Time for talk

Many IFAs are failing to maximise their opportunities in the protection market. There are a number of reasons for this. For many, investment business is a priority, whereas for others, products such as income protection are deemed too complicated. Added to this, most cases need underwriting and so clients often lose interest.

These are all valid objections, so we need to look at the bigger picture ' how to grow an IFA's business by finding new client types, improving sales techniques and maximising profitability.

Selling more cover to each client is vital and here menu products come into their own by allowing you to write a portfolio of protection with the same provider. The debate continues as to whether using just one provider for all cover is the most appropriate advice, but there are clear benefits to the client and the IFA.

Increasing sales

It is important to get two things right before you can dramatically increase your sales.

First, know your subject in detail. Many IFAs are passionate about pension and investment business. When you meet advisers who are passionate about their subject, it is easy to see how trust builds between them and their clients. But when it comes to exhibiting a passionate knowledge of protection the numbers seem far fewer. An example of this is the large number of advisers who still sell income protection on price alone. There is no way that IP should be sold in this way. It is fair to say that when it comes to term assurance, a client is either dead or alive. So it is clear if it is a claim or not, and so it is usually fine to recommend the cheapest. But with IP, there can be so many variables that it is not always right to go for the cheapest, and as a consequence there is a concern that electronic price comparisons are not entirely helpful.

What is really needed is far more emphasis on training in protection to encourage IFAs to become experts on this core segment of the market. There is some excellent material available and we strongly recommend information provided by Unum.

Costing Sickness Absence in the UK produced by the Institute For Employment Studies' and a variety of papers from the Employers' Forum on Disability are packed with guidance, case studies and information on the growing concern for sickness absence in the UK. Unum makes it clear that to truly maximise the opportunities in the market necessitates a deep understanding of disability issues.

The right diagnosis

Second, it is important to improve your fact-finding process.

There is much talk at the moment about 'holistic financial planning' and the need to protect a client's total lifestyle. A former IFA of the year, based in London's Docklands, once said that the role of an adviser should be aligned to that of a doctor ' someone who helps people preserve and enhance their health. Without quality, probing fact-finding it is not possible to make the right diagnosis.

The overwhelming majority of fact-finds we have looked at tend to relegate protection towards the end, and invariably ask questions that fail to motivate:

• What provision have you made in the event of sickness?

• Have you considered the consequences of being unable to work?

• Do you have critical illness cover?

None of these style of questions encourage clients to talk about themselves, their businesses, their families, their home, their lifestyle or their hopes for the future. Given the right motivation, people love to talk about themselves.

Ask the following question and let them talk: what would be the specific consequences for your family if you couldn't work for the next two years?

Only when they start to see potential problems for themselves will they want to buy protection. When this happens they will want to buy more products, and persistency will be better too.

Finally, there are some IFAs who tell clients that protection is so important that it warrants a separate meeting not just 10 minutes at the end. Again, this demonstrates enthusiasm and elevates the importance of the subject in the client's eyes.

By acquiring a deep knowledge of protection, and encouraging clients to talk more about the things that are important to them will make a huge difference in sales.