Protection advisers need to talk to customers in a language they are comfortable with rather than the jargon that plagues the insurance sector.
Presenting at the Protection Review conference, Robyn Allen (pictured) owner of Robyn Allen Solutions told delegates concepts like guaranteed premiums, waiver of premium and deferred periods confused customers.
Touching on Zurich’s head of retail protection Louise Colley’s contention earlier in the day that she did not like the term consumer, Allen lamented the sector does not even know what to call its customers.
Allen explained that for her, customers or clients are human beings.
“They’re human beings I am helping,” she said.
“If you see them as anything else and you’re after the money, get out of the room.
“Whether you are a protection specialist, a mortgage adviser, a wealth manager, an insurance adviser, a mortgage consultant, a protection adviser, an insurance broker, a protection analyst, a mortgage ninja or a financial adviser, talk to your fellow humans in their language – not ours.
“Find out who they are. Find out what they do. Find out how they like to communicate and ask how you do it.”
She emphasised that the medium used was also relevant and should be connected to the person’s demands.
“If they want a video, send them a bloody video,” she continued.
“If they want a picture, choose that. If you need to, in the nicest way, dumb down your language a bit, please try and find a way.
“The average reading age in the UK according to Google is nine years old. Can a nine-year-old understand some of our policy documents? No. So, we need to do better.”
