Entrepreneur Sumedh Basani talks about how his business beat COVID-19

 

The coronavirus pandemic has an economic impact similar to that of the 2008 stock market crash. The economic impact of the 2008 financial crisis was closer to 7.4 trillion in the United States Economy. The coronavirus economic impact is currently measured close to 5 trillion dollars in the United States economy. To find out the affect of COVID-19 on the financial services industry, we asked Sumedh Basani who is the owner of Basani Financial, a national level insurance brokerage that has serviced thousands of insurance clients.

Sumedh spoke to us in great detail on how he was able to grow his business despite the economic recession. Here’s what he had to say.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a lot of businesses to close their doors and cut back. For some it was permanent, and unfortunately this is a reality that some industries faced. We are very blessed as an organization to not have to do this but in addition have growth during this period of time. The advantage of financial services businesses is that they are some of the oldest and most secure businesses to own. Although they do require a great deal to properly manage and regulate, they are not as susceptible to recessions. Due to the massive need for financial services regardless of economic climate, we were rather safeguarded from lack of business.

The biggest thing I can say about the pandemic and how it affected financial services was the entire application process. As an organization we have been very keen to stay ahead of the curve in terms of technology and the modernization of our businesses. I have learned from day one that if you plan to survive in any industry, you must learn to adapt and change.

A great benefit to us during the pandemic was the remote application process, which was electronic and telephonic for most of our insurance carriers. The majority of our applications were completed in person before the pandemic. The nature of financial services is in-person consultationas revealing private information, such as social security, banking info, and personal financial info, is a confidential topic. When the pandemic hit, we were forced to completely stopped out in-person consultations. Understand that many of our clients are between the ages of 40-90, so their health is a major concern to us. This did not stop our business, as we proceeded without hesitation to our remote application methods. Our agents were quickly adapted to the new process and we proceeded to secure business, protect clients, and grow our business despite the pandemic induced recession.

We didn’t change our agency schedule but simply adapted to a digital platform. This means all of our meetings, workshops, and client interactions were done electronically or telephonically. Programs like ZOOM, Microsoft Teams, Teamviewer, AptiCal, Myenroller, I-go-pipline, Xodo, and other softwares helped solidify the remote workspace for our agents. These combined with advanced digital lead generation allowed our organization and our partners to dominate the financial services industry throughout the pandemic.

COVID-19 isn’t the end for businesses, but merely an obstacle that requires a great deal of change. If you and your business cannot adapt and proactively adapt to changes, then you will ultimately fail. Remember, technology is your friend, and continuously push forward to modernize your process.