Why should you ignore customer management?

It seems that there are still reasons why mortgage advice firms choose not to actively work with their existing customers.

However, this choice can have major consequences for the growth and success of the consultancy firm. In this article, we discuss three key reasons why some advisory firms choose not to proactively engage with their existing clients and also offer four possible solutions to address these challenges.

Actively focus on your existing customer

Retaining existing customers is crucial for the stability and growth of a mortgage advice office. You do this by continuously investing in your customer relationship. An old marketing adage: 'customer retention is often easier and more cost-effective than attracting new customers'. In these times with a significantly lower number of mortgage transactions, the existing customer can become an interesting lead for the broader services of your office.

So there's every reason to get started with your existing customer portfolio. Several parties are happy to help you properly organize active customer management. This is increasingly better supported, especially technically. The threshold to start is getting lower.

Take small steps to determine which approach best suits your office, your employees and your customers.

The 3 most common reasons for not doing active customer management

Three reasons why mortgage advice offices do not actively work with existing customers:

1. Limited resources

The office faces limited resources, such as: time, personnel or technological infrastructure. This can make it difficult to pay sufficient attention to all existing customers. The firm must prioritize clients with immediate or more complex needs or higher potential value, while still finding solutions to use available resources more efficiently.

2. Lack of a service contract

In many cases, no ongoing service contract has been agreed with the customer. Providing service is therefore an activity that often does not generate direct income. And therefore it remains a barrier to spending sufficient time with your existing customers. As a result, it may happen over time that the customer chooses to continue the service elsewhere or that the office decides not to approach the customer again. It is useful to proactively contact your customers with whom no service contract has been concluded and show them the benefits of a structural investment in cooperation.

3. Insufficient customer involvement

The finance is a low-interest product for many customers; existing customers often show little involvement with their mortgage or simply have little interaction with your consultancy firm. This can make it difficult for you to actively work with the customer. It is important to keep communication channels open and invest in customer relationship management to increase engagement and strengthen customer trust.

What can you do to actively work on customer management?

1. Proactive communication

Regularly contact existing customers yourself to understand their needs and objectives. Show them the benefits of continued collaboration. You know which changes in their lives can make an impact. Offer personalized solutions that make your customer feel recognized.

2. Retraining and broadening of services

Make sure that your advisory office is aware of the changing trends and needs in the mortgage market. Invest in the retraining of advisors and expand services to meet the new demands of your clients.

3. Efficient resource management

Determine ways to use available resources (people, time and money) more efficiently, in a way that suits your office. This includes implementing automated systems, outsourcing non-core activities or collaborating with other advisors.

4. Improving customer engagement

Develop strategies to increase customer engagement, such as offering educational programs, organizing themed events and leveraging digital platforms for easy, fast interaction.

Small steps

The fact is, over time the personal or financial situation of many of your customers changes. And therefore possibly also the customer's needs. If you are not aware of the current situation of your customers, the consultancy firm may eventually no longer offer the right solutions, services or expertise to meet the new needs of the customers.

By continuously and proactively contacting your customers, being flexible in your services and taking steps to ensure customer satisfaction, mortgage advice offices can lay a strong foundation for long-term and profitable customer relationships. Especially in these times when the mortgage advice office has to partly reinvent itself, it seems like a good time to start experimenting with this.

What is your experience?

What do you recognize from the above? What do you encounter in your daily practice? What prevents your office from working proactively with your clients on a structural basis? I'd love to hear that from you.

* The translations on this website are provided by G-Translate from Dutch