A: Paul Shearman, mortgage protection and general insurance proposition director for Openwork

Thanks for raising what is a very pertinent issue, which is being faced into by a large number of mortgage brokerages seeking new ways to generate income and support their clients.

There seems to be 2 questions in one:

1. How / which partnership do I approach?
2. How can I be sure I get the “service” from them I (and most importantly my clients) expect?

The answer to question 1 depends to a large degree upon the answer to 2.

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The “service” expected may not be being delivered for a number of reasons:

• Are you expecting too much – is what you are looking for deliverable?
• Have you made it clear what you are expecting and the timescales you are expecting your partner to operate to? Have you formulated a formal agreement – if not, do so jointly with the prospective partner clearly spelling out what’s expected (both ways) and then both of you agree whether it’s deliverable. If not, either change your clients expectation or move on to another referral partner.
• The quality of referrals may not be good enough – I’m not suggesting that you won’t have warmed up your clients fully, but consider whether the opportunity presented (both short and longer term) is likely to be commercially viable for the work involved. Linked to this consider the fee split you’re offering. Is it acceptable for the referral partner? Remember, you get what you pay for. Again, if not then revisit the terms or select another partner. There will be some partner out there happy to take a longer term view on the opportunity presented.
• The referral partner may have become busy (large cases/business expansion) – check when this will resolve itself. Do they still have capacity?
• The referral partner simply hasn’t got enough capacity – spread the work out or change partner.
• The referral partner isn’t really in the market you think they are, so are learning on the job. They may not know what to do. Check this. If it will resolve itself, great. If not, select another partner.
• Check the geography. Are the clients too far away from the partner? – Find someone in the location of the clients.

I am not sure whether you are part of a network, if so, talk to your local managers – they’ll know the local advisers, their business split, quality and approach. Openwork operates a number of peer groups, where local advisers get together to discuss the market, opportunities and to share good practice – you may have access to something similar in which case this is a great way to identify potential partners. The approach is easy. All advisers want more quality clients to work on, so pick up the phone!

I hope the above may have provided some ideas on the way forward. However, I fully recognise that this type of relationship is difficult to get right. Of most significance is taking the time up front to ensure you have an alignment of objectives between the two parties.

Good luck!