Connection, trust, communication all key broker says
Building a working relationship with clients is key to long-term success for your brokerage, says an Auckland mortgage adviser.
Platinum Mortgages director and adviser Angela Downie (pictured) said a strong relationship based on trust and communication helps customers feel more secure and connected with a brand.
“This also leads to growing customer retention and the potential for repeat business,” Downie said. “It is important to understand your clients’ requirements and resolve problems by creating a sense of mutual understanding, trust and respect.”
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Downie said it was important to support your clients not just when purchasing a property, but throughout the lifetime of their loan.
“Reach out to your clients during milestones – think babies, weddings, birthdays,” she said. “Offer a decent settlement gift, provide support and recommendations when it comes time to re-fix or re-structure a client’s loan, look at financial hardship assistance for clients if needed.”
Downie said clients would not forget how a mortgage adviser made them feel during their experience of purchasing a property.
“Consider the long-term approach and not the short-term approach,” she said.
“The short-term approach is when you’re selling a product – they come and they go and that’s it. But the long-term approach has heaps of benefits because you have not only sold a service, but you have built a relationship – the clients then come back to you and others will follow.”
Downie said a premium after-sales service of delighting your clients will help them to remember you.
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“It is important to remember the small but important things in life (birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, etc). Again, your relationship is lifelong because it was not merely a transaction,” she said.
“These clients will speak very highly of their dealings with you, share your story and tell their friends about you. People will believe a friend who tells them that they had a good experience and built a relationship with a mortgage adviser.”
Downie’s advice to her fellow mortgage advisers is to stand out from the crowd and build trust with your clients.
“If you don’t do this, you’re not only missing the point, but you are missing the boat,” she said.
