We have all likely heard the usual sayings about time, most of them guiding us to not spend too much time on one particular thing, or on things that aren't important to us...
All of the above are true in their own way, and all wise words when it comes to saving time on the less important things in life, where our time may be better spent elsewhere. Maybe you've even decided by now to not spend any more time reading this article!
We all are also likely to say that we "don't have enough time"... so naturally we want to spend as much time as possible on the things that are most important to us. So, in our personal lives our family, our favourite hobbies etc. And in our work, most of us would want to spend our time on the parts of our role that we enjoy most, or where we can add the most value. And that's fair enough... again, completely natural to think that way.
Today I wanted to share my thoughts around Protection advice, and time. What I do know from my time in my previous role as a Senior Protection Consultant at LV=, working closely with financial advisers to help develop and support their Protection businesses, is that the biggest and most common challenge advisers have in talking to their customers about Protection was (yes, you've guessed it)... time. And in my first month in my new role as Head of Protection Desk at New Leaf (a family run, independent network of approx. 250 partner advisers), I now have an even closer insight into just how busy an adviser's day is!
To start with, I want to get it out there right now that I am not saying there is a universally right or wrong way to view the amount of time an adviser spends in their Protection advice journey with their customers (and that's if they have any spare time in their busy roles to be able to talk to their customers about Protection at all!)... what follows is only my opinion, and I totally respect that other people's opinions may be different to my own.
Having spent my first month at New Leaf working with a brilliant team of people to build our new Protection Desk (a specialist Protection advice team that our partner advisers can refer their customers to, for us to look after their Protection needs), the one thing I've not had too much of is time... it's been busy, but good busy! However, there is one part of my role whilst we are busy building this team where I have made sure that I pause, slow down, and 'invest my time', and that is with our customers that I have had the pleasure, and responsibility, of advising.
My personal view is that when it comes to something as specialist as Protection advice, the time spent with customers (listening, understanding, building a relationship), the time spent carrying out thorough research to make sure they are recommended the right products for their needs, and the time then spent talking through these options with them, so that they fully understand what the products are, what they do, and how they can help them and their families in the future if needed... this time is incredibly important to them. And if the customer needs more time to think about these options, to make sure that they are right for them, with the adviser at hand any time to answer questions that their customers have... this time is just as important too. Whether that takes two or three appointments, and maybe even a few short phone calls in-between to answer customers questions, all of that time is important to make for the customer.
The reality is that the result of this time invested, in getting things right, can make a life changing difference to a customer (and/or their family, or business) in their moment of potentially their biggest ever need; when they are in seriously poor health, or maybe worse and they are not here anymore. This is one of the key reasons that I believe that the right amount of time (for the customer, not the adviser) should be given (invested) during the Protection advice journey, to make sure that what has been recommended and put in place does exactly what it needs to do in a customer's greatest moment of need, at claim... the 'moment of truth'.
... on the flip side of that, getting things wrong (or not as right as they could have been), by not taking the right time... this can mean that the outcome for the customer is not what it should have been, when the financial, emotional, and practical support that a well advised (with the right time taken) Protection product offers, may not be there for a customer or their family at a time when they need it most.
There are many reasons why some advisers may not have the right amount of time to invest with their customers when talking about Protection... it may be a mortgage adviser already working as much as they possibly can sorting out mortgages for their customers... it may be a wealth adviser who is already working as many hours as they can planning investment and retirement options for their customers.
It may be an advice firm who's sales process is to try and do everything in one appointment, meaning that in some instances (not all) that they just can't provide all of their customers with as much time as each individual customer needs. Of course though, if everything can be done in one appointment then that's amazing, and I do know of some fantastic advisers who use this process, and have protected lots and lots of families and businesses... but, I don't believe that this can be the case all of the time (especially for lesser experienced advisers) which in turn means that there are some customers who are missing out on the best possible advice.
My own personal view is that is better to take the time to give the best advice that you possibly can, even if that takes two or three appointments, to make sure that the outcome when a customer truly needs what they have been advised on and recommended is the absolute right and best outcome for them and their family... especially when that advice given is linked to things so significantly important to each customer and their family, such as their mortgage on their home, their income, their partners financial future, their children's futures etc.
Can that outcome be achieved if the adviser is so busy with their other work that they have little (if any) time to talk about Protection?
And I've not even mentioned the adviser maybe needing further time to talk about trusts, and the additional time that this very important part of Protection advice adds.
