Last year when PCE reviewed the IBIS Life Insurance Report we noted that "people don't buy what they don't understand".
At that time complexity, ease of doing business and education were key tasks the industry had to tackle to address the issue of underinsurance.
At its core insurance is there to protect those who would suffer a financial loss, hardship when faced with a death, disability or trauma.
So why one year on does the same message we've been hearing for 20 years still dominate the most recent report?
The industry still provides product complexity as a solution to one of the basic core drivers of human behaviour : the need to defend.
Calculating underinsurance is not an exact science : some say it is not a problem and suggest it only affects 20% of the population.
Other figures range from $700 million to $1.4 billion dollars.
And while superannuation is set to remain an important market for selling insurance there are long term issues with this solution. Robbing super now to protect cashflow in the present disminishes cashflow in the future.
Disappointingly initiatives such as Lifewise : whcih many insurance advisers don't seem to know about, to raise awareness about insurance, dispel myths and suggest strategies to mitigate the risks, seem under utilised and hence ineffective.
But the way forward may be technology.
Imagine a community of life insurance customers, positive claimants (99% of claimants by the way!!) all engaged with the insurance companies and advisers. That's a powerful community to spread the word and protect more families and businesses from the risks and reality of financial devastation.
Forging a community that thrives on dialogue and accessibility may be the key to and companies that lead the way will be well ahead of the curve.
This is sorely needed, the boom in SMSFs and the requirement to consider life insurance can only be effective if advisers in the SMSF space are true believers in insurance. At this stage this seems a wish rather than reality.
Why?
According to IBIS the top four industry participants in advice account for 54% of premiums. Think about who those advice players are and think about the usage of platform in those groups. The concentration is set to get higher and what comes with that is possibly a focus back to funds and transaction rather than pure risk advice from dedicated risk professionals as these groups struggle with the loss of the skills of life agents. As they ramp up there risk initiatives though maybe the power of numbers in their adviser force will be the solution?
Complexity needs addressing but key to addressing the issue we feel is:
- strong risk value propositions by advisers
- greater client engagement and involvement using technology
- a shift to advisers creating communities of clients
- insurers demystifying the process and collaborating with advisers to make insurance more accessible
Who is going to lead the pack?
Showing posts with label Market Research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Market Research. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
How our clients brains stop them making rational decisions
So you've written a great plan, an insurance strategy that is relevant, appropriate and desperately needed by your prospect and yet.....the response is...I'm not sure, I need to think about it.
Maslow offers us some great guidance on motivation and drive.
We at PCE would love to accept that positive view of people that analogy that cream rises to the top that people really do try to be the best that they can be.
For us the one of the greatest examples of Maslow's hierarchy working is Chris Gardner;think Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness.
Chris's journey and struggle to be the best he could be was Maslow personified.
But Maslow does not fit when you think of a client walking away from a sound financial plan. Maslow does not explain why someone who has it all still wants more. Maslow can't explain why your COI having engaged you does not continue to provide referrals. Maslow does not explain why people make decisions that appear and probably are totally irrational.
How you understand what is going on in someone's mind and why they make the decisions they do is really the key to positive client engagement.
It's what this website/blog is all about. It's about being the best you can be and being self aware enough that you can engage clients with honesty and genuine curiosity and sincerity.
It's about emotional intelligence and it's application.
As Golemon writes in his groundbreaking work, in 1995, it's about knowing yourself, managing yours and your clients emotions, motivation and understanding motivation, recognising emotions and motivations in your clients, building relationships, maintaining relationships.
People's ability to do this differs and PCE is about developing tools to assist.
But heres the big tip. Ready?
If you want a client to go through a process with you.......do it yourself first.
Go through the PDS and full out your own application. Do a fact find on yourself. Mind map your world on a single page. Get underwritten. Walk through your business with your clients eyes. How do you feel about that policy loading, about some of the personal questions on the application....did you answer the honestly ...really?
What about that fact find process.....how'd it feel.....fake, false, like you were a number.
Draw your family tree......
Examine the way you shop. The last holiday you went on ....did you use a travel agent ...or did you go online......do you value advice when it's your business but diminish the value of advice when it's someone's elses business.
Do you walk the talk?
Do you believe in what you sell? Can you state why you do what you do? Do you know who it is that you help, what problems they have and what you do about it and what your clients feel about what it is that you do?
Our brains have evolved from a brain stem that kept us alive and to this day still regulates all that is automatic.
The other systems that evolved have at their core an emotional centre, the limbic system that receives all the information that bombards us each day and attaches emotional markers to it before our pre frontal cortex makes that decision that we hope is rational but that is driven by experience and acquired knowledge.
What is key here is the emotions that we assign to things, that drive us that shut down rationale thought when the feelings are strong enough.
