Brokers - where is your business coming from at the moment?

Just as the housing market seemed to be recovering with more people accepting rates being higher than the ultra-low rates we had been used to. However, within two weeks the demand for buyers has been firmly turned off.

We are seeing a higher than-normal amount of customers who have used other brokerages in the past reach out. This is often quite rare, as once the trust is gained there is rarely a need to use another broker. However, we all know no one could have forecasted the challenging period we are now in but there is no doubt some customers in their heads will blame the advice they received on leading to them having to remortgage in a period of high-interest rates and more may look to seek a second option.

Business has slowed markedly over the past couple of weeks. With daily headlines about soaring mortgage rates, it's no wonder. We're still generating business via existing clients and organic website traffic, but it's a tough market right now.

Currently, I am seeing new inquiries come from a broad range of sources; be that existing clients looking to review their deal or move home, landlords looking to expand their portfolio, referrals from existing clients to their friends and family, plus people reaching out to me from seeing my social media content. This is an ideal mix for me, as I often find if one falls quiet at any given moment then another channel picks up. Having a broad mix of reactive and proactive inquiry sources is always the best bet, but isn't always easy to set up.

At present, 90% of our business is generated through client referrals, which attests to the invaluable foundation of know, like and trust we have established with our existing clientele. By cultivating strong relationships with our clients, we foster an environment where they are inclined to endorse our services to their network of family and friends. Nonetheless, we remain committed to actively engaging with potential customers on various social media platforms, which has yielded some organic inquiries thus far, with no paid advertising.

We have a good mix of both existing and prospective clients especially those looking to refinance where they have been on the variable rate for some time but are now finding this unaffordable with all the base rate increases. We have a lot of clients ask for our advice not just on mortgages available now but what our predications for the market are from a professional point of view. We continue to monitor our existing client base and have reminders to contact clients not only when their fixed rates that we have arranged are coming to an end but also when the mortgages on their wider portfolio are coming to an end which were mortgaged before we were introduced to them. We often speak to prospective clients on facebook property groups as we find clients go there to initially ask questions and look for advice on their mortgage worries.

The majority of our work at the moment is with existing clients, but new clients are coming in. We're proactive with our client bank, reaching out when the time is right. It's really important to us to offer advice as a long-term service, and we're rewarded by their ongoing trust and loyalty.

Right now, in this constantly changing landscape related to mortgages and the wider world of rising costs, there's plenty of activity out there, and people need good advice now more than ever.

Although proactively maintaining relevant and up-to-date content and consistent reviews to assist with organic and website enquiries are an important and consistent source of varying forms of my mortgage business, the largest part of my business these days comes from client referrals and existing clients looking to re-mortgage, move or review their circumstances.

With a high percentage of my clients initially having been first-time buyers that I have coached and advised towards their securing their first home in Scotland, many of these have peers and colleagues at similar life stages who also require an experienced hand to guide them and so this remains an abundant and ongoing source of new clients seemingly regardless of market fluctuations and volatility.