Monday, May 26, 2025

Case Study – My First Claim (Craig Ball)

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In this claims case study, succession and estate planning specialist, Craig Ball talks about how nervous he was when faced with his first claim, just one year after setting up his own business. He highlights the importance of developing a comprehensive claims process and engaging with the insurer during the claim.

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At a glance

Submitted by: Craig Ball
Business: The Carter Group
Client: Male, dentist, eye injury
Claim type: Income protection

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In detail

“I stumbled my way through it,” says Craig Ball of his first claim. “I was pretty nervous. I didn’t know what to do. As a young adviser (Craig had set up his financial advice business one year prior), you’re just trying to write as much business as you can. You don’t know anything about dealing with claims until you get your hands on one.”

Not surprisingly, when his first claim came in, a dentist in his late-forties who had suffered an eye injury, Craig had no procedures in place to manage claims. He recalls feeling that the process was out of his control, and he was extremely anxious as he waited for the first cheque to arrive.

“You start to think: ‘Have I done everything right?’ ‘Will there be any non-disclosure issues?’ ‘Did I tick all the boxes?’”

The claim was accepted, providing the client with an ongoing monthly income which meant he could retire comfortably. But the anxiety Craig felt over that first claim led him to develop a comprehensive claims management process.

“We get the clients’ file ‘claims ready’ at application time,” explains Craig. “We request things like Medicare records and financials, and anything else that is usually requested by an insurer upon claim (that we can access already). When a claim comes in, we already have all the documents on file, and can submit everything at once.”

When a claim comes in, we already have all the documents on file, and can submit everything at once

He believes that not only does having documentation on file speed up the claims process, it also minimises disclosure issues because the client is immediately aware their Medicare and doctors’ records will be sourced.

The other change Craig made in his approach to claims was to take a hands-on role with the insurer.

“Our process is a complete 180 degrees from where I started, and potentially from where a lot of advisers are now – we take control of the process.

“Insurers like to think of the claimant as their customer, but the adviser is their customer. We insist on them (the insurers) doing it our way, because ultimately a claim is when the relationship with a client is cemented.”

“If advisers aren’t getting involved in claims they’re not interested in growing their business.”

Craig and his team stipulate that they receive a copy of every piece of correspondence that comes from the insurer to the claimant. They also ask for the cheque to be sent to their office, so it can be hand-delivered to the client. “A cheque or lump sum amount paid into a bank account is a very cold transaction. Wherever possible I believe the adviser should deliver the cheque to the client.”

Not surprisingly, Craig’s advice to advisers (both new and experienced) is to take control of the claims process.

“I attended a conference recently where I presented on claims and I was really surprised to find that only 50% of the advisers present said they were actively involved in claims.

“By getting actively involved in the claims process you’re adding value to your business.”

Craig gives the example of a client who dies leaving a wife and children. “You can set up allocated pension accounts for the claim money to be paid into, instead of paying a lump sum into a bank account.” Craig says this works in a number of ways:

  • It means you are growing the value of your business (through FUM)
  • You have established a relationship with the next generation of the family
  • You avoid your clients becoming targets for bank planners (who often generate leads from large deposits)

“If advisers aren’t getting involved in claims they’re not interested in growing their business.”

Case Study – My First Claim (Susan Jackson)

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In this claims case study, adviser Susan Jackson talks about her first claim experience, in which the client unfortunately had no cover.  She also shares the learnings she subsequently applied to her business.

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At a glance

Submitted by: Susan Jackson
Business: Executive Director, Women’s Financial Network
Client: female, passed away from cancer

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In detail

Susan was only two months into her career as a financial planner when a client called with the sad news that their mother had died. “Maggie’s passed away. She had cancer, and we’re just ringing to find out what we need to do to claim the insurance,” the client told Susan.

Unfortunately, Maggie did not have any insurance, and Susan was the one to have to deliver the bad news. “Because she had an adviser the family automatically assumed she had insurance,” recalls Susan. “I remember having to say to them: ‘I’m really sorry but she doesn’t have any insurance.’ And I felt sick. Because the thing that really stuck in my mind was that I was one of the first people they called, and it was a really awful conversation.”

The knowledge that she would always be the first or second person called upon after a client suffered a traumatic event had a profound effect on Susan, and she changed her approach to client conversations almost immediately.

The hard conversations are where you add the most value

“What I learnt from that experience was when you get ‘that phone call’, you need to be able to know that you did everything you could to make the process as stress-free as possible. It’s not just managing the process of lodging the claim, but knowing that you had the conversation about insurance with the client in the first place.”