So how well do you engage your clients on an emotional level? Really? A fact find? What are you doing in your business to really connect with clients?
If you can answer and articulate and demonstrate that then you are well ahead of the curve. And on the way to positive client engagement.
Maslow offers us some great guidance on motivation and drive.
We at PCE would love to accept that positive view of people that analogy that cream rises to the top that people really do try to be the best that they can be.
For us the one of the greatest examples of Maslow's hierarchy working is Chris Gardner;think Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness.
Chris's journey and struggle to be the best he could be was Maslow personified.
But Maslow does not fit when you think of a client walking away from a sound financial plan. Maslow does not explain why someone who has it all still wants more. Maslow can't explain why your COI having engaged you does not continue to provide referrals. Maslow does not explain why people make decisions that appear and probably are totally irrational.
How you understand what is going on in someone's mind and why they make the decisions they do is really the key to positive client engagement.
It's what this website/blog is all about. It's about being the best you can be and being self aware enough that you can engage clients with honesty and genuine curiosity and sincerity.
It's about emotional intelligence and it's application.
As Golemon writes in his groundbreaking work, in 1995, it's about knowing yourself, managing yours and your clients emotions, motivation and understanding motivation, recognising emotions and motivations in your clients, building relationships, maintaining relationships.
People's ability to do this differs and PCE is about developing tools to assist.
But heres the big tip. Ready?
If you want a client to go through a process with you.......do it yourself first.
Go through the PDS and full out your own application. Do a fact find on yourself. Mind map your world on a single page. Get underwritten. Walk through your business with your clients eyes. How do you feel about that policy loading, about some of the personal questions on the application....did you answer the honestly ...really?
What about that fact find process.....how'd it feel.....fake, false, like you were a number.
Draw your family tree......
Examine the way you shop. The last holiday you went on ....did you use a travel agent ...or did you go online......do you value advice when it's your business but diminish the value of advice when it's someone's elses business.
Do you walk the talk?
Do you believe in what you sell? Can you state why you do what you do? Do you know who it is that you help, what problems they have and what you do about it and what your clients feel about what it is that you do?
Our brains have evolved from a brain stem that kept us alive and to this day still regulates all that is automatic.
The other systems that evolved have at their core an emotional centre, the limbic system that receives all the information that bombards us each day and attaches emotional markers to it before our pre frontal cortex makes that decision that we hope is rational but that is driven by experience and acquired knowledge.
What is key here is the emotions that we assign to things, that drive us that shut down rationale thought when the feelings are strong enough.
So how well do you engage your clients on an emotional level? Really? A fact find? What are you doing in your business to really connect with clients?
If you can answer and articulate and demonstrate that then you are well ahead of the curve. And on the way to positive client engagement.
Friday, 7 September 2012
Social Media For Financial Services - What You Need To Know
With the Financial Standard launching a scholarship to support financial advisers who are taking the lead in social media, http://www.financialstandard.com.au/smileys
PCE thought it worthwhile to look at some of the aspects of success in social media community building.
As fans of Gossieuax and Moran and others such as Iggy Pintado, looking at their research and writings makes sense for any one grappling with how and what they should be doing to engage clients via social media.
1) People trust people in their tribe.
As humans we have simply not evolved to engage with businesses who deliver to us content embedded with jargon and that is positioned to us in a way that portrays why dealing with said businesses is a good choice for us. What really matters are stories shared with us around the campfire. In other words we look to people we know and we trust to give us green light signals about our purchasing options and choices.
2) Building relationships is predicated and successful only when there is reciprocity.
A bond between people or indeed between people and a corporation is only successful if the bond is mutual which means there needs to be some give and take. In a social media sense this means that in order to engage a community you as the business need to bring something of value to the conversation / to the community.
3) People want to hear, read, see, experience what other people say about you, your services, your service encounters that you deliver.
It however is more than the what you do. People want to know and understand the why. Why is it that others have chosen to work with you. Testimonials are not enough. True engagement that is required is the power of the open forum. In essence an ongoing and virtual conversation about why you do what you do.
4)Forget traditional segmenting.
The financial planning business who talks to us about A,B,C and D segmenting based on revenue should forget about social media marketing.
What needs to occur is a mind shift in your business so that you explore and think about your clients in terms of the communities or using Gossieaux and Morans language the tribes you have in your client base and which tribes within your client base and beyond you would like to engage with.
5) Become truly customer focussed.
This means you need to assess your client service encounters and reshape them so that It speaks to the interests of your core identified communities.
6) To do that you need to listen.
Where is the community that your business can engage with value congregating? What interests do they have? What forums do they engage in? What are they saying?
7) Throw out the rule book.
