All quiet on the Western Front

It has been quiet on the blog over the last few days with relatively few views for some reason - not entirely sure why, content hasn't really changed and in fact I've been working harder on social media than usual with the on-line private medical insurance pending on the 25th of March.

However to see the best of this blog, check out a couple of the more popular recent posts.

Firstly there's my thoughts on the future of personal medical insurance at :

www.localventure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-future-of-individual-private.html

That one is the most popular post I've ever put up on the blog with over 333 reads so far.

Then there is my overview on my work with professional introducers with nearly 100 hits. That one is at :

www.localventure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/professional-introducers-and-private.html

Lastly can I suggest you visit my You Tube Channel which links to a video giving full details on the aforementioned PMI workshop.

You Tube Promo now available to view

Just an update to my posts yesterday to let you know that the promotional You Tube video covering off the major details of my forthcoming medical insurance workshop on Tuesday 25th of March.

You can view the video here : Promo Video

There are full details of how you can interact with me on the day and of course submit questions you'd like answered in advance of the day.

As I mentioned in my earlier posts please do feel free to pass the link along to as many friends and colleagues as you like - anyone you think might be interested in joining in or having their questions answered. The workshop will cover off relevant information for both individual and company purchasers of medical insurance or for my introducers or prospective introducers.

On line Workshop - You Tube promo now uploaded

To find out a little more about my forthcoming on-line event on all aspects of medical insurance (25th of March at 9.30am) you can now view the You Tube promo on my channel at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1yQMrijaWU please check it out 

Please do check it out - I'd also like to get a solid 400 or 500 views on this video prior to the event to really get the word out so if you have the opportunity and think people will be interested do feel free to share the link.

Many thanks

Tuesday update and is the new Jonathan Creek series any good

The plans are well in place for the on-line PMI workshop I blogged about yesterday.

A mailing is prepped to go out to my introducer database next week and the special episode of PMICast is prepped and will go live next Tuesday covering all aspect of the event. I have also put together a You Tube special video episode of PMICast (No 7) which is uploading as I type - link to arrive tomorrow probably.

In the meantime the listening stats for PMICast are looking fantastic - we're up to 8,000 downloads in the last 30 days and rising strongly - so please keep listening and downloading - on iTunes and www.pmicast.podbean.com

Lastly, as I type I'm watching the second episode of three of the new Jonathan Creek series - the first one was a bit dull but this one seems more interesting - always liked JC but found the first episode a bit smug - this one seems quirkier and more in keeping with the way the program used to feel.

The PMICast Private Medical Insurance Work Shop

I'm formally announcing this morning a new on-line idea for my clients and prospective clients.

The idea is a two hour, on line workshop where clients, prospects, IFA's, accountants in fact anyone who wants help with medical insurance can contact me and ask questions and receive support.

Of course this is an extension of work I do with my clients anyone way but I wanted to create a more interactive and marketable forum to get some buzz going around the idea.

So we have set a date - Tuesday 25th of March at 9.30am for two hours.

Anyone will be able to contact me through the following methods :

Skype - pkn4395
E-mail - pmicast@gmail.com or philnight@pch.uk.com
Telephone - 07792 075748
Twitter - use the hashtag : #pmicast
Gmail video - pkn4395@gmail.com

I will be live tweeting on that hashtag throughout the morning with updates on questions and discussion - so if you or anyone you know has any questions or comments on medical insurance I am available and would love to talk.

If there are any pre-event questions people would like to send over you can use one of the two e-mail addresses and we can get moving on the day with them.

Before the 25th I am going to put in place a special PMICast video podcast on my You Tube channel :

https://www.youtube.com/user/pkn439/videos

There will also be a special episode of PMICast (episode 1 of the new Season 3) devoted exclusively to this event and this will go live next Tuesday, the 18th of March.

I'll obviously announce things here as planning continues and things go live on the podcast and You Tube so watch this space.

In the meantime, please feel free to being using the #pmicast hashtag to tell people about the event.

Five and 'O' for March

So five working days in for March and five posts up and live.

Haven't put in place a general update post this week so thought I'd round off the week by doing so.

