Author: System

Technology centered suppliers are critical to business success and, given that the large majority of companies use external suppliers for many functions and customer propositions, its vital firms change the way they think about choosing the right partners.

In our industry, suppliers are needed to provide the wide range of products and technological advancements in the last few years mean you now need to make sure your products, customer journeys and sales capabilities are taking advantage of the developments to keep you at the forefront of the market.

The right suppliers will help to drive growth using technology and data

Given how market conditions will likely squeeze the sector in 2023, it’s vital that businesses maximise every revenue stream and find progressive suppliers that are focused on driving innovation and progression.

Leading suppliers offer real solutions to problems and will also be the ones to take on the responsibility of coming up with solutions to your business challenges.

Generally, the strongest suppliers have these five elements in common:

Expertise: Suppliers who haven’t just taken a traditional customer journey and made it digital, but ones who have completely reinvented how a product can be offered. This will mean they have a track record of creating technology from scratch, centered completely around customer experience to simplify user journeys.  

Innovation: Innovators are committed to staying at the forefront of technological developments and willing to bring new solutions to the table. In today’s marketplace, where speed and simplicity are necessities of any well-performing service, how your partners have innovated to not only plug a gap in your own offering but to improve the way your firm can do business is the high bar you should be reaching for.

Flexibility: Look for suppliers who can adapt to your company’s changing needs and are able to provide customised solutions. This will involve evaluating a supplier’s ability to scale and their willingness to work with you to develop solutions that specifically meet the needs of your customer.

Communication: Partners who are easy to communicate with and responsive are essentials as suppliers need to be integrated within your own team. Those that simply pitch to win business and then do the minimum to keep you happy aren’t the ones that are going to significantly contribute to your own bottom line. It’s worthwhile getting feedback from existing users of any supplier to paint a better picture of how they operate.

Cost: While cost shouldn’t be the only factor in your decision, it’s important to consider the overall value that a supplier offers so your customers get a great product that meets their needs at a competitive cost.

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose a tech-savvy supplier who will be able to meet your company’s needs and help you grow in a year of challenge and opportunity. 

The rise of the “Now Economy” has led to an increase in consumer expectations for quick and effortless transactions. If you’re a financial adviser, you sit at the cross section of a colossal data exchange between multiple parties, which puts you in a prime position to respond to these changing expectations. The key is to understand how to use this data and choose the right partners, so you can adapt your business to give your clients what they want and expect.

So what should you focus on first? Here are some strategies that your firm can use to succeed in this environment:

1. Communicate relevantly: With all the marketing and spam flooding our inboxes and text messages, it’s important to send targeted, relevant messages that your clients will read and act on. Using data to send timely, relevant communications about mortgage applications, insurance renewals, and other financial products can increase conversions. For example, you can use data to send automated personalized emails reminding clients when their insurance policy is due for renewal or when their fixed rate is coming to an end.
2. Use an omni-channel approach: Different generations and demographics have different preferences for communication channels, so it’s important to reach customers through a variety of platforms. SMS and WhatsApp are becoming increasingly popular for quick updates and have higher open and click-through rates than other forms of communication.
3. Utilise technology to streamline processes: Automating tedious tasks can help financial services businesses provide a more efficient and seamless customer experience. By using data and choosing the right partners, businesses can make purchases such as home insurance effortless for consumers.
4. Offer flexible payment options: In the “Now Economy”, consumers expect to pay for goods and services using a variety of payment methods. Offer options such as credit and debit cards, mobile payments, and online payment platforms to make it convenient for your clients to do business with you.
5. Foster trust and transparency: Trust is more important than ever. Make sure to be transparent about your fees and policies and build trust with your clients by providing excellent customer service and being responsive to their needs (which can also be automated).

The biggest bit of advice? Lean on your suppliers and choose partners to do the hard yards. Give them your problems or needs and let them guide you with their expertise. They should be able to help you identify and implement the right technology solutions.

Are you sure you’re as open-minded as you think you are? Most of us like to believe that we’re unbiased, but the reality is that we all have unconscious biases – automatic stereotypes, prejudices and associations that can unconsciously influence our thoughts and actions.

In the business world, these unconscious biases can have a major impact on diversity and inclusion, leading to certain groups getting different opportunities or levels of support.

So, how can you identify and tackle your own unconscious biases? Here are some things to consider:

1. Do you tend to surround yourself with people who are like you? It’s natural to feel more comfortable around those who share similar backgrounds, experiences, or interests. But be aware that this comfort zone can also prevent you from being exposed to diverse perspectives and experiences.

2. Do you catch yourself making assumptions about people based on their appearance or background? We all have preconceived notions about different groups of people, whether it’s based on race, gender, age, or something else. Even though these thoughts might just occur in our heads, take a moment to consciously admit it and think about where these assumptions come from and whether they’re fair or accurate.

