Is There a Mortgage Journey Disconnect With Protection?
Is there a mortgage journey disconnect with protection?
I know there will be a bit of contention around this and before we go into this there are many great mortgage brokers out there that do a fantastic job of protection whether they write the cover themselves or they refer it to a protection specialist.
I want to talk about the frustration I’ve been told in the last two weeks when I’m speaking to business owners, mortgage advisers, protection managers and candidates seeking new roles.
The biggest one I am coming up against from business owners is a lack of overall protection penetration on their mortgage cases, mortgage advisers not having enough time to write protection (Not valuing it) and protection advisers not getting enough warm leads.
The cycles in a lot of businesses are broken and blame-shifting happens a lot. Business owners say that protection is not a priority in the mortgage journey and regardless of having a setup to enable protection to be written, there is little to no incentive to get all the cogs turning together.
Mortgage advisers often do not have the time to write protection and because there is not an in-house adviser the conversation does not simply happen. Those mortgage advisers that do have a protection specialist to refer to will often not do so until a mortgage offer, and this is often where the first conversation is had around financial protection.
Protection advisers will often not be happy with the whole process, they will have leads sent their way which are ‘cold’ or they are coming over because ‘I’ve been told I have to have a conversation with you to get my mortgage’
There is a solution but you need the ethos and the passion to execute. Getting an efficient strategy to deal with a 360 customer journey when it comes to mortgage and protection is not hard. But you need to be firm for it to work.
Here are my tips on how to get the wheels turning better in your business (And keep people happier)
- Give a S**T.
Your customer will always be your most valued asset. Everything you do with them is based around them spending money on your services which in turn pays all your bills. You HAVE to have their best interests at heart and that very simply is helping them to understand the risks and rewards of what they are doing - Talk about protection
It may sound obvious but it is not. So many mortgage journeys do not talk about protection at all or not in the right way. Financial protection like life insurance, income protection and critical illness ARE NOT a requirement when you take a mortgage BUT they are absolutely crucial to your client and should be talked about at every part of your mortgage journey.
If something goes wrong (FYI we all die and get sick at some point) it doesn’t matter to your client what rate they got. All that matters is how they pay for what they have.
Take time to introduce protection in your process. Take care to talk them through the correct options and let them make an informed decision. - Understand the products
What you know and understand about protection products will be directly reflected on your customer. If you do not know how income protection works are you doing to talk to your client about it properly? I’d guess you wouldn’t. I wouldn’t speak to my clients about pensions because I do not know much!
Take time to learn what's on the market, contact your BDM’s, go onto the provider's websites and learn the materials (There is tonnes and tonnes of useful stuff now). It is all part of your CPD anyway so why not use that time to enhance your customer's journey - Refer
If the protection process causes a headache get a specialist involved or you are not comfortable introducing protection into your mortgage journey refer them. Everyone in business talks about the value of customer referrals however rarely do I see mortgage brokers who do not offer protection partnering up with an external source to support their client's needs.
I’ve run referral programmes like this in the past and they are great.
Also KEY NOTE - they are not going to steal your client or cause your mortgage to fall through - It’s just a straight fact! - Hire
If you really want to get protection embedded hire to create a protection function within the business. Either train up existing staff members or hire a protection adviser to not only write the cover but help upskill the rest of the business. Knowledge is power and I work with candidates on a daily basis that can help you achieve this. - Incentivise protection
Probably not what you would expect but it needs to happen. Nothing has ever worked better than creating an incentive. The first one should always be the incentive of knowing that the debt your customer is walking away with won’t destroy their family if the worst happens. If this is not enough then create an incentive programme. A kickback to the mortgage advisor for referring the protection OR and overall monthly competition for how many cases are sold/referred. There are so many ways to do it but ensure it’s done with the customer being put first. Another is compliance, if you want to really drive the process make it a key point during your compliance reviews. - Know you have done the right thing
One day you will get a call off the back of one of your clients getting sick or dying. I’ve had 3 in my career and many more IP claims. When you are first told your stomach sinks, what impact is that having on the family, did the policy get written into trust, how can I support them with claims, did I do the right level of cover for them, is it still the right level or cover (Yes and yes because you have good processes and a good review process as part of the business!!)
The knowledge that you have helped someone during their saddest or most stressful time in life is wholesome and validates why you do the job you do.
I do hope this is not seen as a rant but is focussed on how to get protection to become a most ingrained part of the mortgage business you work in.
Please reach out if you would like to chew the fat or talk about how protection can be better sold in your business
Tom Hampton Recruiment
Empowering careers, Insuring tomorrow.