Susan says that while clients will not always take her advice, she is careful to provide them with as much detail as possible upfront so they can make an informed choice.

“Our job isn’t to be their best friend – our job is to advise them on their financial matters as best we can. Be aware that if anything happens – good, bad or in-between – you’re going to be the first person they call. How that conversation goes is often going to depend on what you did before. If they’ve made the informed choice that they don’t want the insurance, or they don’t want to put a binding nomination in place, or do their wills, then fine. But when you get that phone call, you don’t want to be thinking, ‘Oh, I probably should have talked to them about that’.

“This isn’t a job about easy conversations. The hard conversations are where you add the most value.”

Susan believes those conversations can also have a positive effect on a business’ bottom line: “When a claim is paid that’s when you get the good referrals. The client tells you how thankful they are to you for making them have the hard conversation at the beginning, and when their friends see that they were able to deal with the most traumatic situation, and be okay financially, that’s when you know those client referrals will stick.”

Case Study – Building Successful Referral Partnerships: The One-on-One Relationship

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This practice management case study looks at one practice’s approach to developing successful accountant-adviser referral relationships, the ‘One-on-One Relationship’ model. This approach involves building referral partnerships by engaging with individuals.

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At a Glance

Submitted by: Jo Brassett and Cathrine Baker
Business: Insurance Advisory Services (IAS)
Referral approach: One-on-one relationships

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In detail

Advisers, Jo Brassett and Cathrine Baker, from Insurance Advisory Services (IAS), a holistic financial planning company in Sydney, have what many in the industry would consider a traditional referral model; the advice practice has set up strategic alliance partnerships with a small number of accounting firms to work with their clients in building and protecting their clients’ financial wellbeing. Referrals flow both ways between the parties.

Sourcing the right partners was hard, admits Brassett, recalling how the business used to host a stand at national accounting conferences to attract potential referral partners.

“During the conferences we would stand at the back of the room and listen to these speakers essentially bashing financial planners. It was almost like ‘financial planning’ was a dirty word.

“Then, when they came to our stand in the break, we had to work hard to position ourselves as providing genuine value despite the fact many of them believed that advisers don’t know what they’re talking about. They were a difficult crowd!”

Jo’s sister and business partner, Cathrine, agrees: “We’re a little bit on the back foot because a lot of the accounting industry bodies are not giving financial advisers their due consideration.”

IAS decided to focus on younger generation accountants, with ‘like-minded’ and client focused businesses. “Often it’s about helping our partners to build their business and through this effort the opportunities naturally arise,” Baker says.

According to IAS, while finding the right accountants to partner with can be challenging, it is the ongoing relationship which takes the most work.

it is the ongoing relationship which takes the most work.

“I think this is usually where most referral arrangements fall down, because advisers don’t spend enough time on the relationship and just expect the referrals to flow,” says Baker.

She admits to trying a ‘target setting’ process with accountants in the past, but believes a more effective way to generate leads is to keep yourself ‘top of mind’.

“It takes quite a bit of effort and time to do. Even someone we’ve had on board for quite a long time, one of our better accountants, still forgets to talk about financial planning opportunities with his clients.  We constantly have to be asking: ‘What’s going on?’ because they’re just so busy, and they have their own businesses to focus on.”

According to Baker, of the ten strategic alliance partners working with IAS, only three are extremely active.  “We speak to those three active accountants on a weekly or fortnightly basis. And generally we’re turning over a decent amount of clients. We really only get the odd case from the remainder.  But the good thing about those referrals (the ad-hoc leads) is that they’re generally good ones. We might speak to those accountants once every three months over a cup of coffee and all of a sudden they’ll say: ‘Oh, I was thinking about this one person…’, which is why you need to be proactive in keeping the relationship alive.”

IAS is currently increasing its focus on providing growth and business protection advice to small business owners, an area that relies heavily on professional partnerships.

 accountants are reactive history takers, rather than proactive history makers.

“Our goal is to be the ‘project manager’ in those situations,” says Brassett, “Because you project manage the whole financial story for the client from start to finish. We have a strong relationship with a solicitor, so we can facilitate those conversations, and for the accountant it means more billable hours while they review the plan and the business’ financials.  But they need to be the ones recognising the opportunity and talking to their clients about it.”

In the end, success comes down to trust, says Baker: “I think sometimes you just need to have a few wins with the accountant. And then they trust you.”

Case Study – Building Referral Partnerships: The Ownership Model

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This practice management case study looks at one practice’s approach to developing successful accountant-adviser referral relationships, the ‘Ownership’ model. This approach involves buying an accounting practice and merging the two businesses.

