A five-star service
It starts with recruitment, says Marcham . "If we're interviewing someone, we will interview them around the key ethos we have, you know, give us some examples of your service, give us some examples of where you've helped your community.
"If there's examples then it's much easier for us to make a decision on those individuals. We've been very specific with that type of recruitment."
Next is setting the right remuneration strategy. Before opening its doors Yellow Brick set a higher than average remuneration level for brokers to help ensure it attracted the best talent to begin with. The pair estimate they pay about 15-20 per cent more than a conventional network.
This was also with a view to retaining brokers for longer and "recruiting for growth", says Perkins.
For clients, first and ongoing contact at Yellow Brick is always with their adviser, but before any new recruit sits in front of a client they will have undergone specific training, including role plays, to ensure their client service is in line with the firm's.
Their performance is then judged on the number and quality of reviews the person gets. If there is a lack of reviews, Marchant says, that can be a concern and trigger some further development and support work. Trends in reviews can also spark further investigation.
The firm also does spot checks with clients, Perkins says, but he feels no need to micromanage people to ensure service levels are kept to a high standard: "You've got to hire the right people and trust them to be able to give the service you want them to give."
Perkins elaborates that a good service means more than finding the cheapest mortgage, "you'll be going through the house buying process, if they need it, and explaining to them in detail.
"It's talking them through all the different options and decisions, make sure they make informed decisions. It might be looking at two or three different options with them and talking through the pros and cons.
"It is being available at all times for any questions, help them with the legal paperwork."
Helping clients
But it is also about helping the client with offering on houses, says Marcham. Yellow Brick does its own research on properties in the given area and then makes the offer to the agent on behalf of the client, taking emotional decisions out of the equation in trying to get the best deal.
"We find it's actually an end to end journey with ourselves as opposed to just the transaction itself," says Perkins.
