CFI: News Review
Marketing spring clean could rejuvenate business don’t take it for granted that by
Rob Lankey, head of lending, Aldermore Commercial Mortgages
many of the commercial mortgage brokers i speak to tell me that much of the busi- ness they generate comes from networking rather than traditional marketing tech- niques such as advertising or direct mail campaigns. But this doesn’t mean that
having a well-developed mar- keting plan is irrelevant to commercial mortgage bro- kers. on the contrary, market- ing should play an important part in every broker’s busi- ness strategy, especially in a year when we’re all hoping the market will turn the cor- ner and start to pull its way out of the doldrums.
Making sense of marketing marketing isn’t just about lo- gos, sales slogans and adverts. as architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said: “Business is like riding a bicycle. either you keep moving or you fall down.” marketing is all about how
you keep your business mov- ing forward; understanding why clients buy your services and giving them and others good reasons to keep on do- ing so in the future. and your existing clients are an excel- lent starting point for a review of your market activities. there is no substitute for asking your clients a few fundamental questions: how did they get to hear about you; what was their honest impression of the service you provided and what do they see as your greatest strengths?
you already know the answer to these questions - you may be surprised by the results. it’s all too easy to make assump- tions that when tested, turn out to be wide of the mark. For example, you may feel that it’s your wealth of experience and market knowledge that sets you aside from your com- petitors but your clients may tell you that it’s your ability to complete deals quickly or find solutions for non-standard cases which actually puts you in poll position. don’t dismiss this type of
back to basics research be- cause all companies no mat- ter how large or small, need to stay close to their clients and understand what they’re thinking. armed with this in- formation you can then set about developing your mar- keting plan for the year ahead. Like all good plans it should have a clear objective, well- defined strategy and detailed tactics; with each being time- lined and with key dependen- cies identified. good marketing plans don’t
have to be massive manu- scripts. in fact the shorter and more concise the better. re- view it regularly and ensure everyone in your business un- derstands it and is committed to making it work. marketing theory says that
all good marketing plans should focus on the four Ps of the marketing mix: Product, Price, Promotion and Place (where you intend to sell your product or service).
Product Start by reviewing carefully what your product is. is it fo- cused purely on providing a
commercial mortgage broking service or does it go further and include other services such as arranging essential in- surances? do you have specialist
knowledge of specific market sectors such as arranging fi- nance for retail premises and offices or the acquisition of in- vestment properties? You may take this knowledge for grant- ed but potential clients value it highly - it’s an important part of your product offering.
“Armed with this infor- mation you can then set about developing your marketing plan for the year ahead. Like all good plans it should have a clear objective, well-defined strategy and detailed tactics; with each being time-lined and with key dependencies identified.”
Price this is also a good time to re- view the price you charge for your services. Just because you’ve always lived off com- mission or charged a fee or done a mixture of both doesn’t mean that’s the way you have to continue in the future. the pricing of professional consultancy services (which is what you’re offering) can be very elastic depending on the sectors and type of businesses you’re selling to. don’t make the mistake of believing that pricing has to remain as it has always been. if you provide a premium service you have
every right to charge a premi- um price.
Promotion Promotion is too big a subject to address adequately within the confines of this article but suffice it to say that you should review all the options available to you, especially online communications chan- nels. is your website up to date
and does it portray your busi- ness in a professional way? or does it have that unmistak- able homemade and out of date feel to it? if so change it. a poor website is worse than no website at all.
Place the final P is place - where do you sell your services? although some brokers op- erate within specific regions there is nothing to prevent you from extending your geo- graphical reach. in theory, you could offer a national service if you want to but the logical next step is to extend your ac- tivities to include a wider geo- graphic region. if you go back to some basic maths you’ll know that doubling the radi- us of a circle increases its area by a factor of four. So double your radius of influence and you’ve quadrupled the size of your sales patch. i make no apologies if this
sounds like text book theory. the biggest mistake any busi- ness can make is to believe that it doesn’t need a market- ing plan and can therefore side-step important processes which may just help generate more profit. now is the perfect time to
give your marketing plan a spring clean.
mortgage introducer APRIL 2011 53
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