As I say, this is just my view, and there will be advisers out there with more experience with customers than I have, but it's the one thing that has jumped out at me in my time in my new role, but also from years spent working closely with advisers in my previous role as a Protection Consultant... those advisers that spent the time needed with their customers generally gave the most thorough advice, and I am very confident that they also gave their customers the best chance of the support needed that a well advised, thorough Protection recommendation provides when it truly matters, in their customers moment of need.
As well as resulting most importantly in better customer outcomes, doesn't the right time spent and invested in their customers talking about Protection also then enhance that adviser's reputation and value as an adviser, and the value and reputation of their business? (with the accompanied increase in commercial benefits to them too).
I also know that the focus Protection providers rightfully have on an adviser's overall quality of Protection business, including persistency, has never been higher (both of which will be improved by taking the right amount of time with every customer). This focus is for a variety of reasons, including the direct impact it has on their own reinsurance rates (which ultimately impacts the cost of Protection to customers). So, everyone really does benefit all round from the increased quality of advice that spending the right amount of time needed with customers results in.
My personal message from this is that if you are advising on Protection then put 'time' somewhere near the very top of your list when it comes to what you offer your customers. It is something that we have at the very top of our list of priorities at the New Leaf Protection Desk, and I will personally be making sure that it always stays in that place.
And if you can't make the right amount of time available for your customers when talking to them about Protection then, if you're not already, why not let a Protection Specialist talk to your customers for you? There are some absolutely fantastic ones around who I've worked with or heard great things about... if you don't know of any yourself then ask around to see if any other advisers know one... or if you're part of a network then I'm fairly sure that they will be able to tell you of a Protection Specialist within their advisers that you could speak to who would happily spend their time helping you and your customers to get them the right Protection in place. A small number of the other networks also have their own Protection Desk too, and I'd highly recommend using it if they do and if it is right for you and your customers.
... and of course, if you are reading this and you are a New Leaf partner adviser then please do contact me and I'd love to talk to you about how the New Leaf Protection Desk that you have available to you can help!
To me the Protection Desk model is a no brainer... and when I spoke to Mark Hobbs (New Leaf network Principal and founder) and Dan Hobbs (network MD) at New Leaf about the idea of a Protection Desk last year before I joined them, their first questions were not 'why?', or 'how?', or 'what's the cost?'... instead, recognising the benefits immediately to their partner advisers, and their adviser's customers (who are of course New Leaf's customers), their first question was "how soon can we do it?"...
The answer; I joined New Leaf on the 4th January this year, and thanks to the amazing team that we have here, within a few weeks we had everything set up behind the scenes, meetings set up with the numerous New Leaf partner advisers, an online referral/case tracking system built, a clear and transparent sales process and customer journey (which is of course flexible to suit the customer's needs), and within 18 working days we had our first referred Protection case Live and on risk... and just to help emphasise my point about taking time with customers...
... this first referred case that is now Live was for a young couple, with three children, a new mortgage, and no Protection in place... and, working to a budget, over the course of three Zoom meetings, and a few short phone calls in-between to answer their questions, this young family now have in place;
And, once the employed parent has had their pending knee surgery they will also have;
Would this level of Protection (four very much needed policies) for a family have been achieved by an adviser who was super busy with either mortgages or wealth business and stretched for time? Or an adviser who was looking to get everything sorted in one appointment? Maybe. Maybe not. Or maybe they would just have ended up with Life cover for their mortgage as far too many people only end up with.
Did our Protection Desk, spending the time this family needed, increase the chances of achieving this level or Protection and financial support for them and their children if needed in the future? Definitely.
(top prize of a 'celebrate/applause' emoji for the first person to spot & comment on the unintended Oasis reference in the two paragraphs above!).
Our customers are relying on us to make sure that theirs and their family's financial futures are protected (just like the young family mentioned above)... that should they or their families ever need to rely on the financial, emotional and practical support that Protection products can provide that it is there for them at what may be one of the most significant and life changing moments in their lives...
So please let's all give them the amount of time that they need, and if you are unable to (for whatever reason), then allow them that time with someone who's role is to focus and spend as long as is needed on that very important thing that we call Protection.
Lastly, if you made it to the end of this article then thank you for your time, and I hope that in some way you've find it useful, even if it's just to re-think for a moment how much of your time you would like to, or can, invest with your customers and your Protection conversations with them.
PS. for anyone who's wondering how many times the word 'time' was used in this article about time, the answer is 60...completely by accident/coincidence the same number of seconds in a minute, and minutes in an hour.. spooky!