Executive Summary:

In 2023, I led a high-stakes transformation initiative to establish a new insurance company under strict regulatory timelines. As Head of Business Development, I designed a digital-first sales and product strategy, built an innovative peer-to-peer salesforce model and launched four new retail insurance products. Within a year, we achieved board and regulatory approval, grew micro-advisor topline revenue from KES 6M to KES 20M and recruited 900+ MicroDSRs, setting a new benchmark for digital insurance sales in the region.

 

Context and Challenge:

Context: In Q2 2023, our board directed us to establish a fully compliant insurance subsidiary under the holding entity to meet new Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) requirements. With only 12 months to design, launch and operationalise the company, I was tasked with leading business development, product innovation and salesforce strategy to ensure compliance and commercial viability.

 

Challenge: The challenge was multifaceted:

• Develop new insurance products aligned with regulatory standards.

• Build a low-cost, scalable salesforce model in an industry traditionally reliant on highly trained, centrally managed agents.

• Deliver a fully digital, remote-ready sales and training platform to support rapid growth, compliance and profitability.

 

Strategic Approach:

• Phase 1: Strategy & Product Innovation: Analysed regulatory requirements, market gaps and customer segments to recommend four new insurance products designed for digital distribution and on-demand accessibility.

• Phase 2: Digital Sales Ecosystem Build: Led the implementation of an insuretech platform enabling remote recruitment, peer-to-peer referral sales, virtual training, automated policy issuance, commission tracking and instant claims processing.

• Phase 3: Market Launch & Growth Execution: Designed and executed a referral-based sales model, onboarding 900+ MicroDSRs in under a year, while driving revenue growth and gaining regulatory approval for the new company by September 2024.

 

Results and Impact:

Quantifiable Outcomes:

• KES 6M → KES 20M revenue growth in micro-advisor business within one year.

• 900+ MicroDSRs recruited and fully trained through a peer-to-peer referral model.

• 4 new retail products launched and sold digitally end-to-end.

• Regulatory approval and board sign-off for new company setup achieved by September 2024.

 

Qualitative Achievements:

• Pioneered a remote-friendly sales training model enabling scalability across regions.

• Increased financial inclusion by empowering diverse individuals to sell insurance without traditional barriers.

• Improved operational efficiency through automation of policy issuance, receipting, commissions and claims processing.

• Strengthened cross-functional collaboration across regulatory, IT, sales and executive teams.

 

Key Takeaway & Strategic Insight:

This project demonstrated how digital innovation and a lean, referral-driven salesforce can rapidly achieve both compliance and commercial growth, especially when paired with strong stakeholder alignment and remote collaboration tools.

 

Conclusion:

Through strategic foresight, digital transformation and agile execution, I turned a regulatory challenge into a scalable growth engine for the business. This success underscores my ability to lead high-impact, remote-enabled projects that deliver measurable results under tight deadlines.

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Technical Proficiencies Utilised:

• Salesforce CRM: For recruitment tracking, sales pipeline management and reporting.

• Microsoft Teams: Enabled remote training, team coordination and stakeholder updates.

• Tableau: Delivered real-time performance dashboards for data-driven decision-making.

• Asana: Managed project timelines, dependencies and cross-team collaboration.

 

Core Competencies Displayed:

• Strategic Business Development

• Digital Transformation & Innovation

• Remote Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Regulatory Compliance Management

• Data-Driven Decision Making

• Product Development & Market Launch Strategy