I have been keeping to my weekly podcasting schedule religiously recently and this week is no exception. So episode 19 is live at www.pmicast.podbean.com lots of juicy industry comment as well as the new business news feature. Please check it out on the website above or on iTunes. The listening numbers are right back up again and at the moment we are getting over 7,000 downloads/listens to the podcast every 30 days and this is growing weekly - so thanks for listening and keep telling your friends and colleagues.

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If you are interested in a review of your medical insurance now is the time to contact me - lots of people have renewals in March and April so if your cover (either personal or company paid) is coming up to renewal give me a shout on pmicast@gmail.com or philknight@pch.uk.com and I will gladly (as an FCA authorised medical insurance intermediary) provide a free review of your plan to ensure cover is up to date and meets your requirements plus of course, importantly, check you are not paying too much.

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So that's it for another busy week. If you have chance take a moment to check out my You Tube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/pkn439/videos I have around 12 videos there currently with more planned giving updates on various business and personal issues - mainly supporting my audio podcast.

You can also follow me on Twitter either at localventure1 (personal account) or philknightpch (business account) although I tend to send business stuff out through both accounts simultaneously.

Thanks and have a good weekend.

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Private Medical Insurance - subcontracting your PMI to a specialist

As you might gather from the blog post below this one earlier today working with IFA's, accountants and other professional advisers is a major part of my business activity and one that I am working hard to expand in 2014.

For me a lead from an introducer tends to be more productive than a directly generated one simply because the introducer has a pre-built relationship with the client and I tend to 'reflect in the combined  glow' of said relationship. The client is easier to contact, more receptive and ultimately more likely to buy. That makes my life easier and is ironically better for the client - we can get straight to the heart of the matter - our discussion of the correct medical insurance advice for them.

I hope that prospective introducers visiting this blog and considering working with me will find a lot of useful information here and of course it goes without saying that anything else you need please feel free to contact me directly. Contacts are in blog post below but the best way is via the blog e-mail which is : pmicast@gmail.com.

Please feel free to look around on google to find out more about me. I am on Linkedin, Google Plus, Facebook and of course here. You can see my full business webpage over at my compliance providers website :

www.pch.uk.com/consultants/phil-d-knight/

You will also find my posts, sites and comment if you google search terms around 'IFA subcontract PMI' or similar. I do not pay search engines to appear high on their pages but do so anyway by virtue of having worked hard in this sector and commenting on relevant subjects on-line. Hopefully this is all a useful 'calling card' indicating that I am who I say I am and that my support can be of use to your practice.

Professional Introducers and Private Medical Insurance (PMI) - Working with IFA's, Brokers and Accountants

My Career in Overview

In 1994 I went to work for a private medical insurance company called WPA Health Insurance. Then in 1995 moved to Guardian Health, then part of the Guardian Royal Exchange Group and now integrated into AXA PPP. In 1999 I arrived at BCWA Healthcare (now Simply Health) and then finally I worked for Standard Life Healthcare from 2002 to 2007 before leaving the medical insurance industry (although I continued to work in the health insurance sector both as an employee at First Assist and then RED ARC Assured and also as an independent marketing consult) and then ultimately setting up my own healthcare intermediary practice in late 2010.

So from 1994 to late 2007 I worked exclusively with IFA's and brokers as a consultant for medical insurers helping the brokers write volume medical insurance business both for their individual and corporate clients.

The future of introducers (non-specialist IFA's and brokers) in the PMI Sector

During this time I came to see that for sound business reasons the PMI insurers began to reduce the support they offered to smaller or non-specialist IFA's and intermediaries to the point that I would now suggest that if you are not placing regular PMI business with an insurer, month in month out it is has become very difficult to keep up to date on insurers plans, admin procedures and switch protocols. In addition many of the more niche insurers won't necessarily offer agencies to non-specialist brokers so remaining 'whole of market' becomes difficult for anyone other than a specialist like myself.

In short, although their reasons were valid many PMI insurers can no longer offer proper support to smaller or non-specialist healthcare brokers.

My unique selling points

So building on my experience of looking after IFA's, Accountants and General/Commercial Brokers over the years I have built up my own practice around creating professional introducers arrangements where I can offer an enhanced level of support on medical insurance business to my introducers and their clients. They know and trust that I can offer focused and professional advice/support for their clients. Of course the client therefore receives proper advice and their cover is up to date and meeting their needs and so on. The aim is to create a virtuous circle - access to the PMI market for IFA's and my other introducers and excellent advice for clients.

