"The Devil is in the Details"

July 20, 2010

Actually, it’s only when you know the details that you avoid the devil… This is why “planning is not enough”. We had lapel buttons made 25 years ago: “P.I.N.E”. – planning is not enough. And it isn’t. Planning is only part of the process of helping consumers. If you are just a planner, you’re coming up short every day. You need to execute. Do you have a solid grip of the details in your business so you can execute with confidence? Or, are you just one of those “big picture” types? That can lead to all sorts of trouble, especially today…

You need to know the details – be competent -- if you expect to execute with confidence. Unless you have that competence, you will never have the confidence. Without confidence, you will never build the relationships you need nor attract the business you want.

Execution of a plan means making sure it works. That takes intimate knowledge of the relevant details of both the plan and the person. There is a lot to know to be able to execute as required. You really have to know your stuff and know who you’re stuffing before you can “stuff” them.

The big picture is for marketing. Your “story” is important. It’s just not enough to guarantee your results. It’s the view from 30,000 feet of the best delivery benefits you have. And, that’s all well and good, but close up, you have to be able to bring that plan in for a landing too, to provide a compelling client benefit.

Details are for delivery -- to bring a project in for a landing. When you want to be known for what you know, you have to know what you know. What’s more, details are not just data. Data isn’t information. Information isn’t knowledge. Knowledge isn’t wisdom.

Clients need interpretation not information and context, not content. This is wisdom. They need your wisdom to make the proper decisions to enhance their lives. It’s your job to distill relevant information into wisdom people can use with confidence.

It’s in the “essential details” of your work.

In the life insurance business, the details are in getting the policy issued and delivered so that it is not only “in force” (they’re collecting premiums) it’s also “in effect” (they’ll pay the claim). Sounds like a subtle and insignificant distinction. But it isn’t when you need the benefits.

“Avoiding the devil” means getting all the essential details from the very beginning. “Interview” your client as a TV journalist might. Probe for the important information that ultimately protects and benefits clients. Get the necessary facts to ensure benefit delivery.

Remember the axiom: “No job’s done until the paperwork is completed?” That’s true so long as you have the right paperwork, done the right way. That takes expertise and experience to get all the answers out and into the system. (OK, and I know it isn’t always “paper” work anymore, but you get my drift…)

This is why I am all over the idea of expertise. Unless you really understand the nature of your work, you will never get all the essential details necessary. It takes focused expertise and experience in one area.

As Malcolm Gladwell says in “The Outliers”, it takes about 10,000 hours to become an expert in any one subject area. That’s 10 years for him. I agree. Imagine the expertise you would have if you had 10 years of experience in one aspect of your business. That’s what Top of the Table MDRT producers usually have.

I was intrigued about a recent discussion in ForAdvisorsOnly.com, the Canadian Internet discussion board for financial advisors. It was all about what it really takes to be sure that an insurance policy is properly underwritten. Check it out.

For instance, today we really require “hyper-disclosure” about personal and medical questions: “Medications” include over the counter preparations like vitamins and analgesics. You can’t properly get a non-medical statement of health completed on a husband and wife when they are in the same room. Yep, you have to give them privacy so they can be comfortable to say everything they need to say.

Honestly, no one did this 20 years ago. Today, everyone must. Just another simple but powerful example of another essential detail you only know when you are an “expert”.

Knowing the “essential details” of your business is how clients and the media separate “dabblers” from “dazzlers” in business. “Dabblers” – those with a superficial interest and involvement in an area of business always think that the details are for someone else. The “Dazzlers” – those who have focused their energy and expertise to create experience in a particular niche, know that it’s the details that make all the difference in the final result. It also makes the difference in loyalty and referrals. Knowing the details makes you referable and trustworthy.

Want to be trusted? Know the details in your key expertise area. Consumers and the media expect it.

Here’s the deal though. No one can know all the details to everything. You’ll only ever know them where you “want to”. So, pick your spots. Focus. Specialize and be authoritative.

These are the advisors the industry needs today. If we all have at least an arguable authority, we have a shot at rebuilding consumer trust. Guessing at details is not good enough today. It never was. As client needs and the numbers around us escalate, there is no room for “good enough” anymore.

Everyone expects excellence. That’s where the excellence comes from… and how you can avoid the devil.

I’m Jim Ruta, and that’s just the way it is.

July 20, 2010

Comments

Robert Hart says,

"the details are in getting the policy issued and delivered so that it is not only “in force” (they’re collecting premiums) it’s also “in effect” (they’ll pay the claim)"

We as brokers can be as diligent as we possibly can, yet life carriers continue to hire the cheapest labour they can find and supply them with 'cookie cutter' solutions in handling claims.

Jim, WE NEED YOUR INPUT in holding Insurance companies feet to the fire in their handling of claims. The ineptitude of claims handling is well past any point of diligence.

Kirk Lowe says,

Jim, is expertise or lack thereof the only thing keeping 'planners' from implementing or do you think it's that they don't plan for implementation, just strategies and solutions?

Jim Ruta says,

Robert, companies will always do what is in their best interest. Hopefully, that isn't always their first thought. But, it is what happens. It's "group think" in action.

The problem they have had over the last 25 years or so is that plunging prices for insurance products have reduced margins to the point that companies are probably forced to only pay the claims they are legally obliged to pay. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of room for the close ones anymore. Wiggle room is gone.

Think about it. When I started in 1978, the term premium for a 30 year old male was in the order of $2.50/1000 on a blended rate. Today it is a fraction of the price. Yes, mortality has improved but nowhere proportionately like the the premium has dropped. The margin for error has slimmed right upif they want to stay in business.

Companies have to make their money and they do. Balking on claims is one way to keep profits up.

And, you will hear them proudly say things like: "We have never denied a legitimate claim". Of course not. Denying legitimate claims is illegal. It's all about what is "legitimate".

So, advisers can help their own cause by only working with carriers who are known to pay claims quickly and reasonably. When you know a a carrier that is very picky, why are you working with them? Just stop. That's "feet the fire" heat that makes them pay attention.

The other way is to make sure that they have fewer escape routes on claims. That's in the details in underwriting and delivery.

Make reality work for you Robert. Give them what they need to minimize their potential excuses later. Pay attention to the details. Force companies to live up to their obligations by using their rules to make it happen. You can't prevent disputed claims -- they have always been with us -- but you can minimize them.

I will continue to do all I can to ensure everyone plays fair. Thanks for your comment.

Jim Ruta says,

Kirk, sometimes I get the sense that the whole idea of "planning" was created by people who were afraid to sell. Plans and planners lay out the options for clients to select from and stay away from any persuasion to take action. I call this "optioneering".

It's not a good thing.

Sure, most plans likely recommend implementation but obviously can't make it happen. The plan is static. The planner has to be dynamic get things done.

This dynamism (is that a word?) is your sales ability. Advisors need to create a trust environment for clients where they feel empowered to take the action that is in their own interest. That's implementation. It's also "closing".

The really great advisers are those who can not only recommend the right course of action but can also "sell" it to the client so it takes place. Advice in action is the hallmark of top producers.

It's also the great value of a top advisor -- He or she helps me do what needs to be done, even when I'm not inclined to do it on my own. There is great responsibility here (expertise, honesty,transparency, fairness...)but also great reward -- for everyone.

So, I think the problem is a little lack of expertise because selling/implementation has gone out of favor and replaced by planning. It is also a little lack of process built into the plan to finish the job as you suggest.

But, if you build specific implementation steps into the plan your client is more likely to put in into effect. That means standing up for your advice and the needs of the client. It's salesmanship.

Know how to use it properly and everyone wins.

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"The Devil is in the Details"

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