Conveyancing features highly on the list of alternative income streams for brokers, but only 11 per cent of consumers will actually consult their mortgage intermediary in order to find a conveyancer.
Instead the majority choose to source their conveyancer through their estate agent, whilst 22 per cent ask their family and friends for recommendations.
However when it came to their next house purchase, although the majority of respondents said they would ask friends and family to recommend a good conveyancer, 13 per cent said they would use their intermediary – an increase of 2 per cent.
Only 13 per cent of the 33 per cent of consumers using estate agents would return to them when they next needed to source a conveyancer - painting brokers in a far more trustworthy light.
Research also showed the importance of providing a consistently good service, as word of mouth played a big role in the decision process for many consumers. The majority of consumers (59 per cnet) are more trusting of their friends and family’s recommendations, over that of a professional. However, consumers voted intermediaries the most trustworthy of all professionals with 8 per cent of the votes. Others would trust their estate agent (6 per cent), solicitors (5 per cent) or online comparison sites (4 per cent).
Karen Babington, sales and marketing director at Easier2move, commented: “Although the majority of consumers choose to trust their friends and families conveyancing recommendations, intermediaries are the most trusted professional service - which is great news. However, only 11 per cent chose to use their intermediary to source the conveyancer on their last house purchase, which isn’t such a promising figure.
“The research does show that more consumers are planning to use their intermediary to source their next conveyancer, as they seem to be shying away from other introducers such as estate agents and solicitors.
“However, considering intermediaries can earn a generous income stream of £100 per conveyancing referral, there must be more they can do to take advantage of this revenue. In light of the current market turmoil, this additional income can be a great way for advisers to diversify and compensate for any losses they’ve experienced.
“By linking up with a designated conveyancer, intermediaries can also be safe in the knowledge that they are offering their clients a reliable service, which can be an easy way for them to secure repeat business. With some conveyancers, such as E2M, paying referrals on repeat business, this offers introducers a win-win situation.”
