And our survey said…

As an association, we are often approached by lenders and
funders who are looking to use brokers a route to market. Many of
these institutions, who have cut back on their own internal sales
force, come on board as NACFB Patrons (lenders are not able to
become members as they are not brokers themselves) to get access to
that all-important broker market. Of course, becoming a Patron is
no guarantee that brokers will choose to put business your way,
although there is certainly evidence to suggest that the more
involved with the Association a Patron becomes, the higher their
profile with the members and therefore the more likely a broker is
to use their services.

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 But if you really want to know what a broker is looking for
when it comes to funders, the best (and most obvious) way to find
out is to ask them. Every year, the NACFB carries out research
among its members to find out the volumes of business our members
have written in the previous twelve months and also what a broker
is looking for from the funders they use.

The first big surprise we got when looking at the figures was the
phenomenal increase in vehicle finance being written by our
members. The increase, year in year was a staggering 339 per cent.
Between June 2006 and June 2007 NACFB vehicle finance brokers were
responsible for over 19,000 deals totalling more than £1bn. So,
from a funder’s point of view this is definitely a market worth
tapping into.

 So what do brokers want from their funders? Perhaps
surprisingly, leasing and asset finance (including vehicle finance)
broker members rate the speed of decision as the most important
factor when choosing a funder. An overwhelming 93 per cent rated
the speed of decision as either extremely or very important.
Competitive pricing actually comes second with 87 per cent of
leasing and vehicle finance members giving this the extremely or
very important rating. The commission payable came in third – with
90 per cent saying that it was either extremely or very important.
Just to clarify, if you’re wondering how that comes third and not
second, the proportion of brokers who voted it as ‘extremely’
important was a lot lower (24 per cent) than in the ‘Competitive
Pricing’ category (45 per cent). Product range also scored highly.
Eighty-one percent of brokers believe that a comprehensive product
range is very or extremely important.

A lender’s international presence made the least impact on brokers
with reciprocity of referrals coming next. So, according to NACFB
broker members, the ideal funder is one who offers a fast decision
first and foremost, competitive pricing, a good rate of commission
and a comprehensive range of products. If a broker has an existing
relationship with a lender, this can help secure the business (78
per cent of brokers rate this as important) but if a funder can
tick all the right boxes they are moving some way towards securing
that broker route to market.

The author, Adam Tyler, is chief executive of the
NACFB