What is the biggest problem when running a protection distributor? Is it staff? Is it leads? Is it product knowledge? Is it Insurers? No… it’s the PAST!! However much you focus on today, the past can bite you in the arse so easily. Clawback is the most horrible trap You’ve got to find the cash to keep going, so the only way to do that is to keep selling. “It just feels like we’re making sales to pay for clawback, it’s horrible” It’s a stressful, unrelenting nightmare. There are some rare cases where the business manage to make it work, usually the biggest ones such as LifeSearch and Reassured ..read more

The commission you receive from Insurers is not your money yet. It is just an advance. And you MUST treat it like that. It’s a bit like tax. If you don’t put the money that you owe in the future into a separate ring-fenced account, then you’re walking a dangerous tightrope. You must predict what clawback you are likely to receive over your entire clawback period. Depending on your business, this will typically be anywhere between 15% and 30% of your commission income from the insurers. I have a client for whom we have deliberately developed a “low clawback” process in which the predicted claw ..read more

The unspoken danger relevant to several protection distributors is the extent to which they rely on one particular Insurer. While STP and keeping training costs low are important elements, it is also important to ask some serious questions: Would you rely on more than 50% of your business to come from one customer? Do you think it is dangerous when more than 50% of your business is dependent on one supplier Relying on one Insurer? Relying too heavily on one insurer can seem like a good short-term choice, but in the long term, it causes the following issues for your business: It increases y ..read more

The danger of desperate sales people A lack of detailed sales processes results in sales people who are desperate to make sales. They often begin to cut corners in a variety of ways: Only offering limited options for both product and insurer Not giving the customers the time to move at their own pace Selling mainly on the basis of being the cheapest This results in lower average commissions and higher clawback. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle! At worst, desperate sales people begin to cut corners even more in the form of deliberate non-disclosure to achieve a sale with “standard rate” underw ..read more

Just stay positive, right? Running a protection business can impact the core of even the most secure individual. You have to continue leading, even while under pressure, and deal with the fear of failure and all the doubt demons… AND all of this is without actually having anyone who really understands what it is like to be in your position. It’s no wonder that you feel you HAVE to be positive all the time. If you weren’t, then a bottle of the hard stuff, followed by a long, cold swim out to the ocean may seem like the only sensible option! Losing the ability to be realistic is very easy. I am ..read more

Do you get really excited when you’ve had a good day? Do you get stressed and frustrated when you’ve had a bad day? There’s nothing wrong with being happy about a successful day but be careful that you keep a check on it. No business can get amazing results EVERYDAY. It’s important to be realistic. EVERY business will have bad days. It is also important not to let any frustration translate into negativity or desperation in your team. Extremities of emotion from the business leaders, especially negative ones, will be hard for your team to cope with. No matter how much they try showing that i ..read more

Many protection businesses react hastily to day-to-day and month-on-month trading issues. They end up in a constant cycle of decisionmaking that is primarily based on the road immediately in front of them rather than in consideration of the long term. They don’t take the time to think decisions through properly. The effect of knee-jerk decisions Most people say they like change; however, most people in fact DO NOT like change at all. This is because, for most people, change can make them feel as if they have no control over matters. Especially in sales teams, any change will probably take tim ..read more

An unconfident salesperson adds many “filler words” in response to a customer’s answers to their questions: “Perfect” “No worries” “No problem” “Excellent”   This is not something that would happen in a normal conversation. Filler words come off as sounding desperate. They sound like a sales pitch, as if saying, “Perfect, this means I can sell to you”. The best protection salespeople sound like experts, NOT sales people. So, it is critical that you keep your filler words to a minimum. Develop your team to ask questions and then simply wait for a customer’s response confidently. Without ..read more

Many sales training programs encourage people to ask “nudging” questions during the sales process. Questions such as the following: “How does that sound?” “Does that seem good?” Nudging questions lead to clawback. Every time you ask, “How does that sound?”, and consider a positive response as an approval to progress, you are simply NUDGING a customer along the sales process – as opposed to asking them to take clear steps towards a sale. The customer concerned may end up buying something they don’t truly understand, since they’ve been nudged along a little too hurriedly, without being give ..read more

How much control do you REALLY have? Most sales processes related to protection are nothing more than a few pages of scripting and a flow chart, which results in the lack of control over your sales process. Without a detailed and structured process, most sales people will be doing varied things on each call. With a larger team, everyone will be doing different things from each other. How can you spot mistakes when there is no detailed sales process to check against? How do you correct and improve people effectively? How can you help people effectively when they stop performing? How can you g ..read more