We continue our regular presentation of offerings from Chris Unwin’s ‘Chrisisms’ series of short, sharp thoughts and ideas to help you build a better business…
P Plater protection
Do your kids or your clients’ kids have P Plater Protection? Do you or they even know such a form of protection exists?
As we move towards the Christmas holiday season when car accidents involving P Plate drivers seem to escalate alarmingly, wouldn’t it be a good idea to cover them specifically for the most common injuries sustained in car accidents?
Did you know that we have a protection product in our product tool box that is specifically targeted at the 18-25 age group? I like to call it P Plater Protection, although it is more commonly called Trauma Cover.
Most advisers think of Trauma Cover as a product that is primarily targeted at older clients (certainly 35+) and that it is almost exclusively designed to provide cover against the Big 4 of Cancer, Heart Attack, Stroke or Bypass Surgery. Indeed it is true to say that over 90% of claims are as a result of the Big 4 – but this is also because very little Trauma Cover is sold to clients under 30.
Trauma Cover is a unique type of cover as an argument can be made for saying it is specifically targeted at whatever age client is sitting in front of you, depending on what medical conditions you are focusing on.
When the P Plater joins the workforce and takes over the premium, you will have a new client
Did you know therefore that Trauma Cover is a product that is specifically targeted at the 18-25 age group because of the accident related traumas covered under the policy, namely paralysis, major head trauma, severe burns, coma and loss of limbs? The reason why these particular traumas are covered is specifically because they are the most common injuries sustained in car accidents – and which group of potential clients (by a country mile) have the biggest exposure to car accidents? 18-25 year olds, otherwise known as P Platers.
Having recently had two P Platers in our household, I know how stressful it is for the parents of P Platers every time their kids drive off in their car. How many such parents, therefore, would jump at the chance of buying a type of protection that is specifically designed to cover the most common injuries sustained in car accidents, especially given that $200,000 of this type of cover would cost less than $500 a year?
When the P Plater joins the workforce and takes over the premium, you will have a new client and they can then convert their cover to a level premium – but that’s for another CHRISISM down the track!
Launch your Christmas holiday marketing campaign to all your clients who are P Plater parents NOW!
Waterproofing appointments
Have you ever made an initial appointment with a potential client who you never got to meet?
If so, then maybe you should make sure that you are waterproofing the appointment before you hang up.
When you make a first appointment with a potential client, how can you minimise the number of times that you don’t get to meet the appointee?
The answer is by making sure you waterproof the appointment before you finish the call. Not only will this ensure that the appointment is real, that is, you’re not the only one putting it in your diary, but it will also enable you to take the opportunity of establishing your professionalism and letting the other person know that your time is valuable and that you have a large number of clients who need to see you on a regular basis. Do you reckon this could be a good idea?
Before you get to waterproofing the appointment, let’s also make sure you are getting the positioning right when scheduling the appointment. After all, who’s the busy one? Having done the hard bit and got someone to the point of agreeing to an appointment, don’t ruin it by saying something like “So when can you make it then?” or “So what day and time would be good for you?” Both of these approaches imply that your diary’s empty, so whenever the other person can make it would be fine – not good positioning!
Maintain control and create the perception of being busy
So I would suggest you say something like: “Most of my clients find it easiest to get out and see me either at lunchtime or at the end of the day. Which would suit you better or are you flexible in the mornings or afternoons as well?” This establishes a time of day that is preferable for them and then you can say: “Well I can fit you in either at 1.45 this Friday or 12.15 next Tuesday – which would be better for you?” Maintain control and create the perception of being busy.
Then the waterproofing of the appointment can go something like this: “Just before you go, can I ask one favour of you? Obviously having set this time aside for you, I am not going to arrange to see anyone else at that time, so apart from unavoidable commitments or last minute emergencies, can we treat this as a definite business appointment” Note the use of ‘we’ (not you or I), thereby already signifying working together as a team on a collaborative basis.
Assuming they agree to this, proceed with: “Great! Should something crop up your end, please could you let me know as soon as possible, firstly so we can reschedule our appointment but also so I can put another client who needs to see me into that time slot?” This paints the picture that you are extremely busy and that you always have clients that are needing to see you.
Chris Unwin is a financial adviser of 37 years standing and has been a specialist risk adviser for the last 22 years. His training and consulting business has operated for 12 years and it specialises in helping advisers across the full spectrum of experience with their client engagement skills, both in the risk advice specific space as well as in the more generic soft skills space.
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