A recent report on remortgaging shows it to have hit its lowest level since 2010. It seems that it is only the fear of rates rising that drives people to proactively change their mortgage. Although understandable, in many cases this is not logical as fixed rates now are amongst the lowest they have ever been and many people could be making savings.
In some cases borrowers just don’t know what they don’t know. How many even remember what interest rate they are currently paying, let alone all the other rates currently available?
This is therefore the most opportune time to look at your back book, identify target customers, especially those you haven’t been in touch with for a long time, and make sure you talk to them about what’s available and why remortgaging could be better than staying on SVR.
The aim for any business is to provide the right product, at the right price, in the right places and presented in the right way – promotion. This is known as the four Ps in marketing – product, price, place and promotion.
When I look at the the amount of customers currently on their lender’s SVR combined with the low remortgage rates available, the only thing missing is the promotion as many borrowers are not aware of the existence of the products. Others may be slightly aware but do not have time to research what is right for them and how to switch.
Customer communication is important to the long-term success of any business. In the early stages, effective communication ensures your product or service meets your customer’s immediate needs. Regular communication then allows you to continue to meet their requirements.
So what can you do? The most effective way for any adviser to spur their client into action is through a phone call, but if you have hundreds of clients, you can only get in touch with so many per week.
The easiest and most cost effective way to get in touch with customers is therefore via email. It is no longer necessary to produce and print costly newsletters, there are many online tools that will help you to send mass communications to your customers, such as Dot Mailer, Mail Chimp or Brief your Market. These will easily allow you to create branded templates.
Of course some people still like to have something that they can read over the breakfast table, especially older clients, or people working in a profession where they do not have daily access to email. During the recession, leaflets, sales letters and flyers through peoples’ doors significantly dropped in volume as cost versus return just didn’t stack up. Nowadays we don’t see as many so they are likely to generate a better response rate.
Of course social media is of increasing importance. While some advisers find it challenging to say what they need to compliantly in the tiny soundbites required by Twitter and Facebook, this means of communication is a way of touching base with clients on a regular basis and can be hugely effective – especially when used to educate customers, rather than hard sales.
These days it typically takes more than one channel of communication to be truly effective, it will usually require several to get the response rates you need.
Key to any successful communication is writing about things your customer will be interested in from their viewpoint rather than from your own, as people are only going to take time out of their busy lives to read something directly relevant to themselves. Remember to always give respondents a way of contacting you such as a link to an enquiry form or a telephone number.
Of course compliance in financial promotions, while essential, is a challenge for every adviser. So call on the resources available to you. If you’re part of a mortgage club, tap into its marketing and compliance teams to get your communications out effectively and compliantly and generate the remortgage business sitting on your doorstep.
