Paul Avis, Natalie Summerson and Bill Eddolls on improving customer experience with underwriting technology – MAF182

MPAF Podcast, , ,

This week, I’m welcoming back Paul Avis to the show for the fifth time along with his colleagues Natalie Summerson and Bill Eddolls.

We talk about how technology has transformed the once lengthy and complex underwriting process into something more customer friendly.

It’s a deep dive into the world of financial services and protection insurance.

Welcome to episode 182 of the Marketing and Finance Podcast.

Paul Avis, Natalie Summerson and Bill Eddolls on improving customer experience with underwriting technology - MAF182

What you’ll hear about in this episode

  • How the underwriting process has changed over the years, from simple in the 1980s to complex in the 2000s
  • The three main reasons customers drop out of applying for protection insurance
  • Fixing the frustrations of long waits for General Practitioners Reports
  • Cutting back on questions to make shorter, more understandable applications forms
  • Pints and glasses not “units” – Talking the customer’s language
  • Putting the customer at the heart of the journey, not the Actuary

Who Paul, Natalie and Bill?

Paul Avis is Marketing Director at Canada Life Group Insurance. A keen sportsman, Paul notes his interests as Bath Rugby, Somerset Cricket, Swindon Town Football, Diving, and Skiing. Natalie Summerson is National Sales Manager for Canada Life Individual Protection. As well as being passionate about protection insurance, Natalie enjoys keeping fit and entertaining her friends and family. Bill Eddolls is a Development Underwriter at Canada Life Individual Protection. A father of three, Bill’s hobbies include walking the dog and supporting his children’s sporting interests: hockey, kickboxing and playing football for Bristol City Academy.

Summary of our chat

Back in the 1980s underwriting was simple. Application forms were short. Over the last 30 years companies have added many pages of questions. And they’ve made the process longer. Getting General Practitioner’s reports can still take longer than 30 days.

Also when people get a quote for protection insurance, they are often disappointed to find they end up paying more after underwriting. This all adds up to a process that frustrates the customer rather than engages them.

Canada Life are at the forefront of changing customer experience using underwriting technology. Back in 2002 they introduced the CLASS (Canada Life Application Self Service) system for group protection insurance. In 2014, with the rest of Canada Life focussing on Pensions Freedoms, the Group team lent their expertise to individual protection underwriting.

Their research found there were three reasons why customers drop out of applying for a protection product:

  • Question sets are too long. At over 32 pages (and that’s on paper, online might appear more) people get fed up with intrusive questions
  • The price they got from a “Quick Quote” system is not the same as they end up paying after they apply. One in three people find the price goes up after underwriting
  • Processing can take many weeks, often over a month if the insurance company needs a GP report.

Natalie and Bill talk about how Canada Life have tried to solve these problems. They’ve cut the number of questions by 40% and introduced simpler language. For example whilst most companies ask people how many “units of alcohol” they drink, Canada Life talk about pints and glasses. When was the last time you went into the pub and asked fro 2 units of alcohol?

They’ve brought in tele-interviews instead of GP reports and now 80% of their applications go on risk within 20 minutes.

Insurance companies have in the past resisted cutting questions or dumping the GP report for fear of putting up the price of cover. But Paul say, “We’ve put the customer at the heart of what we do, not the actuary.”

Links and contact details

If you enjoyed – Paul Avis, Natalie Summerson and Bill Eddolls on improving customer experience with underwriting technology – please leave a comment or a review on iTunes.

And if you know anyone who would enjoy the show – please share it with them. You can use the buttons below to share on social media.

Don’t miss an episode of the MAF Podcast – subscribe now.

Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe by RSS Feed

Annoying marketing that makes your blood boil – MAF181

MPAF Podcast, , , ,

In a post on LinkedIn recently, I asked for examples of marketing activity that enrages rather than engages.

I must have struck a nerve because lots of people replied with a ton of stories. Marketing that makes your blood boil. Let’s have a look at them in this week’s show.

Welcome to episode 181 of the Marketing and Finance Podcast.

Annoying marketing that makes your blood boil – MAF181

What you’ll hear about in this episode

  • Putting together a speech for Youpreneur Summit 2018 in November
  • The “Connection + sales pitch” trick
  • The webinar hourly email tsunami
  • The spelling mistake trick
  • The guilt email or pop up trick
  • Flipping it to engage rather than enrage

If you enjoyed – Annoying marketing that makes your blood boil – please leave a comment or a review on iTunes.

