Mortgage News
How brokers keep in touch with their clients
At the beginning of this century, with the internet still in its infancy, one of the phrases most often used to describe the communications opportunities it presented was the ‘information superhighway’.
It referred to the ease and speed at which we could get information online, but I don’t think we would have imagined just how much of a superhighway we would have at our fingertips today.
With social media vehicles like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn to add to other communications tools such as email, websites, direct mail, personal letters, advertising, PR, sponsorship and the good old phone call and face-to-face meeting, there are now more communications channels than ever before that can be used to stay in touch with clients.
And therein lies the conundrum. With so many potential channels available, it can be quite daunting to work out what your best approach should be.
To find out how mortgage intermediaries currently manage their communications, we conducted some research. The findings showed that just under half (44%) of brokers said that they contact their existing clients between 2-4 times a year, whilst a third (31%) rely solely on ad hoc communications. Only 6% said that they have regular monthly contact with their existing clients and 3% admitted to never contacting their existing clients.
A phone call is still the most preferred method of communication with nearly 70% of brokers opting for this to stay in touch with existing clients. Just under half (47%) said they used personal letters and emails to keep clients informed. Newsletters were also popular, with 22% saying they send one via email and 16% saying they sent them in the post.
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Currently, only 3% are using a social media channel to communicate with their clients. LinkedIn is the most frequently used followed by Twitter and Facebook. Very few claim to write a blog. But this is not a surprise. The use of social media as a business tool is still something of a rarity within many industries.
For those that do run a social media business account, their main aim is to make it easier for prospective clients to find them by driving people to their website, improving their website’s SEO and raising their business’s profile. As a result, most update their accounts at least once a week.
Graham Felstead is head of intermediary channel, NatWest Intermediary Solutions
Sources:
Research carried out by NatWest Intermediary Solutions amongst brokers in April 2011 in partnership with Mortgage Solutions.