The Early Warning System helped Intermediaries clients claim £30.6m against their Life and Critical Illness cover policies. Early intervention and subsequent discussion enabled clients to reinstate their policies and then went on to successfully claim. That effectively put the customer at the centre of their business and the hope is that more firms will follow suit this year. To encourage this, Legal & General’s 2014 Business Quality Awards (BQAs) will be held on Thursday 12th February at One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA between 11am – 3pm.
The BQAs form part of the insurer’s Distribution Quality Management programme which provides unrivalled industry expertise to help advisers improve client retention. With that in mind the insurer has outlined 5 tips based on the experiences of 2014 winners to help intermediaries develop better customer management strategies in 2015.
Andrew Clark, Head of Commercial Management & Distribution Quality at Legal & General, says:
“Investing in effective Early Warning Systems allowed most of the outstanding firms nominated for BQA’s 2014 to identify when customers were at risk of losing valuable life insurance due to their policy lapsing. This in turn allowed advisers to take the opportunity to contact their customers at crucial times which increases the opportunity to ensure relevant cover is maintained but also encouraged further conversations around other financial needs and strengthened the relationship with their clients.”
“In recent years protection products, new business models and adviser client interaction have become more commoditised which has led to a more transactional type of relationship. By making a business too transactional some advisers run the risk of putting product sales ahead of people’s needs.
There is a need to refocus on the idea that advisers sell time and expertise and not just products. To embed value in a business you need to invest time and effort with your customers. If you do that well enough the net result will be a better customer experience a stronger relationship, a stronger brand and a move away from price-driven interactions”
“There has been a noticeable move in the industry to greater commoditisation of client needs. At the same time the ability to access ‘client lead data’ has never been easier with a myriad of firms selling different data sets. The temptation these providers offer is ‘quantity of data’ and the ability to grow your business but don’t ever put quantity above quality, if the data is incomplete or the customers are not engaged this business will not persist. The old adage remains true ‘not all that glitters is gold!’.”
“Making your business too transactional can mean products are put ahead of people. Focus on the idea that each contact is potentially transformative for the customer and build your processes around delivering the best experience and outcome for the customer. The upshot will be stronger sales and a better relationship.”
“The temptation for many advisers is to always take commission up front. However, this does front load your business somewhat. It can also encourage a transactional model and the pursuit of new business over building the long-term relationships. Opting to drip feed commission will create greater resilience to market fluctuations, encourage stability, retain value in your business but ultimately it helps to make the customer the central focus as loyalty to the brand becomes key.”
