With Quality Product Research we have lots of great information to put in the insurance report – more than any other source available in New Zealand – it includes quotes, market research, (even on bank and direct products), a head-to-head comparison, underwriting requirements, client risks, and needs analysis.
But the client wants to see a recommendation. All that data might be reassuring reference material, but what about a nice short document which highlights the essential choice? A great way to do that is with the one page “Head to Head” report. A lot of advisers that use our system have a recommendation letter and use the head-to-head report as the main focus.
Clients are typically looking for help making a decision. That means highlighting the main points of difference between the best options for them. Bringing the decision down to a ‘top two’ and choosing between them is a great way to get that clarity. To find head to head you need to prepare a quote just like usual. Set up the client, or open an existing client, choose your benefits, and then hit next to move to the price comparison chart.
When you are at the comparison page you will notice a row of tabs. The first lets you download brochures and policy documents. The price comparison you will be familiar with. The research tab shows a comparison of up to fourteen products at once. Next is head to head, but we cannot click on this yet. To make this report work you need to go back to the research tab and tick two products to show on the head to head tab. You know you’re ready when the tab changes colour. If you cannot see the two products you want in the research table you may need to click on the “companies” selection menu and tick the companies you want to see research for.
Remember to click save and close when you have chosen the right companies. Now tick the two companies you want to see. Now you can click on the head-to-head tab. The Top chart shows the features with the most significant differences. Check the figures in brackets to see what the score difference is.
Underneath that there is a table which lists features that are not in one policy but not in the other. These might be significant for the client, and are important for full disclosure, but they are each worth less than 1% of the total score. If they are worth more then they will appear in the chart at the top of the report as being significant differences.
Typically the report fits on just one page. With some products where there are many items and many differences it may run onto a second page. But the great advantage of this picture is that it quickly, visually, allows you to focus on the few meaningful differences between policies. Not a sea of words or numbers in a big report.
But of course, you probably still need context. Your recommendation should connect the features of the plan to specific requirements you and your client uncovered in your earlier discussions. The next part in this series covers other parts of the insurance report which can help you do that.