It is all very well selling a policy - but if it lapses it does nobody any good. Toni Smith examines retention strategies.
It is likely that after missing a payment the client may well need a bit more TLC and contact; as if a client has lapsed their policy without telling you it indicates that your relationship with them is not as strong as it should be and therefore needs building up.
It is also a clear indicator of a life changing experience which would suggest that it may not just be a client’s protection policies that you need to look at but that they may be in need of a whole financial review.
The average life of a policy is around seven years, but there are increasing numbers of policies lapsing within the first four years. Now this may be because a client has changed or updated their policy, but it’s still something you need to be aware of so that you stay in touch with a client for the life of the policy.
A strong Bond
The best way to make sure that if a client stops paying or changes their policy it is with your advice and guidance, is to keep in touch with them and maintain a strong relationship.
If you really get to know them and create a relationship of mutual trust then you will be the first person they go to when something happens and you are less likely to lose them to another adviser as they will be much more likely to call you than anyone else.
Meeting with your clients at least once a year seems to be a minimum contact level. In between time it’s necessary to provide clients with ongoing communication to ensure that they know what you offer, of any additional services you can provide and to help remind them why they took out their policies and the importance of keeping them.
Regular communication can be by an email or a newsletter; ideally you will use a smart CRM system to segment your clients according to what policies they have and then you can tailor your communication directly to that client.
It shouldn’t be an arduous task; there is a wealth of marketing information that you can use, either from your network if you’re part of one or from the life providers.
While it is not nice to remind people of the painful events in life, people do die and they do get critical illnesses and a case study can work wonders in reminding people that unfortunate events do happen and reminding them why they have taken out the policies that they have.
It is the unexpected events that catch people out. We can plan for a baby or to move house and it is easy to think that a stroke or a heart attack will not happen to us, especially if we’re young. A few well timed statistics can help bring home just how often it does happen.
I’m sure none of us would like to be on the receiving end of a call after the worst has happened when your client is asking you why you didn’t make sure they were protected. By making sure your client stays protected, whenever their circumstances change you could be doing them a very positive service.
Toni Smith is sales operations director, First Complete