Easier said than done. This means getting the people in your business to allocate time, budget and resources to placing emphasis on social media strategies. This requires a single dedicated and senior person in you business (senior in regard to hierarchy not necessarily age!) responsible for the strategy. It requires time to spend in forums to respond in a consistent customer focussed manner with alignment to the goal of the business that is importantly something the business can deliver on.
But let's make it clear that you can't do any of the above without the business knowing who it is they want to deal with, what problems those people and people in that community have, what it is that the business does for those people and the results that are provided. This is essentially your raison d'être.
Without that you will sadly get lost in the socia media clouds.
PCE thought it worthwhile to look at some of the aspects of success in social media community building.
As fans of Gossieuax and Moran and others such as Iggy Pintado, looking at their research and writings makes sense for any one grappling with how and what they should be doing to engage clients via social media.
1) People trust people in their tribe.
As humans we have simply not evolved to engage with businesses who deliver to us content embedded with jargon and that is positioned to us in a way that portrays why dealing with said businesses is a good choice for us. What really matters are stories shared with us around the campfire. In other words we look to people we know and we trust to give us green light signals about our purchasing options and choices.
2) Building relationships is predicated and successful only when there is reciprocity.
A bond between people or indeed between people and a corporation is only successful if the bond is mutual which means there needs to be some give and take. In a social media sense this means that in order to engage a community you as the business need to bring something of value to the conversation / to the community.
3) People want to hear, read, see, experience what other people say about you, your services, your service encounters that you deliver.
It however is more than the what you do. People want to know and understand the why. Why is it that others have chosen to work with you. Testimonials are not enough. True engagement that is required is the power of the open forum. In essence an ongoing and virtual conversation about why you do what you do.
4)Forget traditional segmenting.
The financial planning business who talks to us about A,B,C and D segmenting based on revenue should forget about social media marketing.
What needs to occur is a mind shift in your business so that you explore and think about your clients in terms of the communities or using Gossieaux and Morans language the tribes you have in your client base and which tribes within your client base and beyond you would like to engage with.
5) Become truly customer focussed.
This means you need to assess your client service encounters and reshape them so that It speaks to the interests of your core identified communities.
6) To do that you need to listen.
Where is the community that your business can engage with value congregating? What interests do they have? What forums do they engage in? What are they saying?
7) Throw out the rule book.
Easier said than done. This means getting the people in your business to allocate time, budget and resources to placing emphasis on social media strategies. This requires a single dedicated and senior person in you business (senior in regard to hierarchy not necessarily age!) responsible for the strategy. It requires time to spend in forums to respond in a consistent customer focussed manner with alignment to the goal of the business that is importantly something the business can deliver on.
But let's make it clear that you can't do any of the above without the business knowing who it is they want to deal with, what problems those people and people in that community have, what it is that the business does for those people and the results that are provided. This is essentially your raison d'être.
Without that you will sadly get lost in the socia media clouds.
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Marketing to your client base - set your expectations!
So you've decided to run a sales campaign, promote a new product, re-engage your client base with a new service offer, re-launch your business with a family advice offer to tap into the intergenerational opportunity or simply try and sell more products into your client base and increase the number of connections your clients have with you.
Let's suppose for arguments sake that faced with an opt-in regime and the need to clearly articulate your services you've designed a unique proposition for your clients. Perhaps you plan to engage your clients differently even positively with things like a lifestyle questionnaire or a wealth index.
How many people will adopt this new paradigm of service?
Turn to marketing 101 and understand the adoption of innovations and understand your client base.
Innovators - are who you should aim to target first. These people are typically adventurous, better educated, younger than the norm and financially stable. Who are these clients in your data base? They will be small in number perhaps 2.5% of your clients.
Hence don't expect huge numbers to beat down a path to your door in these initial days.
But don't give up, the next segment you need to target are the early adopters. These people like to be socially accepted and your marketing needs to speak to that need so tailor your communications accordingly. It's worth it as these 13.5% will reap significant rewards for your efforts.
Next who in your data base are the middle class, deliberate and cautious clients, with above average education and income but need something that is proven - tried and tested. This is when you change your marketing message to use social proof that is tell them stories that this has worked well with clients you have already worked with.
This retake on your marketing - version 3 as it stands is worth the effort as typically they make up the next 34%.
So the messages you need:
version 1 - it's cuttng edge, new and a different way of doing things.
version 2 - this is working and there are opportunities to be part of it.
version 3 - this really works and we have proven results for you to examine.
So be it a new holistic way of engaging your clients. A cutting edge product or service. Or a relaunch of your business - tailoring your message and carefully selecting your targets from your client base not only works but is crucial to your success. Knowing what to expect as above will help you keep motivation to keep pushing ahead with your innovation!
Let's suppose for arguments sake that faced with an opt-in regime and the need to clearly articulate your services you've designed a unique proposition for your clients. Perhaps you plan to engage your clients differently even positively with things like a lifestyle questionnaire or a wealth index.