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At a Glance

Submitted by: Steve Salvia
Business: Managing Director of Southern Financial Strategies (SFS)
Referral approach: Ownership model

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In detail

Steve Salvia, Managing Director of Southern Financial Strategies (SFS) and 2010 AFA Adviser of the Year, likes to joke that he got so tired of trying to build relationships with accounting firms he decided to buy one.

“My experience with accountants prior to taking on the business was probably very similar to other financial planners,” says Salvia. “I had a very ad-hoc relationship with around five or six accountants. I spent a lot of time trying to nurture those relationships, but it’s not in an accountant’s psyche to ask those probing questions that are needed to give holistic financial advice. Generally, accountants are about numbers and data – there really isn’t a lot of proactive advice.

“It was very, very frustrating. In the end I gave up and started looking for another model.”

In a case of almost perfect timing, one of the accountants with whom Steve held a relationship was looking to sell his business, and in 2008 Steve purchased AccountingFocus, which now forms one of the three pillars of his SFS group, which also includes a financial planning business and business coaching enterprise.

“It wasn’t without pain and suffering; it wasn’t an easy process,” says Salvia of the merger. “I inherited fourteen staff, and unfortunately none of them are still with us. That was the difficult part; I could not get them to align with our service model.

“I worked very hard over a six month period to get them aligned, but after about five months I could see that it just wasn’t going to work. At the end of the day, my experience with accountants has been that they are reactive history takers, rather than proactive history makers. And that was the problem I’d had with accountants in the first place. So now, even though I’d bought the business, I still couldn’t get them to change their thought pattern.”

Salvia elected to hand-pick his own accounting team – one that had the same understanding, ethos and approach to proactive advice. By doing so, he says he now owns the entire client process.

“What I’ve done is turn my accounting firm into a mini-financial planning business that does accounting. I believe that financial planners’ businesses are generally better. Their systems and processes are better.

Salvia believes one of the reasons for this is the questioning techniques used by advisers:

“I get the clients to take a few steps back, and talk about themselves, their business, their families, their hopes and dreams. We then get the clients to work through what I call a Business Health Diagnostic. Unfortunately with a lot of accountants, when a client walks in they say: ‘Give me your payslips, give me your tax returns and your receipts etc’, whereas we actually work through a process and get the client to identify some areas to be addressed. Then we take them through the Magic Wand List – that is, if you had a magic wand what would you like to achieve?

“Clients say: ‘Wow, do you do all this? My old accountant has never spoken to me about this before.’ And they thank us for talking to them about it.”

Another interesting by-product of the acquisition is the fact that Steve now receives more leads from his existing accounting referral partners than ever before.

“I kept my relationships with those individuals, and now that I’ve bought the accounting firm, I’m getting more referrals from those other accountants, even though I’m now a competitor. They now understand the financial planning process more and they see the value in our business and what we do.

“I’ve also made it very clear that their clients aren’t at risk. When I talk to my clients I look for and identify opportunities for increased tax and accounting work. So there’s no threat to them to send a client to us. In fact it’s a benefit because I find more work for them.”

Whether the accounting relationship is external or in-house, Steve believes it takes three things for it to be successful: “They need to know me, they need to like me and they need to trust me. A strategic alliance partner will not do business with you unless all those three things are there.”

Case Study – Insuring Your Friends

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In this claims case study, an accident left the client totally disabled. He later died from the condition. The claimant in this case study was a close friend of the adviser, 2010 AFA Adviser of the Year, Steve Salvia. He highlights the importance of ‘doing the right thing’ for those close to you, whether they are friends, family or other close personal associates, as well as the value of recommending a complete life insurance solution.

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At a glance

Provided by: Steve Salvia
Business: Southern Financial Strategies
Client: Male, blue collar, totally disabled in accident
Claim type: Income protection, trauma and death

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In detail

Steve’s friend and client suffered significant, life-threatening injuries as a result of being an innocent victim in a speedboat accident whilst diving off the coast of WA.  The nature of the injuries he sustained meant he was totally disabled and unable to continue in his occupation as an instrument/electrical fitter.

Prior to the accident, Steve saw his friend on a regular basis and mentioned on several occasions over a three year period, without success, the need for his friend to ensure he had financial protection in place for himself and his family, if the worst should happen.

Fortunately Steve persisted and eventually saw to it that his friend secured appropriate death, trauma and income protection cover for his needs.

