Interview with Vincent Bonnet, CCO – Octo
Only 4 months into the new year and 2013 has already proven to be a record-breaking year for Octo Telematics and its role in the insurance telematics market. Vincent Bonnet, Octo’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) explains to us how a decade’s worth of hard work, innovation, and a commitment to excellence has thrust Octo into its leadership role in the telematics global market.
2013 is a special year. What new direction, or strategy, is Octo beginning to take?
This has indeed been a very historic period for us, and not only for us, but for the telematics industry in general. And this year, particularly on the level of sales, we are driving momentum in the market. The number of projects, the meetings, and the number of requests that we are receiving across all of our international markets has been remarkable.
We have bolted into action this year with a fresh rebranding of the company, as you can see from the new website, and above all else, we have begun internationalizing Octo, even more than before, which allows us to leverage our International presence.
The global market has helped the company to reach an unprecedented record high in newly registered active contracts…
In only one month’s time, in March 2013, Octo Telematics has registered 76,527 new active contracts. This is a huge milestone for the company, especially when you take into account all that has been happening in telematics recently, particularly the emergence of new to market competitors. Generally, companies register that many new contracts in 1-2 years, and we have been able to reach that benchmark in only one month.
How do you think Octo Telematics reached a number of new contracts far greater than all its competitors?
These 76,527 new contracts are the fruits of the labours that we have been sowing for the last 11 years. At this point, Octo Telematics has reached a level of maturity and seniority that is unparalleled in the market. Octo has always been committed to innovating, to putting out new pilot programs, to working hard, and most of all, committed to providing a service of the highest quality, of excellence. Our recipe for success is having a strong history in telematics, while offering our clients unmatched experience and service. We were the first in this field, always collaborating with experts, and that is how we have made history in telematics, and how we will continue to do so.
Our historic record for the month of March 2013 is a testament to the trust that our clients have in our expertise and services, and also a testament to our leading role in the telematics market.
Octo Telematics was started in Italy in 2002, and has grown to serve many other markets. What is predicted for the future?
It is true that we started life in Italy, but telematics is a service that all countries need. We have found that there is no country more predisposed to use telematics than any other. Telematics is a fundamental instrument in succeeding and optimizing results for insurance companies.
When operating in different countries, Octo Telematics has taken into account many variables such as the competitiveness and the maturity of the market. For example, the United Kingdom has a very competitive market. It is a challenging and complex market to cover, but Octo has been able to succeed in the UK’s telematics market because of years of experience in all of our markets.
It is this experience that has allowed us to build a model that helps insurers build a financial case for launching telematics. We have worked hard to understand the key drivers of value both in terms of reducing costs, particularly in the area of claims management and increasing GWP, through new propositions, improved selection and dynamic pricing. In fact, we will be presenting on this topic at the Telematics Europe event on 8th May in London
As for predictions, I believe that the US and German markets may prove to be very interesting. The Germans in particular are confronting telematics in a very careful way, but when they decide to take off, they will do so very quickly, and without hesitation.
Octo Telematics’ mission has been to grow by aiming services to business partners. Has Octo considered expansion through offering services to the consumer as well?
First of all, the future lies in maintaining the competitive advantage which we have offered over the last decade to our clients. We are completely aware that we need to guarantee to our customers that we will maintain our leading position in the market. Therefore, we have found that together with our business partners, the insurance carriers, we can better insert ourselves into the market, and better understand the needs of their consumers. In other words, we will use our B2B foundations to deliver successful B2C relationships.
Providing services for the insurance carrier’s customers is a responsibility that we take very seriously. Consequently, we have started to develop more in this sense, adding a marketing team to our structure what will have the responsibility of building a bridge between our insurance clients and the end consumer. After all, the market is made up of consumers, not only businesses, and they are the ones purchasing our services at the end of the day.