Of course a full-time focus on ‘new business’ is probably not the right business strategy for any firm and I would certainly suggest you spend as much resource on your existing client bank as well as bringing in those new leads, however the obvious point to be made is that at some stage every client will be ‘new’ and need to be found and converted.
Now, there are many different methods for securing clients for your business and, any firm that has been around the marketplace, has probably tried all known methods. Indeed, most will have without doubt gone down a lead generation path which ends at a brick wall. The skill – that comes with greater experience – is recognising these as blind alleyways before you part with time, effort and cash exploring them.
Technology has clearly made a great deal of difference for advisers in chasing those potentially lucrative ‘newbies’. Indeed, the whole notion of lead generation itself is now founded upon website interaction, with most leads being generated by online sites whereby interested potential customers tap in their details and, through a variety of methods and payment structures, they end up in an adviser’s hands. No doubt some firms will have had incredibly positive experiences of using lead generation firms, others may not be so enamoured.
One area however which continues to grow in importance, in terms of a business generator, is the use of introducers. Previously seen as something of a holy grail for advisers, the notion of an engaged, understanding and prolific group of professional introducers recommending the adviser’s services to their client base is well worth pursuing. For many advisory firms, the introducer relationships they have – be it with estate agents, accountants, solicitors, IFAs, etc – are the bedrock of their business. So important are they that you would think advisers would leave nothing to chance in terms of dealing with them and ensuring they are kept in the loop, aware of their client’s status, are paid on time, etc.
However, I get the impression that some firms are relying on the goodwill of their introducer contacts too much and that they are not prioritising them as they perhaps should. For instance, a manual approach to a firm’s introducers – especially if they are growing in number – may not work. Instead, why not use the technology available to ensure that all introducer relationships are managed successfully and there is no chance of case updates slipping through the net, or payments being missed, or new leads falling into the advisory equivalent of a black hole?
Our own Revolution system includes an introducer-focused proposition which does all of the above and effectively manages the relationship between each individual introducer, providing up to date details on all introducer clients, how they are progressing through the process, tracking them all the way to completion in order to keep them fully in the loop. The introducer can simply log-in at any time and view their clients’ cases and be provided with a timeline which shows them exactly what part of the journey they are at.
It is a simple process but can take a huge amount of resource and stress away from the firm who know that when their system updates, that introducer information does the same and therefore there are no communication lags or any suggestion that the introducer is being missed out. Ultimately, it’s this type of technology that will smooth the path for more powerful introducer relationships and gives the introducer concerned no need to look elsewhere when it comes down to the mortgage and protection advice needs of their client base.
