JULY 2009
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www.opp.org.uk
OPP Roundtable
•
The introducers
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45
our own market research,” explained
Shameem Golamy, Head of Overseas
Sales at Rightmove. While the portal
INDUSTR
lost quite a few companies that went
out of business last year, Golamy
said that it is now signing up firms
who have been around for a while
Y
but had not previously invested in
portals. “They want to spend less on
exhibitions and their own events
and more online,” he said, adding
that it combines pre-packaged leads
across the platform with live agents
to sell on specific projects more
PEOPLE
aggressively. It also refers leads to
its overseas property club and works
with property finders.
However, even with fully qualified
leads, developers don’t always follow
them up. “We tracked all leads for
a month and called them all up to
find out about their experiences of
The best introduction
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The panel agreed that packaging of the product needed the most investment before sourcing and being contacted by our advertisers,”
DESTINA
training introducers, to ensure consistency of message, manage expectation all along the chain, and to ensure it is marketed to said Golamy. “We found that only half
the right buyer in the right way. were even called by the companies
we sent leads to. Company’s used to
types of introducer to protect the Qualified leads six other advisers. There are only simply order-taking are less able to TION
network and control cross-over. Developers tend to work with 20-30 good people behind the best close than those who have packaged
Variety helps to manage competition.” introducers to access larger databases IFAs; one I know has 28 millionaire for a target buyer.”
With SIPPs (Self Invested Personal of qualified leads, but they must be clients, mostly footballers, and he Conti’s Axelrod pointed out
Pensions) back in vogue, and helping clear on what introducers really offer. is motivated to look after them. that introducers help to save time
quite a few developers to sell to UK “Be very wary of the IFA who says However, there are only one or two for everyone involved in the sales
investors at the moment, introducers they have 2,000 clients because, by such IFAs.” process by qualifying early on. “There
who understand them are at the time it has been segmented, it’s So how do introducers qualify is not enough due diligence on the
BUSINESS
something of a premium – and for more like 50,” says Maddison. “Also, their leads? “We qualify in various client and the low conversion rates of
good reason. IFAs may call them their clients but ways at Rightmove, from details in the last year are because of surprises
“The real mis-selling scandal on they are usually clients for around the comment boxes on enquiries to like bad credit,” he said. “It should
the horizon is SIPPs and many IFAs
just don’t understand them,” said
Maddison. “Developers don’t either.
They forget that there are costs
to manage a SIPP that need to be
factored in. Even when we have
recommended that 20% is allocated
for this in the SIPP, some IFAs invest
DE
this into other yielding assets VEL
thinking they are helping the client
OPER
when they are actually forcing them
to inject more capital into something
with less of a tax benefit. Now we ask
clients to authorise because many
IFAs aren’t qualified to advise.”
“The FSA doesn’t seem to care
that SIPPs are being mis-sold,” added
Law. “Some developers are in effect
M
forcing agents to become illegal SIPP ARKE
sellers.”
“Introducers need to keep it
TING
simple,” said Barr. “If you don’t
understand SIPPs, pass it on to
someone who can – a qualified Introducing problems
|
While financial advisers were seen as fundamental to sales involving complex investment or pension
third party provider. That’s what our options like SIPPs, there was concern that not all IFAs and very few developers really understood how to structure, market and sell
introducers do.” such options - which could create major problems for the industry as a whole
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