Advisers should use the sort of language they would use with friends when out for a coffee or a pint.
This is according to Robyn Rainsley, marketing manager at Holloway Friendly, who addressed delegates at Protect X at Protection Review 2024 in London yesterday.
Rainsley explained this is because the average person in the UK has a reading age of just 9, and it’s really important to use every day language to engage them.
And while customers do not tend to know key industry terms like premium, deferred period or guaranteed insurability option, this is really easy to do.
Using every day language
“Let’s say you’ve got a communication to a customer and you want to improve it,” Rainsley said.
“It could be an email for example. Read through it. Get the gist of it. Close it down. Open up a blank page.”
Rainsley added advisers should imagine they are having a chat with a mate.
“You could be in a coffee shop, or a pub – wherever you want to be.
“But that friend doesn’t work in insurance and that’s key.
“Think about what you want to say and how you would say it to that friend. And then write it down exactly as you would say it, even down to the punctuation.”
Rainsley told delegates using this every day language will naturally involve avoiding corporate insurance speak and will feel more direct not passive.
“It will feel more natural, more friendly, warmer and that obviously makes it easier to trust,” she added.
“You’re not using any jargon or defined terms because your friend wouldn’t understand what you were saying.
“You’ll use short sentences. It will become conversational between you and the intended reader.
“You can put yourself in their shoes and empathise with them on the questions that they might be asking so that you can prepare the answers.
“It will generally just flow a lot better. When you’re more aware of it, you’ll notice it happening.”