3. Are you actively working to challenge and overcome your biases? It’s not enough to simply recognise your biases – you need to put in the effort to actively challenge and overcome them. This can involve seeking out diverse perspectives, having difficult conversations, or simply considering an alternative point of view.

4. Are you creating an inclusive environment? Finally, think about your role in creating an inclusive environment for those around you. Do you actively listen to and value the perspectives of others, regardless of their background? Do you try to be welcoming and supportive of all employees, regardless of their differences?

By asking yourself these questions, you can start to identify and address your own unconscious biases. This is an ongoing process that requires a commitment to learning and growth. But by being mindful of your biases and actively working to overcome them, you can play a part in creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

The ongoing success of aggregators can partly be attributed to the fact hundreds of thousands of mortgage customers per year are not offered home insurance by their mortgage adviser.

Over the years, this has allowed price comparison sites (PCWs) to provide scores of customers access to other financial products like mortgage and protection at any opportunity.

Our goal has been to support firms across the UK to offer GI alongside every mortgage and before customers consider alternatives – but we knew the process needed to be made more seamless than ever to make this happen.

Utilising firms’ valuable data through UinsureCX

We recently unveiled UinsureCX that is already making an impact on the way insurance is bought and sold in the intermediary market.

Advisers track their clients’ mortgage journeys and know the exact moment when home insurance becomes a need as a result, and our new technology allows firms to fully utilise that data.

As customers reach mortgage milestones, automated communications are triggered that drive education of the need for insurance at key moments in a journey, such as application, offer and exchange, while they also give their clients the ability to purchase their insurance digitally.

This means that insurance has been well and truly intertwined into the mortgage journey as communications and quotes are seamlessly delivered in the exact moment your clients might need them – and our latest data shows that over 60% of people will choose to then go on and buy digitally as a result.

This data advisers have and the technology they have available to them means it’s easier than ever to offer insurance before anyone else does – at exactly the right moment – preventing the need for that client to go elsewhere with both their data and their business.

Advisers should take advantage of their position of strength

Intermediaries now have a huge advantage and, for the first time, have access to technology that makes it easy to prioritise GI – and it couldn’t come at a more important time.

Last year, the FCA launched its own discussion paper looking at competitive threats and the likely outcome for consumers, coincidentally around the same time the news that Amazon had entered the insurance space was breaking.

It warned that there are long-term dangers of huge firms generating excessive market share across parallel industries given their huge data sets and ecosystems of complementary products that will be built over time.

But by utilising this technology, advisers will not only improve conversion of insurance alongside a mortgage and demonstrate good customer outcomes by offering every mortgage customer a quote, but they will be using GI as an important strategic tool that acts as a ringfence to other offerings.

So, what exactly is embedded insurance and why should any mortgage businesses care? 

Embedded insurance simply means insurance that is integrated with a product or service into an existing customer journey. Therefore, the consumer is offered the right insurance for a product or service directly during the purchasing process.

For example, you book your all-inclusive summer holiday online and its convenient to add travel insurance as it’s offered as a booking option. Embedded insurance makes this possible.

Eureka! Embedded home insurance alongside a mortgage perhaps?

As you can see, the goal of embedded insurance is to seamlessly integrate insurance into existing purchasing processes to create the best and smoothest buying experience for the customer.

The main reason for considering embedding home insurance in your mortgage process is vast changes in consumer behaviour in recent years. Consumers demand convenience and comfort above all, which means uncomplicated and individual customer journeys in all areas are essential.

It presents a gigantic opportunity for mortgage advisers to capitalise on because it’s within your mortgage advice process that this product becomes a need, and within your data that provides the mechanism to automate and ‘embed’ digital insurance into individual customer journeys.

Is embedded insurance right for your business? Things to consider:

Do you currently offer home insurance consistently to all buyer types e.g. remortgage and purchase customers? 


If you do, and it’s working – great, certainly continue. But if your business isn’t making the most of the insurance opportunity, embedded insurance would deliver this for you.

How good is your data?

Ensuring data quality across your business is such a critical element to be considering, not just for embedded insurance but wider utility as other mortgage related tech advances. Quality data allows your embedded insurance partner to enrich and personalise insurance offerings according to individual customer profiles and preferences. For example, is it a first-time buyer with no current insurance or remortgage customer potentially switching insurance to a new provider? These data points enable deeper personalisation and supercharged customer experiences.

Are you seeking business diversification?

Embedded insurance can serve as an additional revenue stream. By earning commissions from insurance sales, you will diversify income sources and improve overall financial performance. 

Embedded home insurance isn’t just an add-on; it’s a highly effective gateway to providing a comprehensive service. By integrating insurance directly into mortgage journeys, you’re prioritising clients’ needs and seamlessly addressing a very core aspect of homeownership.