Enduralife has become the first UK intermediary to subject all its new protection leads to Contact State’s probe, a firm set up to police the lead generation industry.
Any lead bought by the life cover specialist will now be independently certified by Contact State, meaning Enduralife will know what advertising techniques were used and which landing pages they came through to enter their details.
A growing problem in the protection industry has been the way leads are generated, and whether life insurance advertising paints a full picture.
In December, FTAdviser learned the Advertising Standard Authority was “considering reviewing lead generation” advertisements for financial services, including insurance.
The problem is cold callers will claim to be 'lead generators' in order to validate the reason for their call.
One instance brought to FTAdviser’s attention saw a firm, claiming to be a lead generator for UK financial companies, use fake names to people it called to get their information.
“The validation of lead generation is a significant and growing concern for the entire financial services industry,” said Kevin Paterson, Enduralife’s managing director.
“There is pressure from the regulator, Advertising Standards Agency and search engines to tidy up the industry and improve the process for customers, as well as those who buy and sell leads.”
Paterson said Enduralife spends “millions a year” on lead generation, much like other protection insurance firms.
He continued: “Contact State is ahead of the curve in helping distributor and adviser firms to prepare for future regulation, improve the quality of lead generation and avoid fraudulent activity.”
Alongside an individual certification for each lead, Contact State said it can also generate “real-time” feedback and put together “regular” reports.
The certification is provided via Contact State’s application programme interface, which went live with Enduralife yesterday (March 2).
“This partnership will improve lead quality while also demonstrating to partners and insurers that Enduralife is taking these issues seriously, as all buyers and sellers of leads should,” said Alain Desmier, founder and director of Contact State.
"I believe that every data interaction online which involves a customer's personal data, is unique and confidential.
“We need to do more than just ask awkward compliance questions every now and then. We must demand real-time transparency and build trust in the marketing customer journey again.
“Better, more compliant data integrity practices will make the customer experience more profitable for everyone and we will finally get rid of the consumer question 'How did you get my details?'"
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
