Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Previsico, tells us how Covid slowed their sales cycle as insurers.
First of all, how are you and your family doing?
Jonathan Jackson: Great, my daughter is just finishing University, and my son is just doing his exams to enter University. So my wife and I are having lots of fun supporting them both as they enter a major new phase of life.
Tell us about you, your career, and how you joined Previsico.
Jonathan Jackson: I’m a serial entrepreneur in the Technology and Telecoms sector, including launching the UK’s longest-running B2B internet business. Previsico is my 4th start-up business, and my experience covers SaaS, the Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence across various industry sectors. In 2019 I joined Previsico as CEO to spin it out from Loughborough University and lead the US market development. I’ve also been the Royal Society’s Entrepreneur in Residence at Loughborough University and hold an MBA (Hons) from Northeastern University, Boston, USA.
How does Previsico market its product/services online?
Jonathan Jackson: Previsico is a SaaS that sells through partnerships with large insurance companies such as Liberty and Zurich, which provide Previsico’s products to their customers. The insurers will either market the service through existing Portals or email marketing to engage customers. A recent partnership will see the development of a mobile app that includes Previsico’s services and will be sold via email marketing.
How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how did you get through it?
Jonathan Jackson: During the pandemic, we expanded our business and gained funding for future global growth, including in the US in 2022. However, Covid did slow the sales cycle as insurers focused on internal issues created by having to work from home. However, we still managed to bag Zurich and Liberty Specialty Markets and contracted with major corporates directly too, which is speeding up the process of getting more insurers on board. The tail was wagging the dog!
What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to manage your online marketing?
Jonathan Jackson: We use Hubspot for our CRM and email marketing. We also practice Spin Selling and employ a specialist PR agency NextGen Communications, to help build our brand and tell our story via the press and on social media worldwide.
I am pleased to say that by using a targeted approach and smart, partnership-based marketing, we are regularly getting inbound enquiries, from worldwide.
Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?
Jonathan Jackson: Our major competitors are government flood warnings services; however, they only do detailed forecasts for main rivers and coastal floods, whereas Previsico’s expertise is in surface water flooding, the biggest flood risk of all. We will continue to grow by focusing on being the gold standard for flood warnings by enhancing our service’s performance and accuracy through strategic partnerships and new data sources, such as IoT and satellites.
We are starting to gain some great traction with major clients now, and we are already seeing that success breeds success as more doors open so that we can close more deals.
Your final thoughts?
Jonathan Jackson: Flooding is a huge and increasing global issue, and we are proud to play our part in saving lives and livelihoods and reducing insurers’ losses worldwide.
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