"Notice, though, that at no point have we talked about a product. It’s simply about helping customers keep up the repayments on their mortgage - who can argue with that?"
Let’s consider protection from the perspective of a mortgage customer. They want an adviser to get them the most suitable, competitive mortgage to enable them to buy their new home. These customers often don’t ask about protection - or insurance.
So, we have customers asking for something a mortgage adviser can help them with, yet somehow the adviser wants (and needs to) put protection on the agenda. How can this be done without making customers feel like they’re being ‘sold’ a product they never asked for?
When someone asks us to buy something we haven’t asked for, we feel like we’re being sold to - especially when it’s mentioned after purchasing the product we wanted in the first place. It’s a curveball, not to mention an additional expense.
Now, I don’t want to discuss the importance of protection - let’s assume the advisers reading this understand that. It’s about how we do it. How can we convert mortgage sales into protection conversations without customers feeling like they’re being sold to?
“There’s three key steps: position, package, and point.”
Firstly, it’s critical that the concept of protection is introduced from the get-go. In other words, it needs to be discussed at the start of any mortgage appointment. It’s how you do this that’s important.
Here’s a scenario: Daisy has come to you for mortgage advice, and there’s been no mention of protection during the first appointment. As an adviser, you probably began by saying you’re a specialist in mortgage advice, noting your credentials, how you research the market etc…
You’d then go on to say that as well as arranging the mortgage, you also ensure customers are able to, and I quote, “Keep up the repayments on the mortgage over the full length of the term.”
So far, there’s been no mention of protection or products – you’re simply ensuring that the customer can keep up the repayments on their mortgage. It’s hard for a customer to argue with that.
Instead, customers realise they need to make a strong case to a lender to allow them to borrow money, and this naturally involves being able to keep up with their mortgage repayments. This realisation makes it a two-part advice journey.
“Advisers that fail to introduce protection at the start of mortgage journeys will have to find a new, unaccounted for budget when selling policies, which is far from ideal.”
When you’re discussing a customer’s budget, you should talk about costs for a ‘mortgage package’. This budget is for the mortgage + any mortgage-related products, such as protection. You’ve now been allocated a budget for both mortgage & protection conversations.
In my opinion, the statement written at the bottom of every single mortgage illustration should be used to start protection conversations: 'Your home may be repossessed if you don’t keep up the repayments on your mortgage.'
“From there, advisers can look at what customers have in place to keep up these repayments, such as savings, support from their employer, and any existing policies.”
Now the work begins to see under which circumstances customers might struggle to keep up the repayments on their mortgage. It’s about understanding the funds required, looking at where money could come from, and if protection policies could eliminate financial risk.
Notice, though, that at no point have we talked about a product. It’s simply about helping customers keep up the repayments on their mortgage - who can argue with that?
