A key driver of any network’s longevity is its ability to transact business in a compliant and customer centric way, as well as its ability to trade profitably
Toni Smith is sales operations director, First Complete
There are many benefits of being a member of a network. Its key responsibility is to provide a robust framework in which to offer your clients the right advice and best products to suit their needs. This should be offered and delivered in a mutually agreeable way with transparency over charges and fees. You should feel confident that you are able to offer your clients solutions from a competitive and comprehensive range of products whilst benefiting from training and development delivered to you through field based support. With this peace of mind, you can concentrate on your specialism of looking after your clients and growing your business.
There have been occasions over the past few years where networks have found themselves in financial difficulty and been forced to close; the credit crunch had a large part to play as even some of the soundest business models were tested.
So what steps can a broker take to ensure that any network they consider joining is here for the long term and their income is secure?
A key driver of any network’s longevity is its ability to transact business in a compliant and customer centric way, as well as its ability to trade profitably – but it is also about more than this. Arguably more important, is how financially stable a network’s parent company is and how the network fits within the wider group. This alignment is vital to its ongoing support of the network and how well it understands and believes in what the network is doing. At LSL for example, the whole company is geared around housing and protection, so what its networks do is core to its overall offering. It also means that the parent has a deep understanding of the mortgage and housing markets so can add a lot of value to ARs.
Key for every broker on a day to day level however, has to be peace of mind and value for money. It is important that every broker feels that any money they’re paying to their network is going to actually help them and their business and it is this value add from a network that will both attract and keep brokers.
If a network is really offering you value, it should offer you things that you couldn’t get if you were operating without them. This should include access to the widest number of lenders plus the opportunity to meet with those lenders face-to-face to share information. Any network should of course be able to clearly articulate the benefits that its members will receive and what they get for their monthly fee, but this should be backed up by the experience of existing members.
If you are really getting a wide ranging proposition, the network is coming from a financially secure position and attracting a growing number of other brokers, you can rest fairly safely in the knowledge that it will be around for the long term and that your business is likely to prosper.