How many people will adopt this new paradigm of service?
Turn to marketing 101 and understand the adoption of innovations and understand your client base.
Innovators - are who you should aim to target first. These people are typically adventurous, better educated, younger than the norm and financially stable. Who are these clients in your data base? They will be small in number perhaps 2.5% of your clients.
Hence don't expect huge numbers to beat down a path to your door in these initial days.
But don't give up, the next segment you need to target are the early adopters. These people like to be socially accepted and your marketing needs to speak to that need so tailor your communications accordingly. It's worth it as these 13.5% will reap significant rewards for your efforts.
Next who in your data base are the middle class, deliberate and cautious clients, with above average education and income but need something that is proven - tried and tested. This is when you change your marketing message to use social proof that is tell them stories that this has worked well with clients you have already worked with.
This retake on your marketing - version 3 as it stands is worth the effort as typically they make up the next 34%.
So the messages you need:
version 1 - it's cuttng edge, new and a different way of doing things.
version 2 - this is working and there are opportunities to be part of it.
version 3 - this really works and we have proven results for you to examine.
So be it a new holistic way of engaging your clients. A cutting edge product or service. Or a relaunch of your business - tailoring your message and carefully selecting your targets from your client base not only works but is crucial to your success. Knowing what to expect as above will help you keep motivation to keep pushing ahead with your innovation!
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Invaluable Consumer Insights - "How we'd like our financial adviser to engage"
So if you've been a reader of our posts you may be thinking these writings are a bit left of centre, that you have a process for engaging clients in your financial services, financial planning, insurance business and it works just fine.
That's great!
So I need to ask you something.
Can you self assess your process against the following wants of clients?
Recently we conducted some focus groups with consumers on a range of brand recognition issues(in respect to financial services companies) and engagement perceptions by insurance advisers and financial planners.
We found brand recognition high for the 2 major players in the domestic market in respect to the fact that these two AMP and MLC were immediately associated with financial advice. Product recognition was high for BT and Colonial First State but the associated financial planning groups were not recognised.
The major banks had a high degree of recognition for lending services but low recognition with financial advice and the perceived quality of that advice.
In regard to engagement this is what the consumers said they wanted:
- "I want an adviser that shows they are interested in my situation and what I need"
- "I want to understand how what products they recommend are actually going to make a difference to my family"
- " I do not want off the shelf advice, I want it personalised"
- I want the adviser to know what is important to me, before they give me advice" - " I want them to know me, not just my financials"
- "If they can't connect the strategy to my life goals, then I think they miss the point"
- "I feel like I'm being sold something that's standard I don't understand how it's for me"
- "I don't care about generic newsletters in a service offer, I want something that is relevant to me"
- "I got some advice, I couldn't understand it, the report was 100 pages long, it was just a computer programme with my name on the front. Then they asked me to refer family and friends, they are kidding themselves"
-"My mortgage guy knows more about me and my family than my adviser ever could. The guy who did my loans has been to my house, he knows how I live and what sort of people we are"
So, how much do you know about your clients? How relevant and meaningful are your recommendations? What does you advice - written reports - statements of advice - look like, read like?
Still comfortable with your process?
That's great!
So I need to ask you something.
Can you self assess your process against the following wants of clients?
Recently we conducted some focus groups with consumers on a range of brand recognition issues(in respect to financial services companies) and engagement perceptions by insurance advisers and financial planners.
We found brand recognition high for the 2 major players in the domestic market in respect to the fact that these two AMP and MLC were immediately associated with financial advice. Product recognition was high for BT and Colonial First State but the associated financial planning groups were not recognised.
The major banks had a high degree of recognition for lending services but low recognition with financial advice and the perceived quality of that advice.
In regard to engagement this is what the consumers said they wanted:
- "I want an adviser that shows they are interested in my situation and what I need"
- "I want to understand how what products they recommend are actually going to make a difference to my family"
- " I do not want off the shelf advice, I want it personalised"
- I want the adviser to know what is important to me, before they give me advice" - " I want them to know me, not just my financials"
- "If they can't connect the strategy to my life goals, then I think they miss the point"
- "I feel like I'm being sold something that's standard I don't understand how it's for me"
- "I don't care about generic newsletters in a service offer, I want something that is relevant to me"
- "I got some advice, I couldn't understand it, the report was 100 pages long, it was just a computer programme with my name on the front. Then they asked me to refer family and friends, they are kidding themselves"
-"My mortgage guy knows more about me and my family than my adviser ever could. The guy who did my loans has been to my house, he knows how I live and what sort of people we are"
So, how much do you know about your clients? How relevant and meaningful are your recommendations? What does you advice - written reports - statements of advice - look like, read like?
Still comfortable with your process?
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