Head of Sales and Marketing Sharon Mawby caught up with appointed representative Protection Matters, as they round up their first year as a trustworthy protection business referral service for busy brokers.

It has been a full year since Protection Matters were introduced as a referral service for advisers. Since then, Adam Perry and the team at Protection Matters have built partnerships with several adviser firms with the help of National Account Manager for Protection Craig Bryce. This has helped protect clients and provides an efficient and rewarding protection referral process for busy advisers.

This seemed the ideal time to catch up with Adam, look back at the last 12 months, and see how they have helped advisers through strong business partnerships with the client at the centre.

Just in case advisers missed it the first time, can you quickly explain how you can help them with their protection sales?

“It’s important to remember we are not a sales team, we are not trying to sell advisers anything. We only want to support them should they need a little help covering their client’s protection needs.

“All advisers naturally feel some reluctance when thinking about referring protection business. But once they meet with us we always find those objections and hesitations go away once they realise how easy, efficient, supportive and rewarding the partnership can be for them.

“In terms of the process, once terms have been agreed and sent back, we arrange a meeting as soon as possible to iron out any details and go over any issues they may have. We are very flexible and always make sure the process is smooth for them, by tailoring it to suit their business.

“We always have regular reviews to ensure we are continuing to help wherever possible. We work closely with National Account Manager for Protection Craig Bryce, as he helps answer any initial queries and acts as a recognisable buffer for any concerns.”

How do you work through these concerns with advisers?

“When considering whether to refer protection, advisers often ask: Will it damage my client relationship? Will the standard of advice be high enough? Will I lose income? It is so pleasing to see initial concerns fade away as soon as they see the standard of advice and how effective and rewarding the referral service is.

“After we have set things up they quickly see how well we look after their client and the return of income they get through by simply referring business. Some advisers have actually found that they have increased their income, in some cases more than they could have done on their own.

“For some advisers it is about more than not having time to write protection. It’s also about having the confidence to write it every day and with every client. Knowing they can refer their clients to us means they feel confident enough to bring it up early on in the client conversation. They can introduce the subject with the client straight away as they know they can hand it over to us.”

Do you have an example of how you have built partnerships with advisers?

“One of the advisers we have worked very closely with is Appointed Representative Kevin Hannan of Right Advice Mortgage Consultancy. After similar initial concerns, Kevin is now completely on board with the protection referral service and has been a model business partner in terms of making the process as smooth as possible.

“Because Kevin prepares his clients early for the referral process, they are already waiting for our call when we contact them. The client is always enthusiastic about their cover, as Kevin has already talked about the importance of protection early on in his own process. He is finding his income from referring is more than worth the time it takes to arrange a good system of referral with us.

“Kevin is just one example. We are currently working with over twice the number of advisers since we last appeared in Insight in April, which shows how much our service has grown in just the last few months.

“We now have a few “regulars” who have now fully integrated the referral process into their own client meetings. We often find the process becomes continuously quicker and smoother as we refine it, which means less time spent on referring as we go!”

How have you worked with National Account Manager for Protection Craig Bryce over the last year?

“Craig has really helped us develop a much more proactive approach, to ensure that the partnership continues after the first few referrals. Craig brings it up whenever he is with advisers and helps organise regular reviews. He also points out any dips in protection sales that we can help with.

“After all, advisers are working with us predominately because they are very busy, which puts the onus on us to ensure the process works as efficiently as possible to reduce the amount of resource they spend on it.

“Craig also encourages protection reviews with clients at key points such as remortgage discussions. By pointing out that this is the ideal time to also review protection needs with the client, he highlights our referral system as an option for advisers that may not be able to find the time.”

Join our award-winning Mortgage Network as an appointed representative, or become a member of our Mortgage Club, to start benefiting from our fantastic range of comprehensive services and support. Call the Broker Support Team on 0845 130 7446 (opt 1) to find out more.