Sophie van Assen heads a team providing Special Products solutions for much of northern Europe including the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium and the Nordics.
I enjoy listening to what a customer needs and looking to find the best solution working together across Atradius departments or with brokers.
She explains how that in addition to providing a vital service for businesses that need solutions beyond classic whole turnover credit insurance policies, the Special Products unit adds real value to brokers and other Atradius units.
In many ways the Special Products team provides functions that are complementary to traditional whole turnover products and for that reason we are able to deliver added value to our colleagues across Atradius and to the brokers that work with us.
- We are able to offer solutions that many businesses would find attractive, such non-cancellable insurance terms, but the expertise and service we provide are much deeper than that. Our customers are active in a broad range of sectors such as dredging, chemicals, oil and gas, IT and construction.
- We find solutions for some really complex transactions where the customer is always the starting point. Of equal importance, we also explain why we sometimes have to say no to certain requests.
- We actively empower brokers and support businesses through helping them understand the risks associated with a transaction and where that may exceed our risk appetite and why.
Amongst the Special Products teams worldwide we talk and share knowledge, insight and experience every day. Our teamwork approach and the opportunities to conduct in depth research are the areas I find most satisfying. No day is the same within Special Products. Even when working with the same customer, a different transaction will present different challenges. It can vary on almost every parameter.