Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Sales Consultant to join our team, based in Cardiff. Howden provides Life, Health and Income Protection insurance advice to customers via a wide range of insurers, including Aviva, AXA, Bupa, Vitality, Zurich, L&G to name but a few.

We operate some of the UK's leading price comparison sites for Health Insurance, Income Protection and Life Insurance with significant innovations and USPs through our world-leading software. We power some of the UK's leading household comparison sites including MoneySuperMarket, GoCompare, Money Saving Expert.

Job Scope

As a Sales Consultant, you will form part of the Protection department and will be responsible for helping customers to find the right Life Insurance, Income Protection to meet their individual and family needs.

You will be expected to offer outstanding customer service through your expertise and knowledge of the marketplace and offer a unique advised recommendation that best fits your customer’s needs. The role requires individuals that are self-motivated, used to achieving challenging targets and managing customer expectations throughout the lifetime of their policy. Responsible for reviewing existing customers’ policies, identifying gaps in cover, and recommending improvements, upgrades or additional products to better meet their current needs. This role is based from the Cardiff office full time for the first 6 months, if development goals are met there is the opportunity for the role to become permanent, at which point you will be able to work on a hybrid basis.

What We’re Offering

• Guaranteed monthly 121's with clear objectives set and management support provided
• Monthly departmental incentives
• Full ongoing training will be provided
• Good location with excellent transport links
• A hardworking but fun and lively atmosphere with opportunities to develop within the business

Responsibilities and Duties

• Reviewing existing customer policies to identify opportunities for improvement or additional cover
• Increasing premium per customer through tailored recommendations
• Handling customer objections and ensuring long-term policy retention

• Delivering a consultative sales approach focused on future customer needs
• Demonstrating exceptional sales ability, building relationships and rapport whilst carrying out detailed fact finds to uncover customers’ demands and needs
• Effectively matching customers’ demands and needs to the best policies available, and fully explaining to individual customers how the recommended policies would benefit them within their specific circumstances
• Liaise with our insurer partners to determine best industry policies and practices and handle customer complaints and cancellations effectively
• Having a high regard for compliance and treating customers fairly within an FCA regulated business and adhering to all legislation and regulatory guidelines
• Keep abreast of changes to industry regulations and underwriting criteria of our insurance partners
• Working as efficiently as possible to ensure all outstanding tasks are completed on time each day
• Support colleagues and the management team to ensure the best possible outcome for Howden and our clients
• Deliver a high level of communication both via telephone and e-mail by ensuring spelling, grammar and punctuation are perfect.
• Ensuring customers quotations are sent in a timely manner and the correct / relevant documentation is sent.
• Manage your customer call backs to make sure all customer call backs are made on time and at a time and date agreed with the customer.
• To constantly display and encourage company values of INTEGRITY, UNITY, INNOVATION and PASSION

Skills & Education

Essential

• Minimum of 5 GCSEs including Math’s and English at grade C or above
• Excellent communication skills both verbally and written towards all our customers and insurers
• A dedication to being reliable, honest and passionate about our customers
• Excellent organisational skills and capable of multi-tasking to meet tight deadlines
• Strong self-motivation
• Ability to contribute to a positive, working environment with a good team spirit and strong work ethic
• Previous experience of working within a competitive, customer focused or proactive sales role
• A proven track record in achieving sales targets and goals
• Able to work 37.5hrs per week on a flexible basis.

Desirable

• CII or IFS Qualifications or willingness to work towards
• Sold/ Advised on insurance products within the last 5 years
• 1-year previous experience minimum within an FCA or regulated sales environment
• History of self-development
• Experience of working to defined KPI’s

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.  Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)