Kathryn Creasy

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has announced the winners of the 2021 FPA Awards.

Now in its ninth year, the FPA Awards recognises exceptional financial planners, paraplanners, university students and FPA Professional Practices from across Australia.

The awards also celebrate the individuals and businesses who go above and beyond to deliver outstanding results for clients and give back to the community.

The winner of the coveted “FPA CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional of the Year Award” is Kathryn Creasy CFP® of Capital Partners in West Perth. The award acknowledges Kathryn’s outstanding approach to providing comprehensive financial planning advice to her clients but also her passion for mentoring those within her team and the broader profession.

FPA CEO Dante De Gori CFP® said: “Kathryn exemplifies our FPA membership as a modern professional financial planner. She is a shining example to all those that are considering a career in financial planning and the life-changing difference our work can make with a client.”

The winner of the “FPA Professional Practice of the Year Award” is Sydney-based Apt Wealth (NSW). The judges commented that it’s not easy to establish and be recognised as one of the 2021 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work in financial services.

Winning the “FPA Financial Planner AFP® of the Year Award” for 2021 is Leanne Bielik AFP® of 2020 Wealth PTY LTD (VIC). The judges noted that Leanne has paved the way to help those in need in the community get the help and support only a professional financial planner can provide them throughout the pandemic. Leanne also spends time in online communities supporting single mothers and clients who have had previous poor advice outcomes to get back on track.

The winner of the “FPA Advice Innovation Award” is Daniel Thompson AFP® of FINNACLE (NSW). The award was introduced last year to recognise members who have automated their advice process or used technology in new ways to engage with clients and/or deliver advice. Daniel has taken a blank piece of paper approach and an agile mindset to create a novel subscription based advice service. Through testing and improving constantly, Daniel and his team have created an innovative, affordable and easily accessible advice business for the benefit of his clients.

The “FPA Paraplanner of the Year Award” was given to Andrew Mann CFP® of Tupicoffs (QLD). The judges commented that Andrew is an example of what it is to excel in one’s craft. This award is a celebration of Andrew’s career and excellence in paraplanning, particularly his ability to be engaging, pulling complex threads together in such a way that embraces the client’s capacity to absorb information, and deal with matters that are important to the client.

The winner of the “FPA University Student of the Year Award” is Nicole Gardner of Kaplan Professional (VIC). Nicole has forged successful careers in journalism and in the banking sector. Inspired by the financial hardship that a close relative endured, she was determined to become a financial planner and to work hard to ensure that women and those entering aged care are financially educated and set up for success. She is now achieving a high standard of academic achievement whilst working in the financial planning profession and supporting a family.

The winner of the “FPA Community Service Award” supported by the Future2 Foundation is Peter O’Connell CFP® (VIC). The judging panel said that Peter has been a strong supporter of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation in the Ballarat and Western Victoria area. For the past 15 years he has provided financial literacy education advice to the Indigenous community. He also supports the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation with their accounting and financial planning requirements.

The FPA gratefully acknowledges the time and expertise provided by the 2021 FPA judging panel:

Certified Financial Planner of the Year
Alison Henderson CFP®
David Sharpe CFP®
Marisa Broome CFP®

Financial Planner AFP of the Year
Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP®
Ben Marshan CFP®
Nat Daley AFP®

FPA Professional Planner of the Year
Diana D’Ambra
Julie Matheson CFP®
Neil Kendall CFP®

FPA Advice Innovation Award
Ben Marshan CFP®
Andy Marshall
Fraser Jack

FPA Paraplanner of the Year Award
William Johns CFP®
Vicky Ampoulos
Mark O’Toole CFP®

FPA University Student of the Year
Anne Palmer FPA
Diana Bugarcic – TAFE NSW
Vicky Ampoulos

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Zacary Leeson

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has announced the winners of the 2020 FPA Awards.

Now in its eighth year, the FPA Awards recognises exceptional financial planners, paraplanners, university students and FPA Professional Practices from across Australia.

The awards also celebrate the individuals and businesses who go above and beyond to deliver outstanding results for clients and give back to the community.

