And for those clients who might need convincing, there is more material available than ever – claims statistics certainly, but more importantly claims stories, videos, breakdowns of the reasons for claims and clear explanations as to why, very infrequently, claims may not be accepted.
There is no one best way to sell protection, but there are some common themes that I hear of more regularly now.
Having relevant conversations that resonate with a client, with less focus on features and benefits of a product, is helping clients understand what it means to them.
Watching the detectives
Angela Davidson, head of protection at Mortgage Intelligence, highlights the need for open questions on plans for the future, on assets and plans for those assets.
She likens it to detective work, uncovering details and motivations and not jumping to conclusions. She also suggests simply asking customers questions such as: "What does financial protection mean to you?"
This in itself opens up plenty ‘lines of enquiry’.
Her approach can bring to light the client's experiences, or those of their friends and family, in a way that opens up the conversation on a totally different level.
As she says: "It may be obvious, but always start with an agenda, outlining what you are going to do. Gain permission to ask challenging questions, explaining that this is so you can provide the right protection advice. Test the importance of their answers by asking questions such as: 'How important is that to you?’, ‘Why is that so important?’, ‘How are you going to achieve this?’ and 'What’s the best route right now?'"
A subtle shift from the past approach to sales is a greater focus now on how people can get peace of mind and build resilience, particularly after the past 18 months.
For example, the need for a regular income, recognised by the furlough scheme, underpins everything that we do, and the pandemic has provided the opportunity to make things more obviously relatable, with stories about families, friends and others.
High fidelity
At an individual level, how can today’s advisers sustain the regular interaction with clients that the home service agents of 40 years ago enjoyed?
If there was one message that stood out, from the new generation of advisers on stage at the recent protection conference, it was to be yourself.
Many are using social media, including clever TikTok videos, Instagram, Facebook and more – but no one is using it in quite the same way (and they will all be appealing to different types of client).
Some use humour and some share details of their own life journeys and family challenges.
