Role: Senior Vice President
Company: Lockton Companies, Belfast
Track Record:
Insurance broker Jeffrey Graham started his career as a trainee, working his way up to senior vice president with the same company.
HOW I BECAME AN INSURANCE BROKER
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
I joined what is now the Lockton team in 1989 as a trainee and still work for same company 26 years later. In spite of significant growth over the past years, Lockton still feels like the same company I joined and a few others have been at the company as long as I have.
I have been lucky in my career as I joined at a time the company was growing quickly and this brought more opportunity for me – I was in the right place at the right time.
I had great training and mentoring within Lockton and seemed to have a knack for dealing with clients. I was given my own book of clients to manage (many of who I had helped to win) and was made account executive at 25, followed by a promotion to associate director at 28 and director at 30, and am lucky enough today to still look after a number of clients who I have been involved with for over 20 years.
What was your favourite subject at school?
History has to be it – I liked the subject and enjoyed the teacher so much that I looked forward to going to class.
Did you go on to further/higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I was about to pursue a university degree when I was offered a position at Lockton, which was then Bradstock. After giving it thought, I decided to join them and study for Insurance exams rather than go the university route.
My eldest son is just about to start university life so it makes you think about which path to take – but I genuinely think if I didn’t start here when I did I would not have had the opportunities I have had due to timing.
How did you get into your area of work?
The son of a family friend worked in our company and really enjoyed working there. He recommended I apply for a trainee job which I did.
Regarding my speciality in construction, my father worked in the construction sector all his life so I think this gave me additional interest and background knowledge of this sector.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
Nobody dreams of being an insurance broker when they grow up! It is career people seem to fall into and hopefully then realise it is actually a decent and rewarding career.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
When I joined the requirements were basic O and A Levels.
Once I joined I started studying part time with the Chartered Insurance Institute and obtained my ACII examinations.
It’s important to continue to build on your skills to avoid going stagnant in your job.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
Most people we employ are experienced already elsewhere, and we make an effort to bring in trainees as well. This is something our industry has stopped doing in Northern Ireland over recent years, and it has put a drain on new talent.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Empathy, trust, patience and the ability to analyse contractual documents (insurance and construction contracts, leases, trade agreements, etc.) to establish responsibility and liability and then often interpret and explain them in more simple terms that people understand.
What does a typical day entail?
About 50% of my time is office-based and the other 50% is in front of clients. My time in the office is spent responding to emails, phone calls, reviewing progress on ongoing renewals with the various account managers and also monitoring position on live claims.
Time spent with clients varies from meetings to discuss particular issues or problems, preparing for renewal, carrying out claims reviews or joining insurers on site visits which can be interesting and varied. I also work with a number of major meat processing companies so am regularly on site with insurers walking the factory floor.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
In recent years (and particularly in construction) we have seen a significant increase in complex claims and insurers can be difficult to manage and engage with – this is a real challenge but when it goes right it is also rewarding.
In Northern Ireland customers are very price sensitive so it is a challenge to provide the most cost effective solution which also addresses the needs of the business and provides the best level of protection at the same time.
Why is what you do important?
Businesses need professional advice on what the risks to their business are and then make a decision on which of these to insure or carry the risk themselves – not every business risk can be insured clearly.
Insurance brokers and insurers are vital in advising businesses on how to protect themselves against the unfortunate accidents that happen and let them concentrate on running their operations without having to worry about the what-ifs.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
If an individual is committed there is a rewarding career in insurance – it is a good feeling when you help a business and get a claim paid that the insurers were refusing to deal with.
One definite piece of advice would be to work for the CII exams and do so as quickly as possible – it is a lot easier to find the time to study and have decent exam technique when you have just finished school or university than it is to stop and go back 10 years later.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
Playing guitar in Guns N Roses would do rightly – probably a tad better paid as well!
If you could go back, what is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
I have been very lucky in my career and there is not a lot I would change about it – one key thing is to learn from any mistake you make rather than dwell on it, and always behave professionally, with passion and sincerity but also to try to have some fun – it can’t be serious all the time!
Describe your ideal day off.
Both my boys are involved in sport, so an ideal day would be managing to get to see both of them play, instead of tossing a coin to pick which match to attend.
On Saturday afternoon I play football from 5–6 so beating the other side is always a nice part of the weekend. I also love live music so an ideal evening would have to be out to dinner with my wife and friends and a concert.