EMBRACING A NEW NORMAL

Positive or negative – the choice is yours

It’s been a difficult year for advisers but Naomi Ballantyne sees many positives to embrace in the changes Covid-19 has forced on the industry.

BY NAOMI BALLANTYNE

When Covid-19 first invaded our lives and completely disrupted what was “normal” for all of us, I made the observation about how divergent the responses from different advisers were.

Some went into hibernation mode, not believing they could engage with their existing customers nor potential customers because their normal way of doing things had been disrupted – these advisers effectively stopped servicing their customers and earning new business income altogether.

Others got stuck into helping their newly vulnerable existing customers by upping their service game, but at the same time stopped any new business activity losing the associated commission income.

Then there were those who seemed to absorb the increased servicing requirements that Covid-19 brought, while continuing their new business activities. Certainly, these advisers have experienced the least income disruption throughout these past difficult months.

Now that New Zealand has emerged to a place that seems relatively calm in comparison to our previous eight months, and to the rest of the world, it would be easy for us to assume that all advisers have returned to a degree of business as usual – albeit subdued somewhat by the economic environment we remain in. However, I know from personal conversations with a number of previously very successful advisers, that this recovery is simply not true for everyone, and I have been pondering why.

How are some advisers surfing the wave while others are struggling to keep their heads above water?

Is it just a case of optimists vs pessimists, ie is it the way individuals instinctively interpret the world around them that drives this outcome?

For example, to me I see the current New Zealand life insurance industry in the following light.

1

Most New Zealanders still have jobs and therefore incomes to protect.

2

All New Zealanders now have an acute appreciation that bad health events can happen in the blink of an eye and that significant financial risk is associated with the health event.

3

Interest rates are the lowest they have been in recent memory meaning lower servicing costs and therefore more disposable income.

4

Overseas leisure and business travel have stopped, meaning costs of that travel have been saved.

5

The New Zealand economy is doing significantly better than forecasted.

6

The regulatory requirements for advisers are not particularly onerous or expensive but will enhance the consumer’s view of the professionalism of advisers.

7

Commission changes such as Partners Life’s financial advice providers’ over-ride, mean advisers have more control over their destiny than ever before – they get to decide how to spend the over-ride for the benefit of their individual businesses.

8

Advisers have engaged significantly more with their existing customers as a result of Covid-19 than ever before; meaning their relationship with their existing customers has become stronger and they can easily evidence to regulators the value of the service they provide. meaning.

9

Meaning, now would seem to be a prettygood time to be an adviser in New Zealand.

I really encourage you to stop trying to go backwards and instead have a look at the way forward

Yes, the past months have been hard for everyone, optimist or not, but for an entrepreneur such as myself, I believe that true opportunities to leap-frog your business growth often arise during periods of significant market disruption. But the key to embracing this opportunity is letting go of what “normal” used to look like – not stressing about what has been lost – and instead embracing all of the opportunities that today’s normal brings.

And sometimes, a crisis like Covid-19 is the catalyst to really force that change of thinking – especially for those that were never quite brave enough to move out of the status quo before.

So, to all of those advisers that are struggling because they haven’t found their way back to “how it was before”, I really encourage you to stop trying to go backwards and instead have a look at the way forward. There are plenty of examples of advisers who have done exactly that and are thriving today, despite (or even because of) Covid-19. And if they can, then so can you – its all in the way you choose to see things.

Naomi Ballantyne is the managing director at Partners Life.