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On board and online

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  • 27/07/2009
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Advisers cannot afford to be backward when it comes to online offerings, suggests Julie Speed, who shows how to the get the most from the web

For those working in financial services, things are not getting any easier. Unfortunately, the current talk of ‘green shoots’ appears to relate only to the summer’s garden activity, rather than through any real market stimulus. Normality is the condition that the mortgage market currently strives for, and though this ‘normality’ will be reached it will certainly not reach the levels experienced before the credit crunch.

Therefore, the first obstacle for intermediary firms to overcome is the notion that there will be any return to the ‘good old days’. Gone are the days where intermediaries will receive 70% of mortgage business in the UK, as direct-to-lender products take a greater chunk of the market. This contraction of the market has certainly provoked intermediaries’ ire towards lenders and their dual-pricing methods, but this is a practice that will continue and an obstacle that intermediary firms must overcome.

Firms can no longer afford to bury their heads in the sand and expect the problem to simply go away. Those that do are unlikely to survive. Instead, the best way to survive and even to increase market share is to embrace the change and see this as an opportunity to review business models. And the simplest and most efficient way to do this is by using technology.

A strong online proposition enables firms to cast their net further into the world. For those that may be quaking at this prospect, it is important to emphasise that this does not mean that brokers have to turn into Bill Gates, nor do they have to ‘go national’ and attract customers from the other side of the country to get any business.

The internet offers massive potential, but it can also be used as effectively for attracting a regional audience as it can a national one. The internet can help to facilitate contact and relationships with potential clients that were previously not within reach. The fact is that not everyone wants to be seen face-to-face. Many are happy to do things over the net and the phone, where trust and rapport can just as easily be built up. For the majority of traditional brokers, roughly 80% of their business will come from within a 15 to 20-mile radius of their office, but embracing the internet does not mean that they have to change this drastically.

Having a good quality, informative website that empowers the client and assures them of the best and most suitable product at the right price, allied with high quality service, is the most important thing. It is no longer acceptable to have a website ‘under construction’ or to simply show some best buys and contact details. In a challenging market, it is vital that firms set themselves apart from their competition.

80% of buyers do research online before transacting. Recent research, which we compiled, found that over 8.8m mortgage searches were undertaken in May 2009, revealing the vast online potential available to brokers and IFAs.

The results of this research echo the recent unprecedented demand which we have experienced, as increasing numbers of intermediary firms have registered an interest in beefing up their online presence. The statistics also suggest that consumers are not getting what they need from incumbent mortgage comparison solutions. This is illustrated by comparing the 8.8m search figure to the recent CML mortgage completion levels of 35,600 for April.

While demonstrating a huge appetite and demand, these figures also illustrate the importance of a strong web presence and how discerning the consumer has become when searching for products and services. Therefore if a firm’s website does not give potential clients instant gratification, then how can the firm expect to do business with them? Not only that, but how can they expect to hold onto their existing introducers or win new ones?

A robust, accurate and professional online proposition enables intermediaries not only to increase and secure new introducers such as estate agents, solicitors and accountants, but will also help to secure and improve service to existing clients while keeping any competition at bay.

The 80% of people who undertake their searches online equates to huge numbers and poses the question: when are they doing their research? For the majority, the answer is in their leisure time, maybe in the evening when there is nothing on television. The beauty of the online proposition is that it is constantly available and is always accessible whenever a potential client is ready to commit.

This is a vital point, as speed is of the essence when ensuring that a decision translates into a sale. The longer the response time, the more likely a person is to change their mind or find someone else who is immediately available to close the deal. Another important factor is that the data contained on the system needs to be live and current. How many sites have you seen where the data is out of date? This will not win anyone’s business. Data needs to be live and instant: nothing else is acceptable. This is another basic element that can truly elevate a firm’s offering to set it apart from the competition.

Relationships have always proved a key element to building a successful business, and in times where the market continues to challenge intermediaries, the strength and breadth of these relationships will prove vital. Developing introducer partnerships has become paramount to the strategy of forward-thinking intermediary firms. A prime example of this is to establish tie-ins with local estate agents.

The majority of estate agents can no longer afford the luxury of having a full-time adviser covering each office, so why not try to enter into an arrangement that can benefit both parties. In order to do this, it will be essential to give this potential afiliation instant gratification, and show them a reason to ‘buy into’ a firm’s services. Having a client-facing online mortgage system enables them to have that. Each individual estate agency office can have this system on their site, or at least a link to the site. This will enable their registering clients to spend three to five minutes entering their details to find out what specific products are available to them, so when they go to the next estate agent, they are less likely to see their adviser, as they already have all the relevant – and correct – information they require. It is like having a virtual adviser for the estate agent and the beauty is that it will be your firm that can pick up the enquiry and contact the client instantly. The estate agent will also know that the prospective buyer is looking in the right price bracket.

Aim at the target

There are many other ways in which firms can market themselves to their target market. For instance, clubs, schools and various social activities in local communities are constantly raising funds. Each of these will generally have a website or a regular magazine/news sheet. By forming a relationship with such groups and posting a link on their sites and offering an amount per lead, application or completion this will help them get close to raising the funds they need, while building up your local client bank. Word of mouth is a very powerful tool in the local community and it only takes one person to use the system and provided they have a good experience, they will tell others. From then on, firms can offer a referral incentive using vouchers, donations to charities or a bottle of champagne for each referral. This can be used for local companies, larger firms who often have employee benefits schemes.

It is difficult to compete with the firms that appear to have endless marketing budgets, but by selecting search terms carefully this can be achieved. If your business is based in Bristol, then emphasise this rather than trying to get high on the Google rankings as a mortgage broker – aim for ‘mortgage adviser in Bristol’.

Firms in possession of a good site can share data with their local press about trends and what is happening in the mortgage market. The local press is always looking for good useful information for the readers and listeners of local radio and this is a great way to get free advertising for your company.

Some firms are in the fortunate position of being able to get an affinity marketing plan in place. Many of these have a ‘banner click-through’ on high traffic websites and generally find that they have more enquiries than they can handle.

To deal with this, there are systems available which enable firms to have their own branded site, receive the enquiries and outsource the ones that they cannot handle to suitable partner firms. I know this seems a bizarre situation in the current market but it is not unknown. One firm’s site has 80,000 unique visitors and cannot deal with all the enquiries. We have a solution that will sieve through the leads, so that firms only have to deal with the ones that are able to proceed and not waste their time on the ones that are not going anywhere.

Brokers of all sizes must maximise their client interaction in terms of service, efficiency and accuracy. An online sourcing solution provides more options for the client ensuring brokers maintain a real edge which enables them to improve referral and retention rates. Integrating these facilities will help brokers to place this business which as a result opens up opportunities for life and protection business plus referrals and future business. A world of opportunity is available to forward thinking brokers and IFAs able to offer consumers exactly what they want. In the current financial climate, it is impossible to ignore such potential and those who align themselves with the right solution will ensure they are perfectly placed to pick up on these millions of enquiries that really are out there.

Julie Speed, national accounts director at Evaluate Technologies

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