As any marketing book will tell us, the value proposition is the promise we make to a potential customer of value to be delivered, communicated or acquired. The promise that differentiates us from the competition, it is the reasons why the client will choose us and not the adviser down the road.
What is your group pension’s value proposition? What is your firm doing that is differentiating your offering? If the answer is; that you research all the companies on the market, find the best charging structure/performance, meet the members each year with the benefit statements etc. you probably need to read the first paragraph again.
Disruption
The group pensions market has remained static for years, actually decades and it is ripe for disruption. The role of the adviser in group schemes back in the 1990s cannot be the same decades later, but unfortunately it is. Legislation such as IROPS II and the introduction of Master Trusts will change the landscape but won’t change the adviser’s value proposition. That is yours to change.
You don’t need to skip to the end of this article to see if the word digital will be mentioned, you know it will. We are all digitally connected throughout our lives; with our bank, GAA club, supermarket and even refuse collection company but strangely, not with our adviser? It doesn’t make any logical left brain sense that the one individual that can have a significant impact on what our retirement is going to look like only communicates with us once a year.

Change the experience
Clients have digital expectations. They interact daily with products and services that use technology to create a simple and friction-less experience. The great corporate successes of recent years like Uber, AirBnB and Revolut haven’t developed new products but simply changed how the customer experiences existing ones.
For advisers to retain and grow the group business, both pre and post IROPS II, they need to shift their value proposition and begin a digital transformation in scheme communication. To move to an environment where digital communication with scheme members is the norm, which they will find is both welcomed by members and employers alike.
Digital creates opportunity
Being connected with scheme members digitally provides the opportunity for the adviser to firstly create multiple customer touch-points throughout the year. Put simply, opportunities to get your brand in front of scheme members multiple times, building brand awareness, trust and confidence.
Secondly going digital allows the adviser to offer a broad reach of services to scheme members, beyond that of the AVCs and BOBs. A digital connection allows the adviser to be the source of information on a range of financial topics, opening up a whole new client base and revenue source.
Positioned correctly members will welcome and value year-round guidance from their adviser and start to revert to them for all their financial needs, pensions and beyond.
Talk to us today about how Engage can transform your group pensions value proposition.
Karl O Meara
Centric / Founder
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