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Goran Tolić, Acredia osiguranje
Episode · #541

POSLOVNI FM PREDSTAVLJA Goran Tolić, Acredia osiguranje

Guest Goran Tolić, Acredia osiguranjeHosted by Boris ŽivkovićMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

Many businesses think of insurance as a safety net — a payout after something goes wrong. But what if the real value of credit insurance wasn't the compensation for a bad debt, but the intelligence that helps you avoid it entirely? Goran Tolić, Head of Sales at Acredia, a market leader in credit insurance, explains how the product has evolved beyond its traditional role. He argues that for Croatian companies navigating uncertain markets, the most critical service is the proactive monitoring of customer financial stability, rather than just the promise of a payout. This conversation unpacks how Acredia’s shift to an independent operation in Croatia is driven by the very demand for this kind of real-time market insight, offering a fresh perspective on how to manage commercial risk in an economy where long payment terms are the norm.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Goran Tolić highlights that while credit insurance protects against non-payment, the *primary motivation* for clients to take out a policy is to gain "information about their customers." The real value isn't the payout when a customer fails, but the intelligence that helps you understand their financial health and prevent the failure from happening.
02
Acredia's recent decision to transition from a joint venture to an independent operation in Croatia was a "natural progression" driven by the need to offer clients better, direct support. When your core offering gains traction through partners, the demand for deeper engagement and specialized service will eventually force you to stand alone.
03
Tolić observes that for Croatian companies, especially those expanding into new domestic or foreign markets, the greatest challenge is "the risk of not knowing new customers." Growth into unknown territories is less about product or price competition, and more about the fundamental blind spot of assessing the trustworthiness and financial stability of new partners.
04
The "most needed service" in Croatian credit insurance is, according to Tolić, not the insurance component itself, but the "system of monitoring, tracking, and timely reporting" on customer activity. In an unstable economic environment, real-time intelligence on your customers' payment culture and financial health becomes more valuable than the safety net itself.
05
Export-oriented clients are the most frequent users of credit insurance, often because their foreign buyers "instruct them to get insured" as a condition for securing payment. Sometimes, the strongest market signal for your service isn't internal demand, but an explicit requirement from your customers' customers, creating a pull effect.
06
Tolić states that long payment terms, whether 30 or 90 days, are "normal business practice" that varies by industry and is not unique to Croatia. Payment terms are not inherently problematic until market instability — like rising interest rates — transforms a routine credit period into a significant liquidity risk.
07
The cost of credit insurance isn't a fixed percentage but a "premium rate" determined by variables like turnover, open receivables, country risk, and actual payment terms. You don't buy a standardized product; you buy a dynamic risk assessment tailored to the specific, evolving profile of your entire sales ledger.
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