Friends Prov targets protection gap

Speaking at the 2009 Cover Excellence Awards last week, the firm's head of protection urged insurers to "re-engage" with customers and fully understand what drives their protection needs. "The demise of direct sales forces means there are fewer training academies around and we have seen more and more advisers looking for support in sales skills and techniques," Stuart Brown said. "Market competitiveness will continue to drive innovation in products and processes but innovation alone is not the solution to the problem. Education and promotion is the real way forward. "As an industry...