The Aclaimant Strategy: Democratizing Enterprise Software for the Mid-Market

Risk management software shouldn’t be exclusive to Fortune 500 companies. But traditionally, that’s exactly how the Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS) market worked – until Aclaimant decided to change the equation. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, David Wald shared how they’re making enterprise-grade risk management accessible to mid-market companies.

The Market Evolution

Recent years have dramatically changed the risk landscape for businesses of all sizes. As David explains: “The past five years alone. Pick your poison. COVID, supply chain, severe weather, political instability, you name it, rising amounts of people working, remote wages going up. All these things make it a lot more difficult and potentially risky to run businesses.”

This evolution created an opportunity. These challenges weren’t just affecting major enterprises anymore, but also “your 100 person almond farmer or your 75 person construction firm.” The need for sophisticated risk management tools had democratized, but the solutions hadn’t caught up.

Starting with Focus

Rather than trying to serve everyone immediately, Aclaimant started narrow. “Our thought was we’re going to just find staffing firms and insurance agencies that like our product,” David shares. This focused approach allowed them to deeply understand specific industry needs before expanding.

The strategy proved successful. Today, they serve 10,000 organizations across North America, ranging from small businesses to enterprises like Caesars Entertainment and Carvana.

The Empowerment Approach

A key part of democratizing enterprise software is making it approachable. Instead of using fear-based selling common in the risk management industry, Aclaimant took a different route. “You can’t beat people into being safer,” David explains. “You really have to have them understand that they have a choice and they can choose to better.”

This philosophy shaped their entire go-to-market strategy. Their thought leadership focuses on practical problem-solving: “It’s really about helping people to think about. All right, what are my biggest burning questions of this company and risk management? It can be simple things like understanding how laws are changing and how that’s going to affect my ability to do my job, understanding what other companies are doing.”

Building Trust Through Expertise

Making enterprise software accessible to smaller organizations requires building trust. “We live in a world that is highly regulated, that is full of expert practitioners who know their stuff,” David notes. Even small terminology mistakes could derail sales conversations: “You’d use the word claims or work comp and you get a sideways lesson.”

The solution was combining deep industry expertise with modern technology. One of their co-founders, Michael Schultz, brought 35 years of insurance industry experience, having been “part of agencies and carriers and TPAs and all the things that make the world go around in the insurance space.”

The Data-Driven Evolution

As they’ve grown, their approach to reaching mid-market companies has become more sophisticated. “Right now we run a very data driven inbound referral and channel strategy on our go to market that’s very driven using targeting and tech tools,” David shares. They look for specific signals that indicate when companies are ready to invest in safety and risk management.

The Future Vision

Aclaimant’s ambitions for democratizing risk management continue to grow. “I am so excited about where the RMIS space is headed, and I’m so excited about where we’re positioned in a way that I haven’t felt in probably a couple of years,” David shares. Their goal is to “catalyze the next 100,000 companies that want to get into RMIS.”

Key Takeaways for Founders

For founders looking to democratize enterprise software, Aclaimant’s journey offers several crucial insights:

1. Start with a focused vertical to build deep expertise
2. Use empowerment rather than fear to drive adoption
3. Combine industry expertise with modern technology
4. Build trust through education and thought leadership
5. Let market evolution guide your expansion

The democratization of enterprise software isn’t just about making it cheaper or simpler – it’s about making sophisticated tools accessible and valuable to organizations that previously couldn’t access them. Aclaimant’s success shows that with the right approach, you can bring enterprise-grade capabilities to the mid-market while building a significant business in the process.