Andy Marshall
Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) has given financial advisers a new way to enhance their client engagement experience with the launch of its new Wealth Index tool.
The tool, which sits within Zurich’s Adviser Flipchart app, allows advisers to create their own custom, client-facing surveys on a range of specialist areas including insurance, estate planning, superannuation, and investments that can be shared with clients via a simple online link.
These bespoke surveys – which can be completed on any mobile device within two minutes – are designed to allow individuals to ‘self-assess’ their preparedness and literacy across different aspects of their finances. The inputs are then used to calculate a score or ‘index’, effectively identifying those areas where the individual may need expert advice.
Zurich’s Head of Sales Strategy and Research, Andy Marshall says with the Life Insurance Framework (LIF) changes looming, it is imperative for advisers to consider reaching out to new clients by utilising new technologies and working styles.
“The initial adviser feedback around the LIF changes is that many will seek to access new types of clients and become more efficient in their client engagement process”, said Mr. Marshall.
“For advisers, having an automated or ‘robo’ tool like the Wealth Index to equip them with information such as the type of cover, level of debt, and knowledge – or lack thereof – of their clients’ sum insured prior to the first meeting could be a game-changer.
“The new tool not only increases client engagement from the very beginning of the advice journey, it also maximises efficiency for both the adviser and client by setting the adviser up with a clear point of discussion and practical ways to work with the client and demonstrate value long before they’ve even walked in the door.”
Mr. Marshall says adoption of automated technologies like the Wealth Index is more important than ever for advisers, as attracting and retaining clients is becoming increasingly complex.
“The way clients are now consuming their information and interacting with businesses is definitely changing. For advisers looking to maintain success into the future, they need to be rethinking who their ‘typical’ client is, how they behave, and how best to communicate with them”, said Mr. Marshall.
“For example, Zurich’s recent research whitepaper, ‘Connected Convenience’, prepared in conjunction with the AFA and the Beddoes Institute, shows that not only are financial advice clients more digitally active than the general public, that usage is strong across all age segments, not just younger clients as may be assumed”.
The Wealth Index tool gives advisers the flexibility to choose not only the design of the survey but also how they share the survey with their clients, depending on their business needs and target market. The survey link can be distributed via social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, or in direct emails, company newsletters, or housed directly on their website.
Zurich has also designed the tool with a prompt for clients to on-share with their wider social networks to help expand advisers’ referral reach.
Mr. Marshall says non-automated forms of the Wealth Index have been used with advisers for over 10 years now, with extremely positive results.
“A number of financial advisers have been using paper forms of the tool to increase referrals from accounting and mortgage professionals for years, including my time as an adviser which helped convert my prospects to SOA by 90 per cent.”
“Additionally, the Wealth Index is not just for onboarding clients. It is also a simple and efficient way for advisers to reconnect, and potentially reassess the cover, of their C and D clients, who in the past have received little to no ongoing contact at all”, said Mr. Marshall.
For existing users, the Wealth Index expansion is now live within Zurich’s FlipChart app. New users can download the app at http://adviserflipchart.com.
