With half a million workers suffering from job-related stress and HSE guidelines urging employers to honour their duty of care, intermediaries could be missing a trick, says David Wilson
Working in partnership with a provider can offer many mutual benefits, resulting, not only in an increase in business for the provider, but also an increase in confidence and ongoing sales for the adviser.
There is evidence to suggest that when providers do offer comprehensive marketing support and advice, it helps brokers to better understand and market their products - effectively generating more sales.
Understanding the needs of intermediaries should be a priority for cash plan providers and organisations should work hard to meet a wide range of brokers and listen to their requirements.
Unfortunately, many intermediaries feel short changed by insurers who have been happy to encourage them to sell their products but have given them little in the way of marketing support or information to help them do this effectively.
Education
Cash plan providers can help by informing and educating their intermediary contacts and keeping them up to date with the latest health news and industry debate. An understanding of the key healthcare issues facing clients will also go a long way in helping intermediaries to better market their products.
According to a recent Government report, it has been estimated that absence due to sickness costs around £12bn each year, which can have a damaging effect on the bottom line of many businesses.
Companies of all sizes and industry sectors are being affected, and many more are now measuring the impact of this absence and understand the adverse effect it can have on the productivity and profitability of their business.
Around half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress at levels they believe are making them ill, and up to five million people feel "very" or "extremely" stressed by their work.
Furthermore, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines have made healthcare a priority for employers. These 'duty of care' responsibilities have forced employers to look in detail at their healthcare strategies and ensure appropriate measures are in place to look after employee wellbeing in the workplace.
Improvements
In a business culture where stress is having more of a financial impact on companies of all sizes and from a range of industries, it is becoming a necessity to develop a healthier business environment, including appropriate and robust products, processes and frameworks.
An increasing number of organisations are adopting Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), embracing flexible working policies and introducing wellbeing initiatives to help proactively address HSE guidelines. A healthcare cash plan is an affordable way to help employers meet their legal requirements.
Healthcare cash plan policyholders can claim money back towards the cost of a wide range of everyday essential healthcare treatments such as a check-up or filling at the dentist, an eye test or new glasses or contact lenses at the optician, a health screening, specialist consultation cover and much more.
Healthcare issues are constantly in the news and employee benefits are increasingly in demand as pressure grows for companies to control sickness absence levels, recruit effectively and meet duty of care responsibilities.
Healthcare costs also continue to increase and free treatment is becoming less easily accessible on the NHS, especially for everyday healthcare - so there are more reasons than ever why people fail to get prompt treatment.
This can allow more acute problems to develop, involving more complex treatments and longer time off work. Employers need to take steps to promote good health within the workplace and banish barriers to treatment.
These issues have made the corporate sector a key business driver for intermediaries over the course of the last 12 months.
A combination of market demand, industry issues and innovative new products has stimulated interest in company paid products and driven a significant increase in business for brokers that looks set to continue.
It is important that intermediaries have a full knowledge of all of these issues and understand how they can use them to advise their clients and help them make informed decisions about cover for health and stress-related sickness absence.
Advice
IFAs should follow the tips below to help better market healthcare cash plans to their clients:
n Say the right things to the right people - it is important to know the target audience. Find out what each target client's concerns are. Clients may not be aware of cash plans but, by understanding their needs, intermediaries can identify the key issues for them in their industry and suggest a product or package to help suit their requirements.
n Build a website - websites work all day every day and it is easy to set one up.
n Keep clients posted - intermediaries should mail clients and prospects regularly with details of their full range of services. According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the most effective direct mail pieces comprise four or five separate items.
n Emails bring sales - regular emails are a cheap and effective way to keep in touch with clients and prospects to remind them about cash plans.
n Upgrade existing business - brokers need to keep talking to clients and then they will think of the intermediary when they need something new. It is worth regularly visiting clients to ensure that the broker remains at the forefront of the clients' mind for any other products that they may be interested in.
n Make the most of existing contacts - advisers should contact existing clients where they have successfully sold other products and introduce them to healthcare cash plans.
n Target individuals - 'recommend a friend' campaigns are renowned for producing the best leads.
n If people leave, go with them - people move on but that does not mean intermediaries have to lose their business. Ask each client company to provide you with a monthly list of leavers.
Many advisers are not aware of the benefits that healthcare cash plans offer but there are a number of reasons why advisers should look to these products to bolster their earning potential.
A healthcare cash plan can offer advisers a long-sustained income, rather than a one-off payment. This is because the commission that can be earned as a result of the sale of a healthcare cash plan lasts for the lifetime of the policy.
Some healthcare cash plan providers also offer up to 20% commission on all company paid business.
David Wilson is intermediary manger at HealthSure