The task of writing cover in this case was made more difficult because of the fact that Steve’s client was also a close friend and he didn’t want to compromise their friendship or create an uncomfortable atmosphere between them as a result of his desire to ensure his friend took out appropriate insurance cover.  “I have always felt that it is my responsibility to ensure that those closest to me have a financial plan and risk protection strategy in place,” he said.

The task of writing cover in this case was made more difficult because of the fact that Steve’s client was also a close friend

Unfortunately there is no happy ending to this brief story.  After his accident, Steve’s friend commenced receiving total disability benefits via an income protection contract that paid a benefit through to age 65.  A lump sum trauma payment was also made to assist with some upfront costs including house renovations, modifications and costs of assisted care, including pain relief.

But after an extended period on income protection benefits, the friend’s condition worsened and he eventually passed away, leaving behind his wife and young family.

The only compensation in this tragedy was the fact that Steve persisted in his efforts to ensure his friend took out the right cover to protect his life and his family’s lifestyle. The outcome would have been much worse if he had not. “My clients had substantial life insurance protection to cover final expenses, clear all debts, and provide funds to be invested to replace income for a substantial period of years,” said Steve.

For Steve, this story highlights why he embraces his role of providing quality financial advice: “This is why we do what we do,” he told us, adding that if he can’t help his friends, his family and others close to him, then he is not properly honouring his role as a professional financial and wealth protection adviser.

Steve’s story contrasts with a few stories related by other advisers, both privately and publically, where close friends have passed away or been severely injured, but who possessed little to no insurance cover.  Their regret was that they let their personal friendship get in the way of what they knew had to be done to protect their friends and their families.

Steve’s message to other advisers is a simple one: “Don’t be scared to sell our knowledge, experience and expertise, including to those closest to you.”

Insurance How To – Positioning Client Reviews

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This Insurance How To provides very useful tips to help advisers highlight the importance of ongoing communication between themselves and their clients. It also covers how to position annual reviews, and lists the kinds of triggers that can prompt an insurance review.

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At a glance

Provided by: Sue Laing
Business: The Risk Store
Topics covered: annual reviews, generating client engagement

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In detail

It’s sensible for all risk advisers to sit back and ask themselves: “How do I educate my clients about the value of my regular input?”

This should be a walk in the park for advisers. A life risk protection plan is a living, moving beast. Every time a client has some sort of important change in their lives, it’s crucial to review the impact that change might have on their plan.

Examples include:

  • Replacing lost insurance cover from super on retrenchment
  • Changing sums insured
  • Adjusting policy ownership
  • Adding products
  • Altering/updating beneficiary nominations
  • Removing loadings/exclusions
  • Claiming where the client didn’t know they had a claim (this happens much more often than you might realise!)

Getting clients trained to contact you at these times of change takes some effort and smarts.

Getting clients trained to contact you at these times of change takes some effort and smarts. But it’s worth it to embed the long term relationship in their minds. From the first, through to the last meeting in the first year of the relationship, the language must reflect:

  1. Your intention to ‘stay on top’ of the client’s protection needs, and
  2. Their responsibility to learn to identify the ‘triggers’ that indicate they have to talk to you.

How do you ensure that a client knows to contact you when it’s not review time and something’s changed?

  1. Start educating them early in the relationship. At the first meeting when you present your visual graphic of the advice process (assuming you have this wonderful tool in your toolkit), ensure it has a little side arrow or box near “Reviews” that says “You need to contact us if your circumstances change between reviews”.
  2. In the SoA, describe “The Review Process” and have a separate heading that says something like “In Between Reviews” and a simple few lines mentioning the sorts of things that should prompt them to contact you (the review checklist in the risk store has these ‘triggers’ listed).
  3. At the final plan completion meeting, give them a fridge magnet or other such device, with the words ‘LET US KNOW!’ printed at the top, followed by your business, phone numbers and email address.
  4. Tweet all your Twitter clients just once a month to ask “has anything happened I should know about?” This is one 20 second task once a month, reaching all Twitter-enabled clients in one go.

Finally, give yourself a valid and supportable reason to contact them every year regardless. Here’s how: do what you have heard about at a dozen conferences and buy a supply of classy document folders, brand them and help arrange each client’s important documents in one. Every year you can call and ask them to confirm, for your file record, where that folder is stored in their office or home. What a great service – you become their/their family’s ‘disaster lifeline’ when you do this.

After every one of these contacts, your follow up email must remind them that for the next year they must stay vigilant and notify you of any changes. By now you should have them well-educated on the kinds of triggers you need to be told about. Any future opt-in requirements then become just a formality!