One of the key issues I like to raise with IFA's is that my work is there to add value to their practice over the years - so in working with them not only do I receive access to their clients, they receive a growing and profitable PMI book of business - I do not plan to go in to one of my introducers, sell a policy and disappear - I am not a 'one hit wonder' but rather the plan is that my support is long-term and on-going helping build value and profit.

In regular discussions with IFA's (I had two new IFA's contact me today for example) we often talk about their not having the time or personnel to offer PMI pro-actively to clients or desire to research the PMI market to keep up to speed and so on.

Product research, quote support, new business sales, claims and admin management - these are all areas I regularly support my introducers and their clients on.

Geography

Although I'm based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, I do look after both introducers and clients around the UK and in fact the world. I have introducers in the following major cities amongst others :

London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Brighton, Hull, Cardiff and Belfast

On-line Support

I run a Linkedin Group called 'Intro Med' for my introducer clients, find me on Linkedin as Philip Knight and you'll see the group on the profile. Please feel free to send a request to join.

I also have an on-line document/marketing resource on Drop Box - e-mail me at :

pmicast@gmail.com for a link to the public folder.

Lastly, listen to my weekly PMI podcast : PMICast - available on iTunes or at www.pmicast.podbean.com

Who can you help

Broadly any kind of professional adviser who wants to sub-contract their work on PMI - this might include : IFA's, general or commercial brokers, accountants, solicitors and a range of other professions - if you have clients who I could help we can probably come to some kind of arrangement.

In each case a professional introducer agreement is set up and fair, pre-agreed financial arrangements put in place so everyone knows what the requirements and logistics are.

Which Clients

I look after individual and group (company) clients for medical insurance, international medical insurance, dental and cash plan cover, sickness absence management, Employee Assistance Programs and health screening.

Anything health related basically.

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If you are thinking of looking at your medical insurance portfolio or want assistance with any health insurance cases please do consider giving me a call (07792 075748) or dropping an e-mail (pmicast@gmail.com or philknight@pch.uk.com.

I'm always happy to discuss medical insurance with anyone - even if you don't go on to become an introducer with me I'll always make time to answer any questions you might have.

Secret Guide to your 'To Do' list

What makes for a good 'To Do' list ?

Well first of all in my opinion, make it bullet pointed,

* Sorry, make it bullet points

* Obviously prioritise - important first, least important last
* Actually make phone calls and appointments first - they're usually most important/client facing
* liberal use of underlining and bold and CAPS
* Regularly update
* Make sure you don't repeat
* Make sure you don't repeat
* Make sure you don't repeat
* Set yourself a limit on how many times you will carry forward an item to the next day
* Don't worry that you don't finish everything on the list every day
* If you do finish a given day's to do items always try to do at least one item from the following day - you'll feel better psychologically
*Set up evening and weekend to do items - that way non-urgent or non client facing tasks are done outside key client contact times
* Make it computerised not paper if possible
Always keep a back up in case you lose the master copy (iCloud us a good backup)
* Colour coding might help ?

Not an exhaustive list but hopefully interesting and useful in at least passing... now what have I got left to do now ?

If at first you don't succeed, shout at someone !

Working in a service/customer support industry over the years I have noticed that sometimes when people experience a set back the initial response, regardless of the problem and who is to blame, they tend to lash out at the first person they can contact.

This means that often they rage at someone who either cannot help and almost certainly wasn't to blame for the issue in the first place.

As a general principle this reaction can't be very productive, if for no other reason than the person who is berated, even if they could be of assistance probably won't feel inclined to help now or in the future. Plus of course getting angry and upset doesn't help the person with the problem and makes them feel worse and less empowered.

Thinking about the best response my advice would be to do what I try to do when writing a difficult e-mail. Get everything down in the e-mail, however wild and vitriolic (for god's sake do not include the sendee's e-mail address in case you press send accidentally - that's a whole other nightmare) and then leave it overnight - you'll come to the issue fresh in the morning with some perspective and an awareness that some of the worse things you said and/or thought aren't socially acceptable or constructive - a well thought out and reasoned argument always trumps a shot from the hip. This is especially the case if you know you have to continue to deal with the person/organisation on an on-going basis.

Last thought, if the well thought out e-mail or response doesn't work - you're probably entitled to shout after all !