Life insurance salesmen used to have a worse reputation than second-hand car dealers and ‘replacement widow consultants’, for foot-in-the-door, hard-closing tactics. They’ve sadly disappeared, replaced by the DIY internet and ‘protection advisers’. I think the latter are quite right to use real-life examples of the benefits of having, and problems of being without insurance when it’s needed. ‘Back up the coffin and let them smell the flowers’, they used to say in Sales School. ‘If you died tomorrow, we’d all be very sad. But how would your family cope financially?’ ‘If your wife died tomorrow, who would look after the children?’ ‘If you take out this policy, it could be a waste of money, or the best thing you ever did. Let’s hope it’s a waste of money’. All lines which, with that other great sales tactic, ‘the power of silence’, made many think about the stuff no-one wants to think about; and gave those of us who’ve done the job, and should still be doing it as if we’re to be proper financial advisers, many a sad-but-true tale to tell. All of which we should tell more often.
“Zombie life insurer Phoenix to buy Standard Life Aberdeen insurance arm in £3.2bn deal”
There’s not much to choose between many of the biggest life and pensions companies. Most have some decent funds and have to compete on charges and product features. So service and relationships are often the deciding factor, and Standard Life’s admin and people have...