The winner of the coveted FPA CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional of the Year Award is Zacary Leeson CFP® of HPH Solutions in WA. The award acknowledges Zacary’s positive impact on the lives of his clients, as well as his inspirational work in the community through the charity, Leading Youth Forward.

FPA CEO Dante De Gori CFP® said: “Zacary exemplifies our FPA membership as a modern professional financial planner who is client dedicated, university educated and an experienced CFP professional.  Zacary’s passion for the value of advice and his confidence shone through his presentation to the FPA Awards judges. He’s an incredible role model for young financial planners.”

The winner of the FPA Professional Practice of the Year Award is WA-based HPH Solutions (WA). The judges commented that the team at HPH Solutions embody the essence of a true FPA Professional Practice and said that the leaders and staff should be congratulated for the valued work they undertake for their new and loyal clients.

Winning the FPA Financial Planner AFP® of the Year Award for 2020 is Nat Daley AFP® of Hard Line Wealth (NSW). The judges noted that Nat demonstrated his premise of health, love and wealth in everything that he does – from the advice he provides his clients to the way he has established and developed his business with his partners.

This year, the FPA introduced a new FPA Advice Innovation Award to recognise members who have automated their advice process or used technology in new ways to engage with clients and/or deliver advice. The inaugural winner of this award is Corey Wastle CFP® of Verse Wealth (VIC). Corey and the team at Verse Wealth foster a culture of continual innovation, an incredible focus on attention to detail and a drive to continuously improve their business by removing inefficiencies and pain points in their advice process.

The FPA Paraplanner of the Year Award was given to Emma Zwaan of Capital Partners Private Wealth Advisers (WA). The judges commented that Emma’s Statement of Advice (SOA) submission showed an ability to adapt the communication style towards the client’s situation and articulate how the client is put in a better position as a result of the advice.  Emma also demonstrated technical, research and strategic skills in all areas.

The joint winners of the FPA University Student of the Year Award are Miles Kitt of Charles Sturt University and Anthony White of TAFE NSW. Miles showed an outstanding commitment to academic studies and a wide perspective on current issues, as well as a passion for helping people improve their situation. Anthony served as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force for many years, and as a part of his counselling responsibilities, he became aware of the impacts that financial stress can have on individuals. Now a veteran, Anthony is focused on becoming a financial planner and supporting wounded veterans through the Department of Veteran Affairs system, entitlements process, and Military Super program, as they enter civilian life.

The winner of the FPA Community Service Award supported by the Future2 Foundation is Shane Hayes of Family Aged Care Advocates (NSW). The judging panel said that Shane’s dedication to the profession and his support of the Future2 Foundation is inspirational.  Shane displays an amazing amount of humility and passion when he speaks of how our profession can make a difference to everyday Australians.

The FPA gratefully acknowledges the time and expertise provided by the 2020 FPA judging panel:

• Mark Alexander CFP®
• Naomi Alletson AFP®
• Vicky Ampoulos
• David Andrew AFP®
• Jason Andriessen CFP®
• Jason Andriessen AFP®
• Marisa Broome CFP®
• Diana Burgarcic
• Susie Erratt CFP®
• Giles Gunesekera
• Andrew Harris CFP®
• Alison Henderson CFP®
• Fran Hughes CFP®
• Fraser Jack
• William Johns CFP®
• Gary Jones AFP®
• Todd Kennedy CFP®
• Andy Marshall
• Ben Marshan CFP®
• Mark O’Toole CFP®
• Anne Palmer
• David Sharpe CFP®
• Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP®
• Sharon Taylor
• Phillip Win CFP®.

Photographs and a video reel featuring the 2020 FPA Award winners are available on the FPA website visit

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Andy Marshall

IOOF Alliances has partnered with specialist AFSL compliance firm Integrity Compliance to provide a range of AFSL support for IOOF Alliances members, including ccess to Integrity’s own GRC software.  This solution has been launched to IOOF Alliances members to help the businesses efficiently manage their AFSL compliance requirements.

