Advise or refer? Ensuring the best possible outcomes for your clients
Guest Blog Writer: Jeni Law, National Account Manager at Paymentshield
21 May 2024The FCA is hoping that firms will nurture a culture of continuous improvements in their organisation and as part of that firms may be looking at how they can ensure their clients protect their home (and investment) with quality insurance.
However, at Paymentshield we hear from advisers that, particularly when market conditions are challenging, it can be difficult to embed extra products and services even where the benefits of doing so are clear. This is why Paymentshield has developed a transparent a referral service which means whether firms are able to handle GI conversations themselves, or are looking for some additional support, they can drive positive outcomes by making sure each and every client has access to quality insurance.
Why referral could work for you…
Homeowners need home insurance to protect their investment and home movers in particular will need insurance in place before they can exchange contracts. So, diversifying to add General Insurance (GI) to your portfolio and making sure that clients have quality insurance in place, when they need it, can add significant value for clients.In turn, general insurance helps advisers to build a more resilient business since discussing insurance means you can help to build your client relationship and also supports long term loyalty by providing a legitimate reason to contact your clients on an annual basis to discuss their renewal which can lead to further opportunities.
However, Paymentshield research shows the overwhelming majority of advisers (96%) are already aware of the benefits of discussing insurance feeling that it is best practice to discuss insurance and yet (80%) admit to sometimes struggling to have a conversation about GI with their clients.
This where Paymentshield’s telephone referral service comes in. Paymentshield’s referral technology enables advisers to quickly and easily refer customers to a team of in-house insurance experts, meaning even if you don’t have time or don’t want to offer advice yourself, your client’s can still receive advice on their insurance needs, while you maintain full oversight of the sale.
The clever technology is backed by a team of insurance experts who are all trained to offer advice and support your clients through the conversation about their insurance needs on your behalf. The strength of the service this team offers means that so far this year, they’ve been able to achieve a quote-to-sale conversion rate of 63%!
In addition to helping make sure your clients are properly protected, each successful referral offers commission of 17.5%. This means referral can help drive a significant additional income for your business which you might otherwise be missing out on.
How to refer your clients to Paymentshield
You can refer your clients to Paymentshield yourself using our simple referral form. Just let Paymentshield know your client’s contact details and select when the client would like to be called.Alternatively, you can let your clients request their own referral by sharing your web link or QR code for them to scan.
Both the link and QR code are unique to you, so we’ll know exactly where the referral has come from, and you can add these into any of your customer communications if you'd like to encourage your clients to self-refer.
If your client really doesn’t want to speak to someone about their insurance and would prefer to do it themselves online you can also opt them into our online journey (or they can select this option themselves if they’re requesting their own referral).
If you’d like to keep an eye on how a particular referral is progressing or view your overall performance, Paymentshield’s Adviser Hub platform offers a dedicated referral dashboard so you can see at a glance where each customer is in the sale process as well as being able to view all of your referral business. You can view and edit all the referrals that have been made via your QR code or referral link within Adviser Hub including a full history of all the communications with the customer.
Best practices and tips
If you’re new to our referral service, here are some tips to make sure your client is prepared when we reach out, to make the process as seamless as possible.- Tell your client about us - It’s a good idea to let your client know a bit about Paymentshield before we call since so they know all about us. You could also give them one of our flyers or refer them to our website www.paymentshield.co.uk so they understand our Home and Landlord’s Insurance is 5 Star Defaqto rated and how experienced we are when it comes to insurance.
- Confirm a specific date and time slot - Agree a specific time slot with your client and make sure they’re expecting us to contact them at that time. Selecting one timeslot which is best for your client (rather than selecting several options) improves our chances of getting through to them.
- Let them know the telephone number they’ll be called by - We’ll call your client from 0330 343 9152. If you’ve given us their mobile number to call, we’d suggest they save the number in their phone as Paymentshield so they know who it is when we call. It’s a good idea to make sure they’re prepared for the call by letting them know they’ll need to tell us how many years no claims bonus they’ve got and details of any claims in the last five years.
- Send a quick reminder the day before - Make note of date and time you’ve asked us to call your client and then send them a reminder the day before to check the date and time is still convenient. We’ll also email your customer with confirmation of when we’re going to contact them but they’re probably more likely to respond to a quick ‘check-in’ from you if there is a problem.
- Check in with them afterwards - It’s a good idea to check in with your customer to see how they feel the conversation with us went. This also means you can respond to any questions or reservations they may have if they’ve not yet taken the policy.
