Did not discuss the risks associated with the mortgage they took out
Updated
How to improve your score:
Relate explanations to your client’s circumstance
When explaining risks, relate them to the client’s own circumstances, using elements from their lives to illustrate the situation.
No-one thinks that bad things are going to happen to them. The best way to get your client to fully engage is to make them visualise the situation happening to them.
No-one thinks that bad things are going to happen to them. The best way to get your client to fully engage is to make them visualise the situation happening to them.
Paint pictures
A picture paints a thousand words. Use descriptive language to help your client visualise the risk you’re explaining.
The clearer the picture in the client’s mind, the more they’ll engage with the situation so focus on relatable details to their lives. As well as including elements from their own lives, use descriptive language to help the visualisation.
- “Imagine for a second that a letter comes through your letterbox in a brown envelope. You open it to see that the second paragraph says your mortgage payment is going to increase by £200pm. How would you feel?”
- “If you were ill for several months, and couldn’t go to work at the solicitors, could you still afford Emilia’s horse rising lessons and your mortgage payments?”
- “If you did decide to have another baby, giving Jack a little brother or sister, how would this affect your finances? Could you still afford to pay your mortgage taking the additional nursery fees into account”
- People can visualise opening a “brown envelope”, a “closed” sign on the door of their office, or taking a child to nursery, so include these details in your explanation to help them paint a picture in their minds.
By getting your client to imagine a situation happening to them, you’ll get a stronger emotional reaction. This will make them really think about their situation before committing and will make them much more engaged in the process.
You may also find your protection cross sales increase by getting your clients to visualise risks. By mentally seeing the event happen to them, it may be that their desire to protect against it increases.
The clearer the picture in the client’s mind, the more they’ll engage with the situation so focus on relatable details to their lives. As well as including elements from their own lives, use descriptive language to help the visualisation.
- “Imagine for a second that a letter comes through your letterbox in a brown envelope. You open it to see that the second paragraph says your mortgage payment is going to increase by £200pm. How would you feel?”
- “If you were ill for several months, and couldn’t go to work at the solicitors, could you still afford Emilia’s horse rising lessons and your mortgage payments?”
- “If you did decide to have another baby, giving Jack a little brother or sister, how would this affect your finances? Could you still afford to pay your mortgage taking the additional nursery fees into account”
- People can visualise opening a “brown envelope”, a “closed” sign on the door of their office, or taking a child to nursery, so include these details in your explanation to help them paint a picture in their minds.
By getting your client to imagine a situation happening to them, you’ll get a stronger emotional reaction. This will make them really think about their situation before committing and will make them much more engaged in the process.
You may also find your protection cross sales increase by getting your clients to visualise risks. By mentally seeing the event happen to them, it may be that their desire to protect against it increases.
Validate understanding
Check your clients understand by getting them to repeat the risks back to you and what they would do in each situation.
Understanding the risks involved with taking a mortgage is incredibly important. No-one likes talking about bad things happening, however, by ensuring your clients understand risk, you are helping them make effective, informed decisions.
