Don’t get me wrong, this is a tricky strategy to get right.
And yet, I would always veer to communicating with greater regularity, rather than waiting until three to six months before the end of a client‘s mortgage deal.
After all, as we know, the likelihood is that the existing lender will have been in regular contact during that time and may well have been providing product transfer details way before you, as the adviser, are able to access these.
Abandoned clients
In a recent Canada Life survey of existing homeowners, 42 per cent said their adviser had not been in contact with them since they took out the mortgage, which seems to me a very high number. It shows the dilemma many firms have — or perhaps shows the lack of a coherent client contact strategy.
Of course, we don’t know how long it has been since the contact with the mortgage adviser took place; would we really anticipate, for instance, the adviser would have been in touch with the client regularly if the mortgage had only just gone through?
I have to say, yes I would. Why wouldn’t you, for example, check on that client soon after the mortgage completed?
Why wouldn’t you keep them abreast of product options and opportunities, not necessarily in the mortgage space, but right across the board?
Why wouldn’t you – with their agreement – send them the firm’s newsletter? Or provide a regular countdown on when that special deal ends? Perhaps you might just outline the need for them to initiate contact should their circumstances change?
Or ask them to make contact if their existing lender does offer a product transfer to ensure you can check it against the rest of the market?
This makes sense, doesn’t it? In fact, you could probably structure your client communications within any given timeframe, depending on the length of mortgage they have taken out. It’s all about taking the opportunity to keep you front of centre in their advice thoughts
And again, judging by the Canada Life research, the industry needs to do more of this, because 32 per cent of homeowners said they had no plan to use their current adviser when their deal ended.
Losing nearly a third of your existing client base would not be a positive outcome for any business, so it’s obvious that we need to get better at this.
Technological advantages
Into this gap perhaps comes the technology of a system like Dashly – which I’m personally involved in – and is currently being trialled with Paradigm firms.
It works in the background for the adviser, 24/7, assessing whether an existing client could be better off moving mortgage, and provides that information back to the adviser so they’re able to make contact should they think it’s worth the client’s while.
Having this running at all times means that advisers don’t need an excuse to contact the client – they have the tangible data and product options at their fingertips in order to make such a decision and potentially save that client money.
Even if you’re not utilising such a platform, there is clearly a lot to be gained from having regular communication with your client base, and (judging by these results) a lot to be lost should you not put yourself in the shop window.
Especially when it comes to those who are already familiar with your services and what you can do for them. Don’t make the mistake of letting those 32 per cent be any of your clients.
