"For those advisers that are struggling with GI conversations, using a well-thought out quick quoting tool can help to quickly introduce the conversation and get it off the ground"
With the opportunity to boost commissions and bring in a steady source of income, selling GI is an approach that kept some advisers going in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, and it could play the same role now.
We understand the concern that new business is going to dry up considerably, so instead, advisers need to turn their attention to their back book. There’s a huge opportunity to proactively offer support to existing customers and offer a review of their financial situation. Does the customer’s existing insurance policy still fit their needs? How old is it? Producing a new quote for these clients might save them money and get them a better policy, especially if new underwriters have joined the panel in the interim period. Who didn’t have home insurance at their last review that you could broach it with now?
While these are the questions advisers should be asking, we know that for some, incorporating general insurance into their conversations with clients is a bit of a struggle. In fact, in a recent survey conducted with the adviser businesses within our portfolio, we found that 50% of respondents said they regularly miss opportunities to sell GI.
This comes down to a whole host of reasons, but one that consistently crops up is a perception that talking about GI to clients is simply too time consuming. Advisers may well have more time to commit to this conversation at the moment. However, they will still want to present customers with a quote as quickly as possible to be able to keep them engaged, especially if there is a high volume of customers they are now actively targeting. Technology, such as quick quoting tools, can help to support this. These tools also mean that any expired quotes can be requoted with minimal effort, giving brokers a reason to call customers for a review.
It’s important to note, however, that a focus on speed alone will never add to the value of advice and can actually detract from it. Technology development in the adviser space should never become a race to the quickest. For quick quote tools, speed should not compromise the quality of the quote itself.
Speed and accuracy, however, often do not go hand in hand. Paymentshield’s own data has shown that, on average, prices generated by traditional quick quote tools differ to the final price by up to 15%. Far from building a solid and long-lasting relationship, this kind of variation can actually erode client confidence in the value of seeking professional advice. In times of economic uncertainty like this, advisers simply cannot afford for customers to be losing faith in their services.
A few months ago, we made changes to our own Quick Quote tool to allow advisers to add additional cover options, including Accidental Damage, Home Emergency and Legal Expenses, from the outset of the quoting process. This means the quote can be tailored to the client’s individual needs (in seconds), and that the price is less likely to fluctuate. In addition to those enhancements, we’ve also just made a further enhancement to our quote functionality through a partnership with a third-party data provider, to feed property data into the Quick Quote platform. This latest innovation will make obtaining a Home Insurance quote for clients even faster without compromising on accuracy because the price is based on real data rather than assumptions.
For those advisers that are struggling with GI conversations, using a well-thought out quick quoting tool can help to quickly introduce the conversation and get it off the ground, and reduce the initial admin-heavy Q&A to a minimum, presenting customers with a realistic quote straight away. It also enables advisers to move the conversation on as swiftly as possible to the more meaningful, advice-based chat, which is more likely to convert to a sale.
While there’s little substitute for the work it takes to build and refine a trusting and long-lasting client relationship, technology has given us the power to make things that bit easier by enhancing the service that advisers can offer. Since we launched the original version of our Quick Quote tool a few years ago, 13% of our quotes now originate through this tool, which demonstrates how technology can boost adviser business. With tools like this at their fingertips, there is no reason why half of advisers should be missing out on selling GI, especially when it’s never been more significant.