Adapted with permission from a risk store Risk Read technical case study email. Additional material from Sue Laing’s “30 Things Your Clients Don’t Know You Do For Them”, presented at the risk store Annual Life Risk Forum in August 2011.

Case Study – Building a Successful Risk Business

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Adelaide adviser, Peter Moyle, has established a highly successful advice business that has drawn on experience he has gained during 30 years in the life insurance industry. In this case study, Mr Moyle talks about the key factors that have led to his success.

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At a glance

Provided by: Peter Moyle
Experience: 30 plus years in the life insurance industry
Business: Integrated Financial
Specialty: Risk protection solutions for SME business owners

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In detail

According to Mr Moyle, whose business, Integrated Financial, specialises in providing risk protection solutions to SME business owners, the success of his practice is based on simple principles.  He says he has applied the lessons learned over his career in the industry to shape the business he has today.

While he admits many of the ingredients to his success are quite basic, Mr Moyle says the challenge is not simply to understand what the ingredients are, but to successfully apply them in his practice, apply them consistently, apply them professionally and apply them every day.  According to Mr Moyle, an adviser must walk the talk, day in, day out.

While every adviser has his or her own story, each with their own influences, these are some of the ingredients that make up Mr Moyle’s recipe for success:

Specialisation
While many advisers enjoy success as generalist practitioners, Mr Moyle’s success has been built around becoming a specialist within a specific market segment.  Initially a general practitioner, Mr Moyle’s business began a significant growth trajectory only after he made the decision to focus on risk protection and business insurance.  The continuing success Mr Moyle has enjoyed since focussing all his efforts on one specific sector sees Mr Moyle emerge as a very strong advocate that “… specialisation for advisers is the way to go.”

Focus on Your Unique Ability
Mr Moyle’s message to other advisers is to work out what it is that they do best – what is their ‘unique ability’?  According to Mr Moyle an adviser’s unique ability is not a skill that only they can do, but rather the skill that they do best and are passionate about – the skill that sets them apart from others. 

Mr Moyle says his own unique ability lies in sales, marketing and building relationships.  At the same time however, he readily admits to shortcomings in other key areas required to maintain and grow a successful business. But this is where he stresses the vital importance of building a successful support team.

Each of Mr Moyle’s team within Integrated Financial possess their own unique abilities which match those other key areas of the business such as client management, administration, compliance, reviews, financial management etc.

Within his practice, Mr Moyle stresses the crucial importance of an ‘implementer’ who will ensure that all agreed measures are put in place.  He also highly values the unique skills of his team who will liaise with clients, underwriters, centres of influence etc, to ensure all elements are delivered in order for plans to be implemented.

specialisation for advisers is the way to go

Consistent Branding and Customer Experience
Ensure both the business and the adviser are identified with a brand that is viewed as professional, reliable and reflects the value of service provided.  While this component sounds self evident, Mr Moyle again highlights the importance of being consistent across the board with everything associated with his personal and business brand.  The client who experiences a consistent and quality service experience is more likely to develop lasting trust and is also more likely to become an advocate to others for the business.

Differentiation
Aside from the specialisation process, Mr Moyle endeavours to differentiate his proposition by sending ‘Happy New Year’ cards to his clients and centres of influence as opposed to Christmas cards.  While he admits this isn’t a substantial activity, Mr Moyle says sometimes it’s the little things that can make all the difference and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Also, no one else sends clients Happy New Year cards.

Mr Moyle also hosts an annual film evening for many of his key clients and centres of influence, where the cost of the evening is generally covered by a single additional business conversion.

Integrated Financial also produces its own newsletter to clients and centres of influence and they have worked with marketing consultants to help them grow their business.

Mr Moyle also uses a public relations firm to manage the dissemination of his message to the public.  He says the success he has achieved in differentiating his message from competing practices, thanks to the heightened public profile of his business, more than compensates for the cost of his investment in his public relations firm.

Other Success Factors
Mr Moyle details three other key factors that contribute to the success of his practice:

  • Client surveys – have the courage to ask the tough questions of your clients about the service delivered to the client by you and your practice
  • Centres of influence – advice practices and centres of influence who participate in mutual value exchanges will usually develop into productive, profitable, long term relationships
  • Client referrals – Mr Moyle’s experience tells him to seek referrals from A class clients because A clients generally refer A class prospects, while C class clients usually refer C class prospects

Not surprisingly, Mr Moyle is enthusiastic about the future growth prospects for his business, whose success in addition to the above elements, is built on a foundation of the passion he and his support team have for his business: “I love what I do,” he said.

Case Study – Managing an International Claim

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In this claims case study, Melbourne adviser, Aaron Zelman, shares the difficulties he encountered managing a claim for a client who spent most of her life living outside Australia.

