Chrisism #96 - Repetition is the Best Form of Learning

30 July 2019

Although this is an expression that can be and is used in a whole variety of situations, for the purposes of this Chrisism, I am specifically referring to the importance of this concept when it comes from going from the "Wants Analysis" on the Fact Find through to the recommendations for the client’s personal protection package.

The first client meeting should have nothing to do with anything technical or product related – it should be all about concepts, principles and financial outcomes. In my experience, the sooner you bring products to the table the more they represent the problem i.e. cost, whereas the longer you leave it to bring products to the table (at least until the recommendations phase), the more they represent the solution to the problem.

As most of you will know, the wants analysis that I conduct on the Fact Find involves just 3 simple questions for each of the two “what if” situations, namely illness/accident or premature death. The answers to these questions will give you all the information you need to put together your recommendations for appropriate types and levels of cover designed to produce the financial outcomes your client has told you they would want.

If asked the right questions, then everybody will pretty much want the same outcomes. In the event of serious illness or accident, then the three outcomes that people will want are 100% income replacement, get rid of the mortgage and have some money for possible capital/medical expenses. In the event of premature death, then the main outcome required is typically the ability to mirror the breadwinner’s income on an ongoing basis for the family even though he/she is no longer around to generate it.

Having used carefully chosen terminology that resonates with the client during the wants analysis, the worst thing you can now do is to undo all that good work by initially presenting the recommendations in a traditional tabular format as part of the SOA, detailing the life company name, the type of product, the name of the product, the sum assured and the premium. This then loses all the positive impact of the terminology, the concepts and the outcomes established in the wants analysis, and it is by using this consistency of terminology, concepts and outcomes that we can benefit most from the knowledge that repetition is the best form of learning.

It is worth pointing out at this stage that my 2-3 page Circle of Safety document (which outlines the details of the client’s personal protection package in the most client friendly way) is not an alternative document to the SOA, but an additional document to the SOA, and the 'platinum package' outlined in the Circle of Safety document  is exactly mirrored by the recommended strategy in the SOA, but it is using the same terminology, concepts and outcomes as the wants analysis on the Fact Find – the reason being that repetition is the best form of learning. The exact structure of these recommendations can be found on page 73 of my book.

If you are based in Sydney and would like to flesh out the concepts above as well as get a bucketful of lightbulb moments over a whole day, then there is still time to register for my Risk Workshop in Sydney this Friday!

The Risk Workshop - Sydney

The Risk Workshop by Chris Unwin

Are you a financial adviser who would like all of your clients to have appropriate types and levels of personal protection? But perhaps you feel you need a more structured and client friendly engagement process?