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Submitted by: <\/b>Igor and Sasha Loutkovsky
\nBusiness name: <\/b>Loufin Pty Ltd
\nLicensee: <\/b>Aon
\nYears in advice: <\/b>30
\nNumber of clients: <\/b>1800+<\/p>\n
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For nearly 30 years, Igor Loutkovsky has been providing risk advice to clients he hasn\u2019t met in person. His business model is based on bulk referrals, the majority of which are generated through strategic alliances with seminar providers. Igor presents at these client events, alongside other professionals such as accountants and lawyers, on \u00a0the importance of insurance and wealth protection. After the event, clients who request assistance with their insurance needs are passed on to Igor and his team to follow up, and clients who wish to take out cover have their applications processed over the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first batch of referrals I got was 250 potential new clients,\u201d Igor recalls. \u201cI had a stack of papers with all these prospects\u2019 contact details on them. And it was the same after each seminar: I\u2019d get all these contacts, from all around Australia, which I had to follow-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the leads continued to flow in, Igor\u2019s daughter, Sacha, joined the business (about seven years ago). \u201cThe business started off well and, with Igor\u2019s energy and planning, gained a lot of momentum very quickly,\u201d says Sacha. \u201cBut it was very time consuming. A lot of leads were burnt because we just couldn\u2019t get to them. Our follow-up process was very hit and miss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ongoing client engagement was also an issue: \u201cWe ended up spending so much time servicing our clients that we didn\u2019t have time to really engage with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Igor and Sacha realised they needed to maximise the value from their referral sources, as well as engage more effectively with their clients, to avoid losing them to other providers who may have a presence in the clients\u2019 local area operating a traditional, face-to-face business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why social media and technology is now playing such an important part in our business,\u201d says Sacha.<\/p>\n
Looking around the industry, at what other advisers were doing in their practices, led Igor and Sacha to Baz Gardner\u2019s \u2018social advice\u2019 model. Essentially, \u2018social advice\u2019 is about using digital communication, social media, technology and client psychology to exponentially improve the quality, efficiency and profitability of an advice business. For Igor and Sacha, employing this approach has meant they can touch a greater number of people, in a very personalised way, very quickly.<\/p>\n
They started by revisiting their business model. \u201cWe have two advisers doing renewals, and servicing the existing book. This leaves Dad and I to concentrate on engagement and new business,\u201d explains Sacha.<\/p>\n
They also invested in updated Client Relationship Management (CRM) software, and linked this to an email marketing system. Now, when new leads are received, they are immediately entered into the client database. An automatic introduction email is then generated, which includes a link to an online pre-interview questionnaire, as well as to the company\u2019s FSG, Facebook, Youtube and website links.<\/p>\n
As well as saving the business time and money, this process has the added advantage of putting the next step back on the client. \u201cBefore we had this system, I had to contact each lead, sorting out the \u2018tyre kickers\u2019,\u201d recalls Igor. \u201cNow, we can see if they\u2019re really interested by asking them to fill out the online form. And because we\u2019ve saved so much time for the business, we can promise that if they do submit the form we\u2019ll get in contact with them within 24 hours to discuss the next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n
The application follow-up process is also systemised, utilising the CRM database\u2019s inbuilt task manager. \u201cWe can create reminders and tasks that need to be done in the future. So when you come in each morning you don\u2019t have to worry about what you\u2019re doing, because you have a systemised task list right in front of you,\u201d says Igor.<\/p>\n
The CRM database also features an integrated SMS process, so the practice can back-up its email messages with a text to the client.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith bulk emails, you can never be 100% sure they will reach their intended target,\u201d says Sacha. \u201cThey might end up as spam, or go to the wrong address because of a mis-spelled entry on the form. So a couple of hours after we send the email, the client will get a text message saying: \u2018Hi, it\u2019s Igor from Loufin. We\u2019ve sent you an email. Please let me know if you haven\u2019t received it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Video plays a significant part in Loufin\u2019s engagement strategy. Not only does it allow clients to \u2018put a face to a name\u2019, but it also provides the business with significant time savings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started out by doing a simple Christmas greeting in 2012,\u201d Sacha says. \u201cIt was so basic – just the team in funny hats, taken on a single camera in our office, with Dad wishing all our clients a \u2018Merry Christmas\u2019. We emailed that out to our client base, instead of sending Christmas cards, and we got a terrific response. So we followed it up with a Happy Birthday video, which is automatically emailed out on the client\u2019s birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sacha and Igor now use video to follow-up their initial discussions with clients, using a webcam to record a short wrap of what has been agreed with the client. This is sent via email to the client, along with any paperwork, or additional information that is required.<\/p>\n
