How can referral services be useful?

November 6, 2023 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

Something that no mortgage advisor ever wants to do is reject potential clients. However, this can be necessary – usually because they do not have enough expertise in the specialist market area the client requires. One possible solution to this problem may be found through referral services.

A big advantage that bringing in a third-party service can have for advisors is to enable them to retain clients while avoiding compliance and regulation risks when advising in an unfamiliar area of the market. Although the CeMAP training course provides all of the main coaching an advisor needs, there can still be obscure specialist sub-sectors that are not covered by it. Eliminating risk when it comes to advising in those areas is especially important now that Consumer Duty has come into force.

Then, there is the matter of mortgage cases that are both highly complex and time consuming. If such cases are passed over to a referral service, an advisor can concentrate on continuing to attract new clients, while still making a commission fee from the original one. Thus, such a service can offer a self-employed advisor the best of both worlds.

Of course, it is important that any referral partner is carefully selected. It must be someone that you can trust completely and whose values align with your own. Getting feedback from mortgage advisors who already work with such partners will help you to identify ones with potential, while you can also do some background research of your own before deciding to approach a possible partner.