This means that there is no longer any low hanging fruit when it comes to business partnerships, or potential clients.
In order to nurture a successful year, we will need to sow the seeds early.
Secondly, record-high interest rates and increased cost of living pressures are leading to an influx of complex cases.
More borrowers are dealing with lower credit scores and missed mortgage payments due to steep rate rises.
Data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that more than 1.4mn British households will face higher costs when they renew their fixed rate mortgages in 2023.
As rates remain high, it is key that brokers have the appropriate experience to advise clients accordingly through difficult financial situations.
By evaluating their current skillset, and where it might be beneficial to retrain or develop skills in new areas, brokers can expand their capabilities to ensure that they are able to increase the scope of clients that they support and reduce the number of cases that they turn down.
Tapping into new markets, such as later-life finance, or training in complex cases, is a great way to achieve this.
Finally, technology plays a key role in supporting brokers with research, product sourcing, customer liaison, and administrative tasks.
New tools are being released at a rapid rate, especially in line with the growing trend of artificial intelligence.
It is important to regularly review the technology on offer against the technology that brokers use on a day-to-day basis, such as customer relationship management software, or product sourcing platforms.
This provides brokers with access to the latest information on rates and available mortgage products and gives them the best possibility of supporting their clients in the most efficient way.
Half of all product transfer business missed by advisers
Product transfers should also be prioritised by brokers in Q4 and 2024 amid the lull in new business enquiries.
In my recent conversations with lenders, many have noted that only around 40-50 per cent of product transfer business is coming to them through brokers.
With UK Finance reporting that 800,000 fixed rate deals will end in the second half of the year, and a further 1.6mn next year, the scale of this untapped potential for advisers is huge.
The advice community must reflect on why it is only capturing around half of this business, which primarily boils down to back-book management and procuration fees.
If a broker stays in touch and supports a customer, then that customer will return to that broker for counsel time and time again.
Firstly, advisers should reflect on how they track, monitor, and capitalise on existing business in their back book.
Are you fully aware of which products are coming to maturity and when?
