I can’t see a GI sales process built on asking more questions going far.
David Smith (pictured) is chief innovation officer of Uinsure
Dianne Thompson blundered whilst CEO of Camelot, Matt Barrett advised credit card debt was bad for you whilst CEO of Barclays, Helen Mirren claimed using moisturiser “probably does F*** all” whilst brand ambassador for L’Oreal, and of course no one can forget Gerald Ratner’s 1991 enormous gaff. They have all fallen foul of telling the truth to the detriment of their brands.
Last week I read about the ability to remove questions from the GI sales process seemingly making it detrimental for customers. I can’t agree with that viewpoint, which, appears to be at significant odds with the forward-thinking that is becoming more prevalent in our market; only last week Loqate advised an increase in their sales conversion rate to 80% by utilising big data to remove almost all of the questions in the GI sales journey.
It is estimated that in the average GI sales process there are around 56 questions (data fields) for a customer, or adviser, to answer. That’s a lot of questions, and probably a lot of repeating ones, especially when considered alongside mortgage advice. Surely removing as many of those as possible can only be helpful not detrimental? Consumers and advisers are tired of continually being asked the same questions over and over again within the long-winded mortgage sales process. A modern tech-focused business should be able to pre-populate most of these questions from existing, trusted sources without having to revert to the customer yet again.
Take property type or year built as examples. Both these facts are usually static and sit on data cubes at government departments such as The Land Registry. Why would you ask a customer known questions if you can utilise big data to remove these questions? Flood risk, number of bedrooms etc. are all data elements capable of being harnessed from elsewhere with a high degree of accuracy, rather than putting the customer or adviser through the pain.
You need a modern technology stack to mine and harness the vast data cubes now open to technology businesses that can enrich the user experience no matter what your service. I believe Loqate, L&G and Uinsure are taking the right approach – less is more. No right-minded broker wants 56 questions to answer for a Buildings and Contents quote during the mortgage process, it’s beyond insane. This is certainly our view at Uinsure, and, along with many distribution partners, we have been working hard to remove all duplication, effort and objections from the GI sales process by utilising pre-filled question technology powered by trusted data sources, not human fingers. Zero effort, Zero repetition, Zero objections and 100% GI quote to mortgage application to make sure advisers can be as efficient as possible during the mortgage process, and focus their attention on providing quality advice to their clients.
As an industry, we need to tackle the existing problem that a dismal one in four intermediary-introduced mortgages has GI alongside it. Surely initiatives like these will help address this issue and more importantly contribute massively to improving customer outcomes.
At Uinsure we are on a mission to integrate our market leading Zero GI platform into as many systems in the intermediary market place as is possible. Our intention is to drive 100% Mortgage: GI application from intermediaries. We look to the future with great excitement and huge energy as our team continue to innovate.
Businesses are thriving which are driven by big data, just look at Facebook or Google’s valuation. Imagine being asked who your friends are every time you logged in, it wouldn’t go far.
I can’t see a GI sales process built on asking more questions going far either.
