Commercial Lending: New Product Development Research

 

How to develop a residential development lending proposition that best meets the needs of brokers and developers and delivers a USP. 

 

Our client was growing its commercial lending book with specific focus on funding residential development projects between £1m and £5m, the majority of which are arranged via specialist brokers.


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The challenge

Our client wanted to develop a proposition that met the needs of the market but also delivered a competitive edge in this fairly well-served market. The first step was to gain a deeper understanding of the market through desk research – the trends, outlook and competitor context to identify any obvious market gaps that could be exploited. The primary research then focused on understanding developer and broker needs, pain points and any areas they feel under served. The proposition needed to be stress-tested to: 

 

• Evaluate where it sits vs the market 

• Understand what, if any, USPs there are 

• Establish broker and client service requirements 

• Determine what and how to communicate and position to the target market

The approach

The research approach was two-fold: 

 

1. Initial desk research using numerous published sources to understand market size, SME developer market trends, outlook, funding trends and competitor landscape 

2. Primary qualitative research via in-depth interviews with both brokers and developers to understand their behaviour, needs and to test the new proposition

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A grey hexagon outline containing a star and a tick

The result

The research highlighted a clear appetite from brokers and developers for more lenders and funding in this buoyant market. 

 

There were clear and actionable recommendations on the back of the findings on: 

 

• How to refine and develop the proposition to best meet the needs of the market 

• How and what to communicate to cut through to the target audience 

 

The loan proposition has since launched successfully.