Most brokers get most business from existing clients. That is why retaining clients is so important.
January 20, 2025
According to a report by IMLA, the share of mortgage business conducted through intermediaries will continue its upwards trajectory, rising from 87% in 2024 to 89% in 2025 and 91% in 2026.
This is great news as it shows just how important mortgage brokers are.
But how do you maximise this and have greater client retention?
In this post we will cover:
The need to stay competitive
Measuring client loyalty
Tips to lock in client loyalty
Do you know what you need to do to keep clients returning?
An increased demand means you’re likely to face more competition. We’ve seen a 1.9% increase in the number of UK mortgage broker businesses between 2022 and 2023. With more brokers entering the market its important to define your client retention strategy. Before building advocacy you need to work out how loyal your current clients are.
To measure loyalty among your client base you can calculate your Net Promoter Score as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for any of your marketing activity.
Have you ever been asked “how did we do?”. Businesses of all kinds will use this as an opportunity to receive feedback, usually asking customers how likely they would be to recommend their services to a friend, colleague or family member using a scale of 1-10. You can use this too. A score of ten means your clients would be incredibly likely to recommend you, and a score of 1 would mean they wouldn’t recommend you at all.
Based on the answers you can categorise people as detractors (0-6), passives (7-8), and promoters (9-10), you can use to gauge the overall loyalty of your client base.
You can use follow up questions like “what are your reasons for this score?” or “what can we do to make your experience better?”
Giving your survey respondents an opportunity to give more qualitative feedback can surface insights about your services that you might not have otherwise considered.
Don’t worry if you have a high proportion of clients initially appearing in the detractor category, there are plenty of ways to build loyalty.
Once you understand what value you can receive by helping your clients achieve their goals over their lifetime and their overall opinion of your services, you can use a number of strategies to keep them coming back. Some proven tips include the following:
Show how you can incentivise clients by highlighting tailored services or offering rewards for leaving valuable feedback and reviews or recommending new clients.
Use social media to build your platform and position yourself as an expert. Interpreting news and market conditions in a way that is helpful to existing followers will foster affinity in your audience. If you want additional insights on how to grow your profile, check out our broker's guide to social media.
Tailored support for your clients is key in understanding individual client circumstances. You can speak directly to specific audience groups through email and offer support to the right people at the right time. For more details on how to approach this, read our guide to email marketing.
This might seem an obvious thing to mention, but it’s important to keep that view on your clients in addressing their needs. If you’re able to think about exactly what you would want from your own broker, especially in achieving your own financial goals. and tweak your offering accordingly, you will build loyalty amongst your existing clients.
The market for brokers will continue to become more competitive as people rely on your expertise to get a mortgage that’s right for them. In order to secure and grow your own client base, you should try using some of the strategies we’ve described to keep them engaged in your financial advice services for years to come.
PLEASE NOTE ARTICLE CONTENT WAS ACCURATE AT TIME OF PUBLISHING