.

We Equip You With the Right Tools

If our brokers succeed, that means we succeed. Like the relationship between the Sherpas and the climbers, it is our job to help you accomplish your goal of building a business. The more tools we can give our partner brokers, the more prepared and well-equipped you will be to win the day.

1. The Marketing Machine. Let us partner with you on marketing initiatives to reach more customers. Our marketing guru is here to support you with content, design and anything else you may need.
2. Not Everyone Is In the Club. There are a limited number of brokers in our network.  Therefore it is an advantage to be a Tangram broker since you represent programs that many others cannot access.
3. Sell Something Exclusive. Most of our programs are only available through us. This means that as a Tangram broker, you know you’re representing something not available through any other channels in the marketplace.

We Support You Along The Way

Because we don’t work with every broker, our selected brokers are partners. Partnership means we are invested in the long term progress of the relationship.We see beyond short-term setbacks and focus on how to ensure your success over time, thinking beyond the single transaction.

1. Incentives that Matter to You. We can offer incentives that are uniquely valuable to your business and your journey. Ask any of our long-term partners. They will tell you that we are capable of stepping up to the plate to reward progress and commitment.
2. Business Intelligence at Your Fingertips.  At any moment, we can provide custom reports for your firm around performance indicators, analytics and other information that will give you actionable intelligence.
3. Program Building. One of our most valuable skills is to build programs for our brokers.  If you have an idea, an expert or a book of business, we can transform it into a program and put you in the driver’s seat.

Help. Build. Support.

Like those Sherpas, we are privileged to help our brokers on their business climb every day.  You are at the center of everything we do. And I’m confident we will keep challenging ourselves to listen to your criticisms, learn from the good & the bad, and offer interesting ways to elevate your business.

These days the youthful, romantic notion of climbing Everest has long been replaced with more practical thinking. I’m plenty happy to conquer Mt. Tam on a day hike in northern California, with an ice cold cocktail waiting upon my return.

But it’s not lost on me that there is a great metaphor to life, and particularly business, in the journey of an epic mountain climb.  

About Tangram Insurance Services

Located across the Golden Gate Bridge, just outside of San Francisco, Tangram is a full-service Managing General Underwriter and Program Manager offering specialty programs. We focus on industry-relevant coverage, competitive pricing, and practical business and risk management solutions for your clients. Since we are not all things to all people, we make sure to create outstanding custom-built solutions that matter to those businesses, and the brokers who serve those industries. Contact us at (888) 744-9810.