Cross selling stagnates

The results from a recent The Adviser straw-poll reveals that while the 30 per cent of brokers cross sell on average three or more products, 23 per cent still avoid cross sell altogether.

A similar survey conducted in August 2010 found that 20 per cent of brokers didn’t cross sell any products while 32 per cent sold three or more products.

Elle McKenzie from Crawford Mortgage Services says brokers should concentrate on being the best in what they are good at.

“We position ourselves as experts in mortgage finance. As a small firm we don’t have the capacity to become experts in other products.

“So rather than become a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’, we like to stick to what we know.”

Almost a third of brokers offer three or more products, something which Paul Wright from IPS Home Loans believes makes a better impression on a client.

“On average, most of our clients would end up with four products: home loan, credit card, offset account and mortgage protection,” Mr Wright told The Adviser.

“We also have a property service so clients have their investment property sourced for them, but that’s not for everyone.”

But most brokers are sitting on the fence with just over half offering between one or two products in addition to residential mortgages.

Erik Verheyden from Approved Home Loans has gone down several avenues of cross selling, but found that only one works for him.

“I only offer mortgage protection. I’ve seen too many clients have something dramatic happen within the first few years of taking out a mortgage, either an accident or a terminal illness.

“I used to do personal loans, but I stopped because there’s no money in it. If they do need a personal loan, most of the time I just do a redraw on their mortgage or increase their mortgage.”