The Business Year

Search
Close this search box.
Carlos Sánchez

COLOMBIA - Finance

Carlos Sánchez

President, BMI Seguros Colombia

Bio

Carlos Sanchez has a specialization in business administration from Universidad del Rosario, and studied marketing at Politécnico Grancolombiano and has other studies from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Universidad de Burgos. His 18-years career has seen him work in multinationals leading firms in the sector such as Liberty, Generali, Willis Towers, and Watson, as well as serving as VP of Business development for Metlife Colombia.

TBY talks to Carlos Sánchez, President of BMI Seguros Colombia, about increasing market share, life insurance, and BMI’s value proposition.

How do you evaluate company growth for BMI Seguros Colombia and what is the current focus of business?

The company’s growth has a positive outlook; we had an excellent performance in sales in 2021, managing to grow by 157% in Individual Life compared to 2020, 99% in Health, and closed the year with a growth of 108%. As a result of COVID-19, people became more aware of the importance of insurance, which was a key factor in this growth process. We provide protection to our policyholders through our broad portfolio of Life and Individual Health Insurance, we also offer group insurance solutions that allow us to meet the protection needs of employers and incorporate them into their employee benefit programs.

What has been the strategy to capitalize on market interest within the segment of Life and Health? How do you differentiate in terms of service and product innovation in order to increase your market share?

We focused our efforts on strengthening our external sales channel nationwide, and we expanded into more than 15 primary and intermediate cities with a team of more than 800 sales advisors. The expertise of this team in providing excellent advice on life and health to our clients has guaranteed the effectiveness of our services. In terms of service and innovation, we have developed life and health products that meet the protection needs of the current market; for example, in life policies, we have term and universal products and riders as: Return of Premiums, Total and Permanent Disability, Accidental Death, among others, that allow us to guarantee surrender values and financial security for the insured and their beneficiaries. It is especially relevant, given that the assumption for life insurance is that a benefit is only available upon the insured’s death when, we have life products that allow us to use the values that have been paid with the premiums, either partially or even totally after deductions, at the time of revoking the insurance, regardless of the occurrence of the claim. Regarding health policies, our individual products offer medical treatment worldwide and free choice of medical networks abroad and locally. In Colombia, additionally, we do not apply deductibles for services ranging from home consultations, telemedicine, diagnostic services, therapies, emergencies, scheduled hospital services, maternity, complications, and care services that guarantee the tranquility of our insured, to whom we offer our exclusive BMI Access Service, where a medical coordinator assists them 24 hours a day in the coordination of all benefits.

What is the strategic importance of BMI’s network of health partners and why is service a core pillar of BMI’s value proposition?

We currently have more than 760 providers of high-quality medical services nationwide and access to more than 3,350 health services and specialties, including clinical laboratories, diagnostic aids, hospitalization, surgery, prescription medicine, physical therapy, and other services that complement the coverage at the national and international level. The strengthening of our medical network allows our members to access high-quality health benefits with timely care anywhere in the world, guaranteeing their peace of mind and that of their families at any time.

What risks do families incur when they are not covered with Life Insurance? What makes the product important in a family’s finances?

Insurance is a financial instrument that helps us reduce economic uncertainty about our future. They are a critical partner because they mitigate the effects on people and their families’ loss of wealth, due to unexpected life circumstances, such as death, deterioration, of health, apart from the pain and suffering they cause, there is also serious economic impacts. Insurance acquires important relevance because it turns out to be a very valuable instrument to mitigate the economic impact. This is how health insurance can cover expensive medical treatments and life insurance allows insureds to develop financial planning to determine the impact left by a person when dying, even more so if this person generated economic contributions to the household.

How does BMI approach health through prevention and what are the advantages for users?

Currently, our policyholders have access to our online platform, BMI en Línea, a technological tool that allows us to provide webinars and content of interest related to the care and preventative care solutions of both, physical and mental health for our clients, advisors, and employees. Additionally, our health policyholders have access to different preventive medical services such as outpatient services that can be accessed without deductible in Colombia, such as home medical visits, telemedicine, medical consultations, among other services within their needs.

What must be done to unlock Colombia’s potential in insurance and what role do partnerships have in growing the number of Colombians who obtain insurance products? 

There are two fundamental alternatives. First, continue working on consolidating an ideal and highly trained sales force, transforming them into advisors rather than salespeople, which allows them to generate security and trust regarding insurance. Second, to work together with the guild in raising awareness and a culture of being insured.

Where would you like to see BMI Seguros Colombia in the mid- and long-term future? What are the main ambitions for the company and what are the steps to make that vision a reality?

Today we start from an approximate base of 77,000 customers, and this year we want to reach up to 120,000 users, focusing on the development of new products and strengthening technological developments. In order to achieve our goals, we have implemented individual and group segments and a massive affinity line. Additionally, we must continue to position the company in the country, strengthening and exploring its presence in the intermediate cities.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

You may also be interested in...

Screenshot 2024-02-13 at 09.49.26

COLOMBIA - Economy

Germán Alberto Segura

Interview

General Manager, Corredor Empresarial

CO24_IT_ AVAYA_PIC Cesar Rodriguez

COLOMBIA - Telecoms & IT

César Rodríguez

Interview

Director Andean Region, Avaya

SUMITOMO

COLOMBIA - Industry

Takahiro Saito

Interview

President, Sumitomo Corp

View All interviews

Countries

Countries

Become a sponsor