Somebody renews a policy and finds a paragraph about lock standards. She goes to her front door, sees a lock, and has no idea whether it is the thing the paragraph is describing.
She rings a locksmith, who tells her it needs upgrading. She has no way of knowing whether that is true or whether she has just been sold something.
The checklist
Work through these and the homeowner can check properly.
1. Tell people to read their own policy
Because requirements differ between insurers and policies, and general statements about what insurers require are not reliable. It is the honest starting point.
2. Explain where the requirement usually appears
In the policy wording or the schedule, under conditions relating to security. People do not know where to look and give up.
3. Explain what the wording typically refers to
Standards and types of lock, described generally, so somebody can recognise what their policy is talking about. Without telling them what their policy says.
4. Explain how to identify what is fitted
Where markings appear on a lock, what to photograph and what to look for. It is practical, it takes five minutes and nobody explains it.
5. Offer to look at a photograph
Of the lock and any markings. It is the single most useful service a locksmith can offer and it converts honestly.
6. Say plainly that you cannot certify compliance
That the insurer decides whether a policy condition is met. A locksmith identifies what is fitted and advises on upgrades, which is a different thing.
7. Tell them to confirm with the insurer
Before and after any work. It is the responsible advice and it distinguishes you from whoever sold them something unnecessary.
8. Explain what an upgrade involves
What is changed, what it costs, how long it takes and whether the door needs anything else. Homeowners fear a whole new door.
9. Explain the rest of the house
That policies frequently refer to all external doors and accessible windows, not just the front. It is where most homes actually fall short.
10. Explain what happens after a break in
That requirements and urgency change, and that an insurer may have its own process, which is the sensitive ground in lock upgrades after a break in handled sensitively.
11. Explain the landlord and tenant position
Who is responsible, what a tenant can change and what a landlord must provide. It is a common question with a different answer.
12. Publish your prices for common upgrades
By lock type, so a homeowner can budget before anybody attends.
13. Be the honest voice
Telling somebody their locks are probably fine costs one job and earns the next three, which is the tone in insurance approved lock questions homeowners ask.
14. Handle worried callers carefully
Somebody who has just had a break in needs a person rather than a price list, which is the discipline in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot, and the same cover clarity people need in rental questions about deposits, licences and insurance.
Getting started
Publish how to identify a lock, that the insurer decides compliance and your upgrade prices, then answer photograph enquiries at any hour. SpideyChat for home services businesses answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.