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At a glance

Provided by: Aaron Zelman
Company: MediBroker (Founder at LifeScope Advice)
Client: Female, UK ex-pat, diagnosed with cancer
Claim type: Trauma

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In detail

Mr Zelman was contacted by one of his clients, who advised him she had recently developed an aggressive cancer.  A trauma insurance claim was initiated for the client, which included Mr Zelman fast-tracking the gathering of medical records from the client’s doctor and from Medicare.  Unfortunately most of the client’s medical records were held in the United Kingdom, where she had lived for much of her life.

Obtaining these records from the UK was extremely difficult.  The insurer had outsourced the management of this claim to a third party medical services group, which it also uses for underwriting purposes.  But things didn’t go smoothly:

  • The third party firm requested medical information, required to properly assess the claim, from the wrong doctor in the UK.
  • Time zone differences made direct telephone contact almost impossible.
  • The correct doctor was identified, but time delays led to frustration from the claimant.
  • This was further exacerbated by unavailability of staff in the UK, weekends, Christmas and other public holidays and personal time off for key people involved.

Mr Zelman stayed in contact with his client throughout this process and needed to assure her the requirement for the UK based medical information was valid.  But further difficulties arose in attempting to pay for the report:

The perception in the mind of the client was that the life company was to blame for dragging its heels

  • Payment had to be received before the report could be sent.
  • The UK medical office had a different way of invoicing for these services and a credit card could not be used.
  • A bank draft was transferred but unfortunately the account details provided by the UK finance department were incorrect because they were not used to managing this type of payment.  They were also not sure how to process it.
  • Mr Zelman offered to personally pay for the report but this offer was rejected by the UK finance department.

In the mean time, Mr Zelman was working with the Australian medical services group as well as with senior executives from the insurance company to find a way to cut through the red tape or to do whatever was required to process the claim.

Eventually the parties found a way to pay for the medical report.  The claim was quickly assessed and accepted and the client was paid her claim benefit of approximately $200,000.

Some points to note:

  1. The perception in the mind of the client was that the life company was to blame for dragging its heels in assessing her claim, even though much was being done to collect the information (admittedly via an outsourced third party).
  2. The client was on the brink of making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service because of the delays, in spite of Mr Zelman staying in contact with her and working hard behind the scenes to help facilitate what had to be done.
  3. Mr Zelman uses the analogy of his hitting a tennis ball over the net and expecting a return within a brief period.  In this case, it took about a week for the ball to return from the other side of the net.
  4. Mr Zelman sent around 30 emails, made countless phone calls and spent around 100 hours of his time from the beginning to the end of the process.
  5. He did not charge any fees for his time and effort.

Mr Zelman suggests that surely insurers must have experience with processes involved in requesting, obtaining and paying for medical reports from other countries.  He feels there may be a lack of ‘knowledge share’ for what can be a crucial element in a claims process.

Insurance How To – Positioning Your Business in the Digital Age

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In this Insurance How To, Synchron’s Michael Harrison, has produced an excellent summary for advisers seeking to position themselves and their practice in the new age of digital communications. He shares with advisers the do’s and don’ts in communicating with their clients in today’s world…

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At a glance

Provided by: Michael Harrison
Business: Strategies Plus
Profession: Business Strategist
Topics covered: key consumer trends, networking, seminars, advisory board, client communications, newsletters, building a website, social media, using video

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In detail

Times have changed
It used to be enough to advertise in the Yellow Pages, run a few ads in the local media or go to a Chamber of Commerce meeting if you wanted to attract new business.

Not anymore! At least not anymore if you are selling professional services. Attracting a stream of loyal clients to your business is getting harder every year.

Positioning your business is more important than ever if you want to be relevant. It’s how you go about it that has changed.

Three key trends
Three key trends are driving the way we should be thinking about business marketing.

The first is that we live in an ‘always-on’ world.

Our Internet-driven world is keeping us busier than ever, contrary to the belief we had pre the digital age, about paper clutter. Somehow we have added hours of extra business time to our everyday living. Whether you use a smartphone, iPad, or surf the web at your work computer, chances are that you spend an hour or two a day doing nothing specific, except being busy with mindless surfing. We all do it.

The second is Cloud computing.

Cloud computing is the practice of storing files in the “cloud,” or in simple terms, in cyberspace. It’s still in its infancy, but make no mistake, it’s here to stay.

It provides you with the freedom to access your files on the fly – regardless of where you are in the world. In other words, shared resources such as software and information are available on demand.