And if you know anyone who would enjoy the show – please share it with them. You can use the buttons below to share on social media.

Don’t miss an episode of the MAF Podcast – subscribe now.

Subscribe on iTunes     Subscribe by RSS Feed

If you like the Podcast please click

Nicole Osborne on using video marketing and LinkedIn for customer engagement – MAF180

MPAF Podcast, , , ,

My guest this week is Nicole Osborne, owner of Lollipop Social and a social media and video marketing champion.

We talk about how Nicole left her job as a marketing director to set up her own company and how she helps companies put together strategies for social media and video marketing.

Welcome to episode 180 of the Marketing and Finance Podcast.

Nicole Osborne on using video marketing and LinkedIn for customer engagement - MAF180

What you’ll hear about in this episode

  • How businesses of all sizes can use social media
  • Why people dislike the word ‘strategy’
  • The benefits of using video for business
  • Nicole’s tips for video production
  • How Nicole helps her clients grow their businesses
  • Why businesses should use LinkedIn

Who is Nicole Osborne?

Nicole runs Lollipop Social, a marketing company based in London. She moved from Germany 20 years ago and has worked with many business leaders on marketing and growth. She did well in her career as a marketing director but when she became a mum struggled to find a senior role with flexibility.

She decided to use her skills, experience and passion for helping entrepreneurs to sweeten up their marketing and set up her own business. She upskilled in digital marketing and started Lollipop Social a year ago. The name comes from the fact that she gives her son a lollipop to keep him happy in airport queues.

Nicole comes from a family of Eastern German entrepreneurs and enjoys working with ambitious entrepreneurs, bringing a combination of heaps of German logic and empathy to all her marketing projects.

Summary of our chat

For big companies, it’s important to have social media policies, brand guidelines and guardianship. They have more money to experiment, but there’s always a risk of death by committee. Nicole says when she works with smaller companies they can try new things quickly, which bigger ones can’t.

Nicole uses phrases like ‘roadmap to success’ with clients rather than the dreaded ‘strategy’. It’s still about knowing where you are now and where you’re going. She applies the traditional marketing tools to develop the roadmap, but avoids the word strategy so people aren’t switched off by the language.

Nicole started learning about video a year ago, seeing that it was an amazing way for people to get to know her. She recommends video to clients, so has to use it too. She worked to overcome her fears, realising that you can’t learn how to do video from a course.

The key to video is to just do it, and don’t delete it afterwards. Nicole’s favourite tip is not to compare yourself to someone who’s been doing it for years, but look at their early videos. Everyone has to start somewhere! You will improve with every take.

When Nicole starts with a new client, she learns about their strengths, the competition, ideal customers and areas of interest. Then she maps the ideas back to their brand values. To succeed with content marketing, you need to be clear on your target audiences, their challenges, problems and where they hang out.

LinkedIn is now a great place to share video, so long as people stay on the platform. Nicole says you need to make it easy for viewers to reply, and then go in and engage with them. It’s harder for big businesses to use it, but LinkedIn is a great place to make connections.

A marketing campaign or product that grabbed Nicole’s attention

Nicole liked a recent Heineken beer advert which got a diverse mixture of people into a room. They were asked to fix something and had to work together. Viewers didn’t know what would happen, but it was a great way to challenge assumptions and unite people. It’s a powerful way to communicate messages.

Nicole’s book recommendations

Nicole enjoyed “The Hippo Campus” by Andrew and Pete. In it they talk about building a brand to stand out in a good way. It came at the time when she’d just left the corporate world and was looking to do something different. They have an engaging style and give great tips, and Nicole still refers to the book now.

She also read Chris Ducker’s “Rise of the Youpreneur” after attending his conference last year, and highly recommends “Vlog Like a Boss” by Amy Schmittauer.

Links and contact details

If you enjoyed – Nicole Osborne on using video marketing and LinkedIn for customer engagement – please leave a comment or a review on iTunes.

And if you know anyone who would enjoy the show – please share it with them. You can use the buttons below to share on social media.

Don’t miss an episode of the MAF Podcast – subscribe now.

Subscribe on iTunes     Subscribe by RSS Feed

If you like the Podcast please click