IOOF Alliances offers a broad range of dealer support services to self-licensed advice businesses which highlights IOOF’s overall support and commitment to the advice industry to improving the quality and accessibility of financial advice for all Australians.

IOOF Alliances exists to help ensure AFSLs have the resources and capabilities to chart their own course in client service and delivery. We are able to deliver market-leading services by tapping into the considerable knowledge and resources of both the wider IOOF group and external consultants.

Andy Marshall, National Manager of IOOF Alliances, explains the rationale behind the new offering, “Our recent survey* of self-licensed advice businesses revealed that self-licensed AFSLs are focussed on rigorous compliance and effectiveness in managing their compliance requirements.  Having access to a technology solution provides our members with enormous robustness and certainty for their compliance processes”.

Rhett Das, Director Integrity Compliance said, “In light of today’s regulatory environment, it is now more important than ever to ensure that your AFSL is meeting 100% of its obligations. The GRC software allows you to record, manage and potentially mitigate your risks through the combination of having visibility and access to your data combined with efficient and repeatable business processes. As an example of this, imagine if your advisers could be assigned additional eLearning or remediation immediately upon an event such as an audit result or an entry into a compliance register. It’s these processes together with continual improvement that go a long way to maintaining the compliance of your AFSL.”

Other areas identified in the IOOF Alliances survey showed a strong desire for improved advice processes and client engagement efficiencies using technology, while business growth is front of mind for the self-licenced advice businesses.  IOOF Alliances members are currently trialling new advice software, and several initiatives around business growth strategies and technology are at various stages of deployment within the Alliances member AFSLs.

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Andy Marshall

According to a survey of self-licensed businesses in the IOOF Alliances network, advisers are looking for practical tools and expertise to gain efficiencies in advice delivery, compliance and client engagement.

“Easy to implement client engagement tools are seen as a much-needed resource to engage the modern client” said Andy Marshall, National Manager IOOF Alliances.

To support its member firms in this area, IOOF Alliances recently launched a suite of new client engagement tools and templates that cover brand positioning, pricing methodologies, client psychology and an end-to-end client experience assessment to identify opportunities for enhancing the client journey.

“Our tools and templates are highly practical, allowing our member firms to put them into practice quickly and easily” said Marshall.
Respondents also expressed a desire for solutions to be delivered within an engaged and interactive community of other self-licensed businesses.  These findings suggest that while charting their own course, peer-based learning is highly desired by self-licensed businesses.

Peer-based learning is especially desired to gain insight as to how best-of-breed solutions – such as managed accounts, fintech engagement and family advice – can be used to fulfil clients’ best interests.

“Hearing how other self-licensed businesses have successfully developed and articulated their best-of-breed solutions is of enormous benefit to our member firms” said Marshall.

“Self-licensed businesses may be fiercely independent, but they all strive for above-average client engagement scores and profitability, often achieving Net Promoter Scores in the 90s and EBITs of above 50” said Marshall.  “Facilitating knowledge sharing amongst its member firms is one way that IOOF Alliances helps self-licensed businesses maintain these metrics in the face of changing customer profiles and increased regulatory requirements”.

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Mark Sinclair

Mentor Education founder and MD Dr Mark Sinclair has announced an exclusive technology alliance and partnership with Suitebox. Mentor Education is leading the way in the financial services sector with a best of breed approach for the delivery and assessment of education and training programs.

Financial Planners must become more tech savvy. The new generation of advisors will be digital natives, using technology they take for granted. The Suitebox alliance brings together excellence in education and technology.

The first Mentor training programs to be supported under Stage 1 of the Suitebox alliance are the Higher Education Programs; the Bachelor of Financial Planning and the Masters of Financial Planning. Stage 2 will introduce Suitebox to VET students studying the Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning.

Stage 3 is anticipated to provide an education portal available to students, the financial planning community and educators to promote and engage involvement in the development of new initiatives in financial services education.

Units of study at all levels will be supported with Suitebox in real practice and encompass all aspects of not just ‘best’ practice but ‘next’ practice in the fact-finding process, meetings, document management, recording of transactions, securely signing documents, the Complex Statement of Advice and other financial planning recording and reporting.

