A third of brokers need help with customer acquisition: Pepper

The non-bank lender said that, at a time when credit conditions are tightening, customers will increasingly turn to alternative lenders, and so brokers have the opportunity to leverage this trend. A survey of 948 mortgage brokers, which Pepper commissioned earlier this year, revealed that 70 per cent expect to write more non-conforming loans in the coming year, compared to 66 per cent that predict a decline in the number of prime loans written.

According to the survey results, released in March, respondents expect the demand for non-conforming loans to rise as a result of tighter prime lending criteria (22 per cent), changing customer needs (21 per cent) and changing legislation/regulations (13 per cent).

“The tightening credit environment means the number of people needing alternative lending solutions is only growing, and brokers seeking to take advantage of this trend should be ready to assist customers looking for alternatives,” Pepper Money said.  

Pepper Money’s research also confirmed that more than 60 per cent of new business comes from existing customer referrals, repeat customers and recommendations from professional networks.

With these statistics in mind, as well as brokers communicating their “strong” need for content and practical tools to help capture the non-conforming market, the non-bank lender decided to launch its “Real Life Guide to Referral Marketing Toolkit”, which has since been downloaded more than 2,500 times in a little over a week.

“When people are turned down by traditional lenders, they look for alternatives and seek recommendations from people who have the expertise to help them,” Pepper Money’s director of sales, mortgages and personal loans, Aaron Milburn, said.

“The Pepper Money Referral Marketing Toolkit helps brokers capitalise on the evolving lending landscape so that they can assist more customers succeed in getting the funding they need.”

The kit contains eight case studies that brokers can leave with their referral partners to better identify the types of customers brokers can assist with, as well as a customer satisfaction survey template to help obtain actionable feedback from existing customers.

Additionally, the kit contains prepared content on alternative lending to help brokers create their own landing pages or emails.

“The addition of referral marketing content to Pepper Money’s customer conversion toolkit makes it an end-to-end solution for positioning alternative lending to more customers,” Mr Milburn said.

[Related: Brokers expect to write more non-conforming loans]