ASSESSING THE FUTURE FITNESS OF YOUR BUSINESS IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT NOW

06 May 2021 3935 Views

The current crisis has led to many of us to re-evaluate our lives to ensure that we put ourselves in the best position possible to face the future and yet, whilst many have focussed on their personal health and well-being, it may be the perfect time to assess the future fitness of your business – and find out if Embrace Financial Services could help you.

Who are Embrace Financial Services?

Created to support estate agents, in particular, Embrace Financial Services (Embrace) provides an easy, compliant and streamlined way for agents to enhance their customer proposition but also their earnings potential.

It does this through the provision of Financial Advisers who offer mortgage and protection insurance advice directly to your customers and which then leads to commission being paid to you on all products arranged.  With no cap on the amount you can earn, it means the more customers supported, the greater the benefits to your pocket and to your reputation for providing great customer services.  And, because Embrace is part of PRIMIS, one of the biggest mortgage networks in the UK, it means there’s a variety of support that agents can benefit from, ranging from advice via a central support team, to a visiting Financial Adviser or an in house Financial Adviser who can permanently sit within your office as business leads increase. And, it’s not only homeowners that can benefit, but also landlords and tenants through the protection products on offer.

We spoke to Mark Jackson, Director of Jacksons estate and letting agents in Rainham who told us why he chose Embrace Financial Services and what benefits it has brought to his agency:

“I’ve been in the industry for more than 30 years and have run my own business for the last 28 years, originally as a franchisee before going independent in 2000. My philosophy is very much about making life easier for the vendor and the purchaser and I believe, wholeheartedly, that people buy people.

Along with my partner, Jacqui Bradshaw, we’ve worked really hard to develop the agency and maintain a good reputation locally which, for a family run business, is everything. We’re very aware that if you look after your clients properly, everything else will fall into place – which is why we encompass sales, lettings and financial services within our offering.

Previously we have used the services of independent Financial Advisers who have also worked with other estate agents at the same time as us. They were often stretched for time and holiday periods were especially difficult because they didn’t have back office teams to take up the slack. We decided to look for an alternative provider.

We chose Embrace Financial Services despite initial reservations.

We put a couple of calls to other businesses but Embrace soon stood out as the front runner, although I admit I did have reservations at first. Knowing they were part of LSL Property Services plc meant there was an immediate assumption that they’d be more loyal to sister estate agency brands within the LSL Group - but that has not yet been the case. There’s never been any question of conflict of interest, Embrace report into the Financial Service Division of the LSL Group not the Estate Agency Division and as such are independent and support all estate agency brands equally and according to the amount of business being generated.  

It’s working well – and protection insurance is a bonus

We have Embrace Financial Adviser, Pippa Weigh, working for us and she’s proof of how well Embrace can work for an independent agency.

Having mortgage, remortgage and protection insurance advice on hand complements our philosophy of making life easier for all parties - and often helps to reduce the stress levels that can inevitably rise during the home moving process. It’s the ‘one stop shop’ approach that people like and often helps to keep transactions moving along, because the team as a whole can see the full picture.

Being able to offer protection insurance has also been a bonus, especially in the current climate. There’s been a definite uptake in enquiries in recent months for this.

A great advert for our business

Pippa herself has been a great asset to our business. We know every conversation and appointment she has with our clients reflects on us and, importantly, our reputation. She supports our belief that people buy people and our customers love her.

And, although Pippa may not be in the office as much as she would normally, because of the current crisis, that’s not been an issue. Being part of Embrace means she’s always available either via phone or video call and, even when on holiday, we have the reassurance that we have Embrace central support teams on hand to keep things moving along. We feel they are looking out for our customers as much as we are.

My advice

I’d say to any agent who is contemplating changing their existing financial service provider, or who is thinking about offering the service for the first time, to bite the bullet. Don’t procrastinate, speak to the Embrace team and make a move as soon as possible to take advantage of the opportunities that exist for the benefit of your business now, and in the future.”

If you are interested in finding out how Embrace Financial Services could help you, please contact John Hargreaves for Embrace Financial Services via john.hargreaves@embracefs.co.uk

Embrace Financial Services Ltd is an appointed representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network, a trading name of First Complete Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE