Verridian helps retailers make sense of Insurance: Conduct of Business Sourcebook (ICOBS Consultancy and training expert now offering PPI compliance training to retailers August 2008: In July 2008 the FSA introduced new ICOBS rules to regulate businesses that sell customers financial services such as PPI and extended warranties. Technology and sales training experts Verridian believe that many retailers, including many high street mobile retailers are still not in compliance one month after the new rules came into effect. Bill Haynes, Director of Verridian commented, "Many firms may have missed or ignored the new rules or think that their current practices are robust enough to stand scrutiny. Some consultancies will tend to completely over-engineer the solution and inevitably bulk out the whole sales process, which doesn't necessarily lead to compliance with the FSA. We have always found that simple processes can work within the regulations, serving the business needs and giving the customer good advice in a clear and compelling way." Verridian is offering to work with technology retailers and advise them accordingly around the design of a scheme that is "fit for purpose" for the FSA but one that allows sufficient flexibility and in-house control to have an efficient sales process in front of the customer. Under the new changes firms are now responsible for ensuring that customers are given all characteristics of the policy if the information is given verbally, and, that the information must be in such a form that the customer can make an informed decision. Firms also have to ensure that customers are indeed eligible to make a claim and to inform the customer of any part of the policy where a qualifying claim could be made. This eligibility is an area causing confusion amongst retailers and their staff. Retailers must also clearly communicate cost of the PPI being sold, including interest payments to the customer. If PPI is sold on a ‘face to face’ basis the responsibility for the sale and eligibility remains with the firm that sells the contract and the sales process must be clear and not pressured. LVBS were recently fined £840,000 for failing to abide by the ICOB regulations. With extended warranties also falling under the ICOBS remit and a concern to the FSA there is clearly a minefield for retailers and a real threat of fines. The real issue for distributors and retailers will be how to streamline the sales process and simultaneously keep the FSA happy by providing an audit trail that shows what took place at the point of sale. Recent FSA initiatives such as Treating Customers Fairly and full disclosure of commissions generated from the sale of these products are a potential paper chase and cumbersome, which is leaving many retailers wide open to fines by the FSA. Verridian has a long history of working with both Financial Services and technology retailers placing it in a unique position to help retailers navigate the new ICOBS rules and ensure they are not left open to scrutiny by the FSA. Verridian works with Skipton IFA to build high quality salesforce In 2002 Skipton IFA a division of Skipton Building Society came to Verridian with a recruitment problem. The company was finding it difficult to recruit the volume and more importantly, the quality of qualified people it required to grow its sales force. For Skipton size really did matter as the number of sales staff was crucial to achieving company targets. At that time Skipton IFA was a relatively small company with a salesforce of fewer than 100 people. It was renowned for the extremely high quality of the advice it gave to its client base of high net worth individuals and as a result only the highest quality advisors could be recruited. Finding the high quality candidates it required was difficult and was further hampered by the working relationship it had with many of the industries recruitment agencies. Not only was Skipton’s total requirement relatively small compared to its competitors in the market, they were also perceived as being too ‘picky’ as it searched for only the highest quality candidates. As such recruitment companies preferred to work with Skipton’s competitors – until Verridian stepped into help Skipton asked Verridian to recommend a suitable course of action. Verridian recommended that the best solution would be for Skipton to become completely self-sufficient in recruitment and went about designing a series of training programs to achieve the company’s desired results and get the best people in place on the sales force. Verridian’s experience of financial services retail sales and training skills combined to make a very effective transformation programme as it designed and delivered a series of workshops for all levels of management. These were created and delivered in just a four week timeframe. As a result Skipton IFA achieved all of its targets for the first time in the twelve months. The workshops allowed the company to become self-sufficient in term of recruitment which saved the company considerable sums in recruitment fees. Perhaps more importantly it ensured a full complement of high quality salespeople. Verridian continues to be a preferred supplier for the company. Marcus Bowsher, Head of Sales, Skipton IFA commented, "We started the year needing two new people a month and within four months we had recruited the full year’s compliment and as a result had more people selling and for longer. Needless to say we far exceeded our yearly sales targets. We couldn’t have done it without the help and expertise of Verridian."