Five tips to win against the competition

With so much competition out there, how do you maintain a competitive edge as an Asset Finance broker? In this article, we share our top tips to help you stand out from the crowd.

Tip #1: Provide a more comprehensive product offer

Diversification creates more opportunities to grow your customer base. It allows you to tap into new market segments and potentially new revenue streams.

So, how could you diversify?

• Cover all markets – commercial, SME and personal lending
• Debtor finance solutions for your business clients
• Add value to the customer by offering insurance
• You could try your hand at residential mortgage broking

By broadening your product offering, you remain front of mind for all of your customers’ finance needs.

Tip #2: Get scenario support to help you create more effective solutions

If you want to maintain a competitive advantage, you need to make the most of the support available to you. Even if you’re a one-person operation, it pays to seek help.

By joining Connective Asset Finance, you gain access not only to a panel of lenders, but also to a support team whom you can call on. Our specialist Business Development Managers and National Scenarios Managers, for example, can help with complex loan scenarios. Say you need finance for a client wanting to buy a helicopter – we can hook you up with a lender partner who covers that niche. This frees up your time for other tasks.

Tip #3: Build lender relationships that create faster approval times

Asset finance brokers often compete on speed of service delivery. So, how do you secure faster approval times? By building strong relationships with lenders.

Connective Asset Finance runs loads of events throughout the year. These allow you to network with lender partners and learn about the latest product offerings.

Tip #4: Automate communications, so customers always come to you first

Marketing helps customers understand why your product or service is better than the competition. Your marketing strategy could include both digital (for example: social media marketing, SEO and content marketing) and non-digital marketing methods (for example: local area marketing).

You might also like to check out Connective’s Digital Marketing Hub offering, which gives you access to handy tools such as automated email campaigns. Using automated communications via your CRM can save you a tremendous amount of time.

Tip #5: Keep it personal to create loyalty

Research conducted by Deloitte found that the decision for people to use brokers rather than going direct to the lender is driven by personal relationships.

Here are some tips for building customer loyalty:

Keep in regular contact with clients. According to Deloitte, 60 per cent of broker customers valued ongoing interactions and advice from their brokers even after settlement.

Provide information that’s of value to them. As mentioned, automating communications can help you manage this task.

Always answer queries or find someone else who can. This will foster trust.

Go above and beyond. For example, you could send a card out on the one-year anniversary of their asset purchase. Small gestures can make all the difference.

Ready to take your asset finance business to the next level? An aggregator like Connective can provide the support and products you need to get there. Diversify. Improve processes. And stand out in a crowded marketplace. Get in touch today!