You can upload any file to your cloud and access it from any Internet connection in the world. If your computer breaks down, or you forgot to share that important presentation with your client before you left home, cloud storage can save your day. It simplifies the way you do business and takes some hassles out of our busy lives.

The third trend is what I call the fast-forward mentality. We all have inbuilt spam filters. Capturing someone’s attention for more than a few seconds is more difficult than ever.

Capitalising on the trends
To capitalise on these trends, professional services firms need to be seen in three ways:

  1. In person
  2. On paper
  3. In cyberspace

Each needs to leverage the others if you are serious about growth.

On the upside, it’s not too late to get started.

On the downside, if you are not currently doing some of the things discussed in this paper – you are already lagging behind your competitors.

Just two years ago you were able to utilise social media marketing with relative ease since you were probably one of the few doing it. Today, marketing via social media is a little bit trickier than setting up a Facebook Business Page.

Old Style Marketing – New Style Leverage

In Person
Being seen ‘in person’ means getting out there where people can see you. There are dozens of ways you can do it, but three in particular work for me and are easy to leverage.

1.      Networking
Networking can be powerful in giving you exposure to industry masterminds and opening new doors. It allows you to share, collaborate, demonstrate and learn with and from others. That said, networking in your own industry is a waste of time. The key is to ask yourself where your clients and prospects ’hang out’. If you are an accountant and your best clients are dentists then dental conferences are where you need to be seen.

Your leverage comes from offering attendees a copy of your latest white paper, tip sheet or digital download and then following them up.

2.      Seminars
Running your own seminars allows you to position yourself as a leader, invite guests who will impress your prospects and leverage yourself by association.

Instead of being the only speaker, invite an expert. If there has been a change in tax law invite a leading accountant or tax lawyer to speak about the changes. As the organiser you will host the event, introduce the speaker, facilitate the questions and introduce everybody.

Your leverage is sending out a video summary of the key points and inviting guests to pass it on to their friends and colleagues. Just remember, it’s not about you.

3.      Advisory Board
Advisory boards are great tools for building new business relationships. A light breakfast of coffee and muffins every couple of months can help you:

  • Get new perspectives on existing issues
  • Learn what’s happening around town
  • Arrange introductions to people other members of the group already know

There are numerous ways to use Advisory Boards to create new business relationships and your fellow participants become your best advocates and provide testimonials when you need them. Yes! I’m talking about the video testimonials you will have on your website. You might even make them using Skype.

On Paper
The power of the written word goes on. The only thing that might be missing is paper. Being seen ’on paper’ doesn’t necessarily mean the stuff that uses trees and damages the environment. It’s the content that counts.

Here’s how you can deliver your message:

Tip Sheets
Downloadable tip sheets are a great tool to help your prospects learn more about you and your business. As with most publications, they help establish you as a leader in your field. Keep them short, concise and value adding.

Use digital paper. Save them in PDF format to be downloaded from your website.

Articles
The best way to get noticed by your peers is to publish in one of your industry magazines. But, the best way to get noticed by prospective clients is to submit an article to the magazines they read.

Be interesting! Sometimes if you have a contrarian or contentious view, all of a sudden they will have space for your article.

Then leverage it by sending a digital copy to clients and prospects and publishing it on your website.

Newsletters
I know they are old fashioned but you would be surprised how many get read, especially if you make them visually appealing and informative. Even the old fashioned newsletters that are sent by snail mail can be effective if they are concise and interesting – which might just be a good contrarian strategy.

White Papers
White papers should offer useful information and resources. They are great for building your brand and creating awareness.

One-sheets
Typically used in the entertainment industry one-sheets are single sheet overviews of your business, your biography and other notable information about you. These can be added to your website to help potential customers understand what you can offer them.

Cyberspace

Website
If you don’t have a website you probably don’t exist to 99% of your prospective clients. If you do have a website that’s been growing cobwebs due to lack of new information and regular updates it’s almost as bad.

Your website is where you market your business online in an unobtrusive, yet very effective way.

It’s not optional.

Today’s customers are savvy. They use Google and other online search engines to find you and other service providers. Forget the Yellow Pages (it’s old news and much too overpriced).

The best way to keep it current is to blog about your areas of interest every week or two. And then you tell the world about your latest article, news or other resource using collaborative networks.

Collaborative Networks (Social Media)
Collaborative networks are how we stay in touch in the digital age. You build your online presence by linking to sites such as:

  • Linkedin – the business network
  • Twitter – the information network
  • Facebook – the social network which is starting to growth in the business world
  • YouTube – the biggest ‘how to’ and information network
  • Vimeo – the professional video network

These are the most powerful allies to any business, regardless of whether you are product or service based. There are others but if you use these effectively you won’t need them.

