Using Expert Networks to Drive Disciplined Overseas Growth

Assurant Solutions

“Credibility, confidence, and competitive advantage. This is the unique blend of benefits Gerson Lehrman Group brings to Assurant Solutions. GLG has armed us with credible information and expert connections so that we can make confident decisions about potential new markets more rapidly. This enabled Assurant Solutions to accelerate market entry—giving us a sharper, competitive edge around the globe.”

Patrick Smyth,
Senior Vice President, International Development, Assurant Solutions

Part of specialty insurer Assurant, Inc., Assurant Solutions provides risk management solutions such as: extended service contracts for consumer electronics; credit insurance for retail loans; vehicle service contracts; and various related services. Expansion into targeted international markets is an important growth driver and strategic priority for Assurant Solutions.

To ensure success, the Assurant Solutions approach to international growth is meticulous and market driven. The company identifies markets with unmet consumer needs and builds distribution partnerships with local institutions such as retailers, automobile dealers, banks, and utilities. This disciplined approach has served the company well. With 22 worldwide locations, Assurant Solutions recently entered Germany, Italy, and Spain, and continues to explore select additional markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

To augment its market-leading approach to international expansion, Assurant Solutions relies on Gerson Lehrman Group® (GLG), which manages the world's largest expert network. Assurant Solutions leverages the GLG expert network to obtain timely, customized, and cost-effective market insights.

Assurant Solutions-first foray into Asia

To evaluate the market opportunity in China, Patrick Smyth and his international development team pored over complex, proprietary statistical models. As a 30-year veteran in international expansion, however, he knew that on-the-ground perspectives would be crucial to prioritize potential partners in China. For this, Smyth turned to GLG.

Market assessment program

Within weeks, GLG custom built a robust market assessment program to deliver insight and analysis to inform Assurant Solutions' go-to-market decisions. The program's backbone: an authoritative panel of 80 China-based GLG Council Members^SM with direct experience in the same channels Assurant Solutions considered pursuing. One GLG Council Member, a former top executive of Wal-Mart China, could comment on the key success factors for assessing Chinese consumer markets. In all, the panel featured premier experts in the retail banking, insurance, and consumer electronics industries.

Once GLG assembled this expert panel, GLG retained a Project Specialist to interview the panelists on behalf of Assurant Solutions and to synthesize the results in an actionable report. GLG Project Specialists are Council Members with expertise in conducting primary research. In this case, the Project Specialist was credentialed in conducting market-entry diligence throughout Asia and especially in China.

By leveraging the GLG expert network and GLG leading-edge systems, the Project Specialist executed a methodical, multi layered program:

• Market canvassing surveys of the GLG panel to identify: the top 20 targets in Chinese retail banking; the top 20 targets in Chinese consumer electronics; and the appropriate criteria for further evaluation of these targets.
• Deep-dive surveys to elicit further analyses of both the potential partners identified in the initial survey (including weighted scores and snapshot profiles) as well as the potential demand for Assurant Solutions products.
• Individual expert consultations to validate survey findings, capture direct insights, and introduce Assurant Solutions to critical contacts (when appropriate).
• Final analysis and summary of insights gained throughout the program.

“I pride myself on having my own worldwide network of experts, but canvassing that network is a very informal, time-consuming process. Markets change constantly. GLG provides a structured and effective approach to finding and engaging experts.”

Extraordinary contacts

“The fundamental value of working with GLG extends far beyond this invaluable roar of information,” Smyth says. “The access that GLG provides to relevant contacts will enable us to start booking revenue in a new market more quickly. GLG is positioned to deliver that rare combination of benefits.”

GLG clients tap a network of more than 150,000 subject-matter experts worldwide. GLG Councils^SM gather leading industry and academic experts, organized by continents.

Assurant Solutions is leveraging GLG Councils to gain critical inroads to the China market. The result: a better informed and well-connected Assurant Solutions team that is able to make confident decisions about entering that emerging market.

“Access to GLG Council Members gives us a different slant on the market that we simply couldn't find anywhere else,” Smyth says. “The insights we are gaining are priceless. The connections we are making are extraordinary.”

Patrick Smyth,
Senior Vice President, International Development, Assurant Solutions

A trusted resource

Smyth's work with GLG on China built on Assurant Solutions' growing trust in GLG. Outside of the China project, Assurant Solutions executives have tapped 120 additional subject-matter experts and two other Project Specialists to obtain customized reports spanning diverse opportunities in 18 different countries.