House prices are booming again. Reports from Nationwide and Halifax show a surge in annual inflation over recent months while Land Registry and ONS indices, which traditionally lag behind, also show that prices are picking up.
OK, it’s true that London and the South East are driving the huge spikes and skewing headline figures, but the reports do show that prices are rising across the country. And there’s more to come. Estate agent Savills forecasts house prices rising by 25% over the next five years across Britain.
Fuelled by continuing low interest rates, a relaxation in lending criteria and government support schemes, it seems as though the property market has undergone a dramatic reversal in fortune over recent months. As a result, intermediaries around the country are busier than they have been in years as first time buyers return to the market and people stuck with low levels of equity have renewed confidence in their ability to move.
This also means that providers need to be doing their level best to ensure they’re giving the best possible service to intermediaries.
We regularly survey the intermediaries we work with to make sure we’re providing the service and products they need. For example, from our surveys we know that the telephone remains the most favoured method of contact. That’s why we built and retained one of – if not the – biggest dedicated sales support teams who are available on the end of the phone to assist our intermediary partners.
And we also know that you still can’t beat face-to-face contact when it comes to building a relationship as our partners told us last year that having a local business development manager was one of their most important criteria in selecting an insurance provider. So we’ve also built a field based team second to none. This team constantly engages with our intermediary partners to make sure we know what they need – both in terms of product and service – and find ways of providing high quality support.
While competitively priced products and good commission levels remain top of the list of requirements amongst intermediaries, simply pushing product is no longer an option for providers.
It’s a fact that with increasing regulation in every sector of the financial services industry, greater emphasis is being placed on the quality and value of client interaction – and that means that product providers need to match this with effective and supportive relationship management services.
Brian Coulton is national sales manager at Source Insurance