Why do business introducers matter to today’s companies?

When building your business, contacts are key; without them, your business will suffer due to a lack of partners or clients. That means you need to do everything you can to grow your network and keep your sales funnel flowing nicely. While traditional networking, sales, marketing, and advertising can perform their roles perfectly well, there is an approach that can offer great returns: business introducers.

What is an introducer?

An introducer’s role is relatively self-explanatory: they introduce contacts and potential customers to a third party which then pays them a commission. Typically operating within the financial services field, introducers are often financial advisors. They are not employed by the company they introduce custom to, and do not draw up sales agreements – they simply introduce leads.

Introducers typically work alongside businesses they have a good working relationship with and would recommend to others. That’s because often, they will leverage their own client contacts – if the third party’s offering or service is poor, they will likely lose a client too. They can be used to gather a wide range of leads, but are often best used to access a small customer segment, especially those that are difficult to reach via traditional marketing approaches.

Introducer relationships are often agreed via a Sales Commission Agreement. This agrees how much commission the introducer will receive if any of their leads are successful, plus any other terms dictating the affiliation, such as those relating to confidentiality, bribery, competition, and non-circumvention. This ensures the relationship is beneficial for both parties.

Why start an introducer program?

There are plenty of reasons why an introducer program could be a good choice for your business.

Firstly, introducers can be a great way of skipping the early stages of the buyer’s journey. For example, in B2B sales, conversion rates are much higher after the initial inquiry stage. According to Propel Growth, they rise to almost 60% for marketing qualified leads to sales-accepted leads, over 50% for the next level up to sales-qualified leads, then a healthy 30% for the final sale. That’s compared to less than 5% for the inquiry to marketing-qualified leads stage.

For the introducers themselves, it can be a great way of earning extra money alongside their main role. If the commission is based on a percentage share of the sale amount, this can also encourage them to recommend your company to larger, more significant leads, given the larger amount they will receive if the sale is successful.

And for the leads being recommended, being introduced can take the effort out of finding suppliers and partners, and if you offer a discount to companies that enter your sales funnel via an introducer, it can be a financially beneficial decision for them too.

An introducer programme can be a sound option for financial businesses looking to expand. Just be sure to follow all relevant Financial Conduct Authority guidance on their use so you can benefit within the confines of the law.