Commenting further, Dr Sinclair said without doubt, the use and effective application of technology is the ‘game changer’ in the provision of financial advice in the post FOFA LIF era.

“Not only will technology improve and enhance client/adviser interaction, engagement and capacity, it will do so with adherence to the highest standards of compliance, record keeping and cost effectiveness”.

Both Dr Sinclair and Mentor Education Chairman & Non-Executive Director Dr Jim Taggart OAM are adamant that now more than ever, time is the currency of the future. Time is the factor that impacts the most on the provision of advice and the efficient profitable running of a financial advice business.

To meet the needs of now and future markets, advisers need to embrace and use technology to ensure the long term financial success of their businesses. Unfortunately, those advisers that continue to cling to outdated practices of the past will find their careers cut short with unsaleable businesses that will fail to attract a buyer.

Suitebox Head of Sales for Asia Pacific, Mr Andy Marshall said Mentor was a natural fit as the group sought a partner that would support its endeavours to meet the advice needs of the modern client. “Mentor has as its mantra education and great outcomes for advisers and their clients and ticked all our boxes as the preeminent industry education provider”.

“By using and applying technology for client engagement within the Mentor curriculum our joint objective is to increase standards and efficiencies in the provision of advice and in doing so, increase access to financial advice for more Australian consumers”.

Suitebox does not regard itself as simply a technology provider but as a thought leader in client/adviser engagement – the very same attributes of Mentor which in turn made the coming together of the two organisations so easy.

From its inception, under Dr Sinclair’s leadership, Mentor has never regarded itself as just another an education and training provider that dispenses degrees, diplomas and other qualifications – but a true partner that delivers at every stage of an individual’s financial industry career. This also includes dealer groups and operational staff.

Both Mentor and Suitebox are confident that this collaborative alliance will provide the opportunity to develop new products, offerings to stakeholders and students in the financial services sector and, solutions in the Suitebox environment and the Mentor curriculum.

Dr Taggart concluded, “Over my extensive career I can honestly say that I’ve never been so excited and ‘bullish’ about the future and prospects for the financial advice profession as I am today.

“This new era will be see the ‘old world’ quickly replaced by practices owned and operated by business professionals/entrepreneurs that will build and enhance consumer confidence and trust in the sector and industry as a whole”.

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Virtual advice disruption: is your business ready?

The new digital era charging through our industry brings with it a collision of sales, marketing, social interaction, technology and human behaviour that is truly fascinating.  This collision can also be dangerous for businesses that are unprepared, particularly service businesses.

It’s no secret that we are changing the way we use technology and why we use technology – particularly when it comes to engaging with our service providers. One need only to look at this advertisement for eBay to realise that times are a changing.

It’s not just the new wave of consumers that are recoil from traditional engagement tactics, it’s the quickly becoming the majority of consumers. These consumers shun an elongated process that has multiple friction points – they desire genuine engagement rather than cold sales techniques, look for third-party reassurance through product reviews of previous buyers, value visual aids and relate to a language that conversational rather than intricate and detailed.

If we want to retain these consumers (as well as pick up the up-and-coming ones) we need to be responding positively to this shake up and, to do this, we need to do two things.

• Provide appealing solutions for consumers that are relatable, meaningful, easily understood and communicated.

• Increase businesses efficiency in regards to process, communication and engaging with clients in the ways they feel most comfortable. Every client has different needs, so having a variety of different touch points on offer is where successful businesses will really gain a unique edge.

The need and expectation is clear. We need to be providing service options to clients that reflect our client’s current day to day operations. And it’s clear that everyday life is rapidly becoming digital.

So what are the solutions?

Those who have up-to-date tools and processes are not only more productive, but also more likely to succeed during the era of digital transformation. The good news is that technology providers are well onto the mission already, understanding that there is a great need from the consumer – and much of the industry has already began to catch on.

Even more importantly, these technology providers understand that they can’t all provide everything in one solution. Providers are moving toward a “collaborative co-opetition” approach where they link arms to give advisers the choice to tailor their own service offering, via open API – i.e. software integration.