For clients who have questions about their cover, Loufin has engaged animated video specialist, Doodler, to produce six short educational videos, which explain the different types of cover in a simple, client friendly way.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of spending 20 minutes talking to them on the phone, explaining about the different types of cover, which I\u2019ve found tends to go in one ear and out the other anyway, we now just send off a link to one of these videos,\u201d says Igor.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s made us a very profitable business, because we don\u2019t waste a lot of time<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe animations are so powerful that they could even be a source of referrals for us. Because when we send it to our clients, we say \u2018Please feel free to forward this on to your friends\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sacha agrees, saying the new, social approach has allowed the business to position itself, and the value it can deliver to clients, more effectively. \u201cWe are getting in contact and engaging with our clients; we\u2019re opening up that dialogue. Since June, I\u2019ve already had more of my own clients referring back to me. And while it\u2019s difficult to pinpoint exactly what led them to do that, I checked their records and all of them had received the Christmas and Birthday video emails.\u201d<\/p>\n
This \u2018customer centric\u2019 thinking is also influencing the non-technological elements of Igor and Sacha\u2019s business. In February this year, they rebranded the practice from Loutkovsky Insurance to Loufin. Why? Because no-one could pronounce Loutkovsky!<\/p>\n
They similarly changed some of the language they use when speaking to customers. Igor gives the following example: \u201cPreviously, when we were going through the leads, we\u2019d ask the prospect if they wanted a \u2018fact find\u2019. If they said \u2018No\u2019, we\u2019d simply move to the next person on our list. But how is a person who\u2019s never worked with a financial adviser going to know what a \u2018fact find\u2019 is? Now we say, \u2018Let\u2019s book in a chat to find out what\u2019s important to you\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite having only operated under their new model for six months, Loufin is already seeing significant results.<\/p>\n
Says Igor: \u201cIt\u2019s made us a very profitable business, because we don\u2019t waste a lot of time. We don\u2019t have the same overheads that other advice offices may have. Some of my peers spend half an hour\/45 minutes in Sydney traffic to go talk to someone for half an hour, and then another 45 minutes getting back to their office – in that time we could have engaged 25 clients.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sacha says the approach is also giving the practice credibility: \u201cSocial media, especially the use of the email marketing system, makes us look really professional. It gives us credibility straight off the bat, by saying: we know what we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re a professional outfit, and we\u2019re really here to help you and provide value that others may not be able to. I don\u2019t think we were coming across that way ten years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Igor and Sacha believe their business is now well placed to remain competitive over the next ten years, in the face of what they predict will be an increasingly competitive market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are changing,\u201d says Sacha. \u201cAll you have to do is hop online and you can see what\u2019s emerging, what new competitors are out there. Everyone\u2019s converting to risk because it\u2019s fairly lucrative in the landscape of financial products and it\u2019s viewed as easy to write. Accountants are getting into it, financial planners have fallen back on risk because of the GFC and FoFA. And we\u2019re getting hit by online businesses like iSelect, and the direct insurers. On top of that potential clients now have access to all the information they could ever want or need about insurance online, so you have to be able to provide value that they can\u2019t get themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin three years it\u2019s going to be really tough. There\u2019s enough business to go around in Australia – we always see those stats about underinsurance – but it\u2019s not going to be as easy as it was. If people don\u2019t prepare by taking on whatever they need to upgrade and streamline their business, and in most cases it is social media and technology, they\u2019re going to get pushed out.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Igor and Sacha Loutkovsky have always approached advice a little differently, operating a business model that means they rarely ever meet their clients in person. In this case study, they share how new technology and the \u2018social advice\u2019 movement have enabled them to take their risk business to the next level. [hr] At a glance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4261,4666,4479],"tags":[4563,4566,4564,4558,4570,4569,4714,4484,4562,5765,4565,4483,5755],"class_list":{"0":"post-24220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-marketing-sales","7":"category-sales","8":"category-social-media-marketing-sales","9":"tag-aon","10":"tag-bulk-referrals","11":"tag-business-model","12":"tag-client-relationships","13":"tag-crm","14":"tag-digital-communication","15":"tag-events","16":"tag-generating-leads","17":"tag-loufin-pty-ltd","18":"tag-referrals","19":"tag-social-advice","20":"tag-social-media-2","21":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}