Auto Responders
The money is in your list. You might have heard this expression before. Building your own list is easy with an auto responder service that can be integrated into your website or blog. An auto responder can deliver pre-determined emails, newsletters, special offers and training programs.

Video
With YouTube being arguably the biggest search engine in the world, bigger than Google and Facebook (depending on which day you look), you have no time to lose if you want to use the power of video. It’s growing in popularity because it’s a succinct way of delivering information – whether it’s a testimonial or a ’how-to’.

Short video clips break through the clutter. They also attach to emails and make great podcasts.

Making videos is simple, fast and can be done easily using the free tools on your own computer.

Audio has been overtaken by video but with the huge growth in iPods it still has a place in a marketing strategy.

The Choices You Make Now Will Affect Your Future Business

Digital marketing is here to stay. So is old style ’analogue’ marketing. Marketing your business in the digital world means understanding both and leveraging them to maximise your impact. It’s a case where

1 + 1 + 1 = 100.

Michael Harrison designs turnkey DigiTouch® marketing programs that integrate digital strategies and traditional marketing to generate leads and increase sales for professional services firms. Email: mharrison@strategies.com.au Tel: 0418 822 666.

Insurance How To – Submitting a Group Insurance Claim

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In this Insurance How To, Donna Selby, from specialist insurance administration firm, Australian Group Insurance, shares with advisers her firm’s experience in how to best manage a client through a group insurance claim process, for an optimal outcome for both the claimant and the adviser…

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At a glance

Provided by: Donna Selby
Company: Australian Group Insurance
Topics covered: claim forms and requirements, delays to claims, record keeping

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In detail

In our experience, the best advisers are claims savvy. They know the claims process intimately and are proactive in the event of a claim. They also tend to have systems in place to handle claims and stay on top of the details. As a result, they add tremendous value to their clients and enjoy client loyalty.

We believe it is smart to manage your client expectations by educating them on the claims process from the beginning. Here are some practical considerations which may help:

Submitting a claim

Familiarise yourself with the insurer’s group risk claim forms.  Usually there are three initial claim forms to complete:

  • A member’s form (for claimant)
  • A treating doctor/medical attendant’s form (for claimant’s physician)
  • An employer’s form

A certified copy of a member’s proof of age (e.g. drivers licence, passport, birth certificate) is also usually required by the insurer. Death claims will require a certified copy of a death certificate.

Tell your clients to notify you of employees that are, or will be, unable to work for lengthy periods of time due to illness or injury. Encourage them to submit claim forms as soon as possible, even if they think that the claim may not be paid. The doctor’s form is usually sufficient for insurers to indicate whether a claim is likely to meet the policy criteria, but talk to your claims team.  Get your insurer’s claims team onside for a positive claims experience.

Forward thinking advisers do not accept insurers’ information at face value

Manage client expectations by reminding your clients that the claims assessment period is not instantaneous as insurers need to assess each claim on its merits. It will depend on whether they have all the information they need upfront and whether they need to request additional information.

Some of the things that slow down the claims process include:

  • Delays with medical information being provided by doctors and specialists
  • Delays with financial information being provided by accountants (particularly for salary continuance and TPD claims)
  • Delays with information coming from the claimant themselves (especially if the claimant is hospitalised)
  • Claimants being requested to undertake examinations with independent medical examiners appointed by insurers
  • Health insurance commission reports, which can take up to six weeks to be issued

Comprehensive evidence to support the claim as well as accurate information is vital. Inaccurate, incomplete or contradicting information provided by various parties spell unnecessary delays. Claimants should also promptly follow up third parties (e.g. doctors, accountants, etc) to ensure they provide the information requested by the insurer. Completed claim forms should be checked thoroughly before submission to the insurer(s).

Claim admittance, payments and ongoing requirements

Usually within a few days of submission the insurer will respond and either accept the claim, decline the claim or request more information.

For income protection and TPD claims, progress claim forms need to be completed by the claimant to receive ongoing payments.  It is a good idea to obtain the policyowner’s bank details in advance – electronic payments are the way to go.

Advisers and administration

Savvy advisers add value by implementing systems to manage their clients’ group risk claims. Forward thinking advisers do not accept insurers’ information at face value; checking all insurer claim payment calculations and keeping their own records.

In brief, we find that the best advisers are proactive and detail oriented at claim time, and as a result tend to grow their group risk business and maintain it, year after year.

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