SuiteBox and Midwinter is a perfect example of this being the case. The two companies have integrated their advice solutions in order to provide advisers with the ability to engage their clients via video, in a seamless compliant process – with no double entry or multiple friction points. Each Virtual Advice meeting can be scheduled, undertaken and saved to the adviser’s CRMs (for compliance purposes) in the one process. The ability to screen share, sign electronic documents and take clients through their total portfolio can all be done easily with both software applications speaking to each other during the entire process and all parts of the meeting saved directly to the client’s file notes for reference at any later point.

We’ll be doing a live demo of this during the AFA National Adviser Conference next week and would love you to check it out. Whether you use either cloud applications or not, it will be a great opportunity for advisers to see in real time a genuine example of what the future of advice is going to look like.

Even more importantly, we will be showcasing how technology is working hard to ensure that advisers will not only be able to meet their clients’ engagement requirements, but when it all boils down to it – be able to generate, provide and deliver advice easier, at lower cost, in less time and at scale.

By Andy Marshall & Naomi Christopher

———-

The Midwinter / SuiteBox virtual advice live demo can be seen on Thursday 6^th October at 12.45pm at the Midwinter Stand – Exhibition centre – AFA National Adviser Conference 2016

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Andy Marshall

SuiteBox, the mobile office solution for professionals, has appointed Andy Marshall to lead its APAC sales efforts.

Ian Dunbar, SuiteBox CEO, said: “I’m delighted to have Andy joining the SuiteBox team and heading up our sales efforts in Asia Pacific. Andy’s experience and insights into what advice customers really want, and how advisers can deliver experiences that drive advocacy and loyalty through the use of technology, align perfectly with SuiteBox’s mantra of enabling client engagement for professionals.”

The author of over 200 practice management articles, Mr Marshall is one of the most widely shared and read contributors to industry publications. He brings with him 28 years of experience in financial markets, academic research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience and financial advice best practice.

Andy Marshall, SuiteBox Regional Sales Manager – APAC, said: “It’s an exciting time to join an award winning innovation leader like SuiteBox. My role is to focus the sales efforts on partnering with organisations that want to take their client relationships and services to new levels and institutions who want to equip their adviser force with leading client engagement technology. Client engagement with efficiency, meaning, relevance and ensuring compliance (the proper recording of advice via processes like file notes) has remained a challenge for advisers and any professional balancing risk management, process and engagement. At a time when client wants and their use of technology is changing, they are looking for solutions that fit with busy lifestyles. Efficiency is key, but so is connection. SuiteBox as a platform offers the solution to that balance.”

Andy has been involved in financial markets since 1988, he is a Senior Associate of Finsia, holds a Bachelor of Science (Melbourne University), a Diploma of Financial Markets (Securities Institute) and the Diploma of Financial Planning (Deakin). He is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Behavioural Studies– Psychology major, Advanced Psychology and Sociology minors from Swinburne University.

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As part of Zurich’s Blueprints program to support best practice in the advice profession, the national team will be responsible for the creation and presentation of life insurance content to support Zurich’s strategic partners. The team will also be responsible for the ongoing management of the Zurich Curriculum, a comprehensive program of technical and sales development content, delivered via webinars and workshops.

Joining the team from Macquarie Life will be Business Development Managers Jessica Brady (NSW) and Danielle Visser (QLD), and Zurich West Australian Regional Manager David Rees.

The team will also work closely with highly respected industry consultant and financial adviser, Bill Webster.
Head of Distribution for Zurich’s Life and Investments business, Kristine Brooks, said the establishment of the team would enable Zurich to build on its award winning licensee support proposition by increasing its capacity to develop bespoke content, and support licensees and advisers with relevant consulting services.

“As the life insurance advice landscape continues to evolve, so too are the content needs of licensees,” said Brooks.

“We are seeing an increased demand for specialised content, especially around business management, client engagement and ethics, as licensees seek to help their advisers future-proof their practices.”

