APRA deputy chair criticises life insurance sales cultureBY ALEX BURKE | WEDNESDAY, 11 MAR 2015 12:20PMSales culture in the life insurance industry is undermining standards of good practice, according to APRA deputy chair Ian Laughlin.
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You have to look no further than the damage the direct life insurance business model has delivered to the life insurance industry. The commoditisation of life insurance as a no advice product which can be easily and quickly changed or altered (with no medicals!) from one provider to another destroys the value and importance of the product itself and therefore dilutes the importance the consumer places around high quality, technical advice and the long term relationship with an adviser that can deliver immeasurable benefits when needed.
Life Insurance is an advice and solutions driven business. Life Insurance advisers do not want to waste their precious time meeting and talking with people who do not have a need for a solution. It is an advisers role to seek out, work with and relate to people who have a clear need for the advice and solutions they may be able to offer.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of consumers will not pay a fee for Life Insurance advice without having a solution delivered or purchased which satisfies their need.
The Life Insurance business in terms of product is a profit driven business in a highly competitive space. They need to gain a competitive edge over their business rivals to ensure a profit is made. This business is an advice and solutions business (ie product sales).
Without sales of product, the Life Insurance companies die, so by Ian Laughlin stating that there is a sales culture in the Life Insurance industry is stating the blatantly obvious.