Making introductions a habit
How to build introductions into the fact-find, the consent step, the partner portal and back-book reviews so that they happen on every suitable case.
How to build introductions into the fact-find, the consent step, the partner portal and back-book reviews so that they happen on every suitable case.
Introductions get missed when they depend on someone remembering to make them. A good moment passes in a busy meeting, the case moves on to completion, and the conversation that would have followed does not happen.
A firm can build introductions into the way it already works: one question added to the fact-find, a clean record of consent, the partner portal, and a start with the clients you already have.
A principal can agree with the idea and still make few introductions, because nothing in the working day prompts them. An adviser halfway through a completion may not stop, unprompted, to raise the pension.
The aim is to make the introduction a standard step in each case, so that it happens without anyone having to remember.
Add one question to the fact-find you already run. For example: “Is anyone helping you with pensions, investments or planning for the future?” Ask it of every client, every time, next to the questions about income, outgoings and dependants.
The question identifies clients who have no adviser and makes the topic a normal part of the conversation from the start. You are gathering a fact, as you do when you ask about existing cover, and the answer tells you whether to make an introduction.
The introduction itself should be a line you say by default. When the fact-find shows no adviser and the case shows a sign of need, say it. Something like: “Now the mortgage is arranged, it would help to have someone look at the wider picture. I work with a firm who do that, and I can introduce you.”
Left to decide in the moment, an adviser may talk themselves out of it because the client seems busy or the timing feels wrong. Making the ask a standard step treats every client the same.
Building introductions into the workflow does not move the regulatory line, and the process should keep advisers on the right side of it. Your advisers arrange mortgages and protection. They must not advise on pensions, investments or estate planning, which is E&G’s regulated advice under its FCA authorisation (No. 474163).
A fixed script keeps the line. The standard sentence offers an introduction and stops there. It does not comment on whether a pension is a good idea, what the client should invest in, or how to plan an estate. With a fixed line, the adviser has no reason to say more.
Client details stay in your firm until the client agrees, and the agreement has to be recorded. This is a data-protection requirement. Capture four things: that the client agreed, the date, what they are happy for you to pass on, and how they want to be contacted.
Build it into your CRM as a short, standard step. A free-text note can be forgotten. A tick, a date and a line on contact preferences is enough. Recorded consent protects you, gives E&G a client who is expecting the call, and gives you a record if the introduction is questioned later.
Once an introduction is made, the partner portal is where it lives. Every introduction, its stage, and the value building behind it are visible in one place, without anyone chasing an update by email.
A principal can use the portal to manage introductions: it shows how many were made last month and which advisers are making them.
Your back-book holds clients you have advised for years who may never have been asked the pension question. They already trust you, and your files show which of them have no adviser.
Pull the clients approaching a review, a remortgage or a rate expiry. Add the fact-find question to that conversation. Where there is no adviser and a sign of need, make the introduction. This adds one question to conversations you were going to have anyway.
Put one person in charge of introductions, even in a small firm, so someone watches the portal, notices when introductions fall away, and keeps the question on the fact-find where it belongs.
Give that person a simple measure: a count of introductions made this month and how they are progressing. A target can push people into poor introductions. Review it in a meeting you already hold.
A client comes in for a remortgage. The fact-find includes the pension question as a matter of course. The answer shows no adviser, and the case has an obvious trigger. The adviser says the standard sentence, records consent in two clicks, and the introduction reaches E&G. The portal tracks it from there.
None of that depended on anyone remembering on the day. The firm makes introductions as a matter of routine, and the portal shows the count.
Not if it is asked as a fact. “Is anyone helping you with pensions or planning for the future?” sits naturally next to questions about income, dependants and existing cover. You are gathering information and recommending nothing. Clients expect a mortgage adviser to take a full picture of their finances.
Make it a standard step for every case. Put the question on the fact-find form, agree the one sentence everyone uses, and build the consent step into the CRM. When the process carries the introduction, it no longer depends on each adviser remembering or feeling confident on the day. The portal then shows you who is making introductions and who needs support.
You can contact existing clients about services related to what you already provide, within the terms they agreed to and your privacy notice. The safe route is to raise it inside a conversation you are already having, such as a review or a remortgage, and to record consent before anything is passed to E&G. If you are unsure how your permissions read, your compliance support can confirm the position.
The fact-find question adds seconds. The consent step is a few clicks. The introduction is one sentence. The ongoing management is a glance at the portal in a meeting you already hold. Most of the work is in setting it up.
A comparison of the two ways to work with Pecunia: the introducer model and the partner model that shares in ongoing assets under management. Who each suits, and how to start as an introducer and move up.
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The questions a broker's compliance function, network or PI insurer raises about a wealth partnership, with the answers: the introducer agreement, where the regulated liability sits, what data moves and when, and how you stay inside your permissions.
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Who the E&G advisers are, what their advice covers, and how your client is looked after from the first call onwards.
Read itYour firm keeps the mortgage and protection advice. Equity & General gives the pension, investment and estate planning advice, and a named partnership manager sets the arrangement up with you.