“Zurich is already known for the quality and relevance of its content, underpinned by our comprehensive research program and our ongoing support of the AFA Adviser of the Year award which allows us unprecedented insights into the latest in best practice.

“This experienced team comprises a balance of technical experts and accomplished presenters, and allows us to be more proactive in bringing our insights to a much wider audience,” she said.

As a result of these changes, Zurich’s National Sales Strategies Manager Andy Marshall has left Zurich to explore new opportunities.

“Andy has been a valued member of the Zurich family for four years, and as well as being a highly respected presenter and passionate advocate of advice, became known as a thought leader on the role of technology in improving the client engagement experience.

“He will be missed, and we wish him well for the future,” said Brooks.

The team will report into recently appointed National Sales Manager, David Evans.

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Andy Marshall

Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) yesterday announced a significant upgrade to its popular Adviser Flipchart app.

Australia’s first customisable, white-labelled, client-facing life insurance app will now offer its 1,300 active users new screens providing a more engaging and interactive client experience.

Andy Marshall, Head of Sales Strategies for Zurich’s Life and Investments business – and architect of the app – said the upgrade to the Adviser Flipchart app is a ‘game-changer’ for advisers seeking to engage clients on life insurance, increasing not only the effectiveness of that engagement but also the rate of client understanding of – and advocacy for – the advice and solutions they have received.

“Improving engagement is a critical driver of consumer literacy around insurance,” said Marshall.

“In an increasingly digitised world, consumers are taking their cues from other sectors such as retail and entertainment, and are expecting a similar degree of interactivity and simplicity across other product categories.

“This is not to suggest that customers are seeking a digital-only experience. Rather, we have found that face to face engagement combined with bespoke digital tools can accelerate the rate of understanding and engagement with the topics at hand.”

A fundamental pillar of the financial advice process has long been the client needs analysis, which allows recommendations to be tailored to a client’s specific circumstances. Marshall believes putting a digital framework around this process can dramatically improve its effectiveness.

For this reason one of the app’s key enhancements is a ‘how much is enough?’ diagnostic tool.

This allows the adviser to walk a client through a realistic scenario, with various ‘pop –ups’ and visual prompts adding a layer of personalisation and interactivity.

The ultimate output is the development of an overall protection package tailored to the individual’s circumstances.

“By creating a tool that allows clients to more easily picture themselves in the scenarios presented, our objective is to provide advisers with the opportunity to question, communicate and engage with clients in a deeper, more meaningful way,” said Marshall.

“Assisting and supporting advisers is at the core of everything we do at Zurich, and helping build more effective conversations with clients – resulting in greater client understanding and advocacy for the advice process – is a core part of that support.”

Zurich’s Adviser Flipchart is available for download here.

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Andy Marshall

Acquiring a new client is said to be five-to-ten times more costly than retaining an existing one. Often though, in an attempt to build a successful business, the focus ends up on getting new clients in the door rather than ensuring existing clients stay.

Over time this can have a big impact on your business, so the earlier you act and the more proactive you are with managing client retention, the more sustainable your business will be. What are some of the steps you can take to ensure your clients stay with you and give you more business in future? Here are three things you can do…

Tie your services to the customer’s objectives regularly

In today’s world, particularly post-FOFA, it is critical that you demonstrate the difference you can make to your clients and their financial situation on a regular basis. This is not just about marketing your services. Create the opportunity to sit down and discuss your clients’ needs as often as possible so you can find out what they want to achieve and talk to them specifically about how you can help. Ask them questions like:

• What are your immediate and long-term goals?
• Is there anything we’re not doing that we could be doing to serve you better?
• What are the most important actions we can focus on to improve your financial situation?
• What has changed in your situation since we first started working together?

The needs of your clients can change over time so take the time to understand what your clients want and how they measure success as regularly as possible. Then you can be sure to align your proposition clearly to their needs and remind them of the value that your advice and your services can provide over the long-term.

Use the power of data to understand your portfolio

There is already plenty of information available to you that can give you an insight into what’s going on with your clients and your business. It’s in your client files, in the systems you use and also in the reports you get from your product providers.

By taking the time to look in depth at the data at hand, you can start to truly understand the behaviour of your existing clients – which ones will add the most value to your business, who may need other products or services and which ones are likely to leave and why. Ultimately this will help you identify where you need to focus your efforts to ensure you are retaining the clients you want in the long-term for your business.

The challenge is making sure you know what to look for. What is the profile of your most profitable client? What trends can you identify in terms of age groups, policy types or client segments? e.g. younger clients may see less need to keep cover, 45 year olds with trauma may find the age-based increases challenging. What can you learn about the clients who have left and where they have gone?

It’s also important to ask your clients questions to gain insights that the data may not provide. Questions that focus on service expectations, the type of communications they want to receive, what their interests and goals are and most of all, what their level of satisfaction is with your services and if there are any areas for improvement. You can do this by creating a customer survey and by sending it out via email or conducting it over the phone or even in your next meeting.

It’s also important to contact your previous clients to understand why they left and what you could have done to keep them on your books. And you never know…by contacting old clients and having the discussion, you may just be able to get them to re-engage.

Understand key trigger points where you can demonstrate value and educate

To earn the loyalty of your customers you need to constantly demonstrate to them the value that you are adding. This requires you to really understand their behaviour at key trigger points and the providers you work with have the information available to help you with this.

Affordability of insurance for example, has always been an issue, especially for ageing clients and those clients who suddenly experience a drop in their income (temporarily or permanently). Interrogating your own customer data may allow you to identify those clients entering the ‘danger zone’ of lapsing (e.g. once a client with trauma cover turns 45).

You can also utilise early warning signals, such as a recent job loss or direct debit failure as an opportunity to get on the front foot early to reinforce the importance of keeping their cover, and where appropriate, offer solutions to help balance their budget (rather than cancelling their cover altogether). They may even be able to take a premium holiday…

By working with your provider to understand the behaviour of your clients, you can identify opportunities to reinforce your message – whether it’s to remind them of the need for insurance and the options available or to simply reinforce the valuable role you play in providing them with advice and the appropriate solution(s) to meet their needs.

Consider telling stories about successful claims and your role in the process, packaging your offer in a way that’s hard to replicate, regularly viewing loading and exclusions and encouraging them to think of you as the first point of call for all financial matters. Of course you also need to address the issues you uncover from the data analysis you’ve conducted (as above), including factors you can control (your service) and those you can influence (such as proactive communication before renewal time for at risk clients).

Andy Marshall, Head of Sales Strategies and Research, Life Risk, shares his thoughts below on how advisers and insurers can work together to achieve great results and to ensure your clients stay protected.

Working together to achieve great results

Rather than advocating a ‘one size fits all’ approach to managing retention, we learned very early on that working individually with each adviser can have some great benefits.

I have seen the outcomes that can be achieved for the advisers who we work closely with and below are some insights on the process that has seen many advisers and their businesses benefit.

To start with, we ask each adviser what is most important to them when it comes to working with us – and the resounding response is that they want the ability to speak with their insurance representatives as needed and are keen to develop long-term sustainable relationships built on efficient service and empathetic claims delivery.

Importantly, understanding what’s happening within each adviser’s business and with their client base, is what drives our ability to meet these needs and deliver on the positive experience advisers are looking for.

Our team is equipped with individual dashboards for each adviser, which we can share with them for discussion and analysis. By working closely together to really understand what is going on with their client base, we have been able to assist advisers in the following areas:

• Reviewing client communication channels
• Identifying and adopting new methods of converting prospective clients
• Business planning based on personal and business motivations
• Analysing the client base to identify where efforts need to be focused; and
• Understanding which referral networks are adding value to the business.

As a result, we have been able to help advisers re-focus on their business, improve business retention, build more referral relationships (even from clients who were at risk of leaving), and ultimately write more insurance across all providers and insure more people. It has been a win-win process for us all.

Get on the front foot with your client retention now

The earlier you act and the more proactive you are with managing client retention, the more sustainable your business will be in the long run.

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