Intermediary service provider

Intermediaries, also popularly known as middlemen, are extremely crucial for facilitating movement of service and goods from the source of origin to its destination. Intermediaries are essential for smooth conduct and growth of any business. In the era of globalization, the reach and extent of intermediaries have extended across the globe and thus discharge an important function of matching the demand and supply of service as well as goods. They take the load off the manufacturers as well as the service providers by ensuring market for their goods and services.

Generally, an “intermediary” is a person who arranges or facilitates supply of goods and/or provision of service between two persons, without material alteration or further processing of such goods or service. Thus, an intermediary is involved in two activities, the first being facilitating supply of goods or provision of service from the principal to the customer of the intermediary. In discharge of such a service ensuring that the goods or service originating from the principal is delivered to his customer, the intermediary performs or provides the second activity which is a service to his principal in the nature of marketing of the principal’s goods or services, for which a fee or commission is usually charged by the intermediary from the principal.

However, Rule 9 of the Place of Provision of Service rules which states that the place of provision of intermediary services shall be the location of the service provider, defines intermediary as a broker or an agent or any other person who arranges or facilitates a provision of a main service between two or more persons, but does not include a person who provides the main service on his account. This definition excludes intermediaries like commission agent, buying or selling agent or a stockbroker engaged in selling of goods on behalf of principal from its scope. Also excluded in the definition of intermediary in these rules is a person who provides the main service on own account of the principal. Hence, any person in addition to arranging or facilitating provision of service from the principal to his customers, also undertakes the actual performance of service on behalf of the principal, such a person would be excluded from the scope of the definition of intermediary in these rules.

In order to determine whether a person is acting as an intermediary or not, the following factors need to be considered: Nature and value: An intermediary cannot alter the nature or value of the service, the supply of which he facilitates on behalf of his principal to his customers, although the principal may authorize the intermediary to negotiate a different price. Also, the principal must know the exact value at which the service is supplied or obtained on his behalf, and any discounts that the intermediary obtains must be passed back to the principal. Separation of value: The value of an intermediary’s service to the principal for which he is receiving consideration in the form of “commission” for having arranged or facilitated provision of principal’s service to his customers, is invariably identifiable from the main supply of service (Principal’s service) that he is so arranging or facilitating to his customers. It can be based on an agreed percentage of the sale or purchase price. Identity and title: The service provided by the intermediary on behalf of the principal is clearly identifiable.

Since the definition of intermediary excludes commission agent for buying or selling of goods from its scope, such services provided by the agent would be export of service since the place of provision of such service would be outside the taxable territory.

Intermediary Service Provider in Canada

Future of Intermediary services

While estimates vary according to different sources, the Assets under Administration of the UK intermediary platform market are estimated to grow from circa £200bn to £600bn by 2018.  This growth is largely driven by continued demand from intermediaries who see platforms as an essential part of their RDR compliant, fee based proposition.

Currently the intermediary platform market is dominated by a handful of players with Cofunds, Skandia and FundsNetwork leading the pack.  Other players, notably the vertically integrated providers such as Standard Life and AXA, are continuing to invest in improving their service offering. Besides there are many other smaller niche players resulting in roughly 30 market participants. All these providers seek to gain market share and to control distribution and back books in order to grow into a profitable business model.
With pressure on margin across the value chain and platform rebates being abolished, platform fees might be squeezed from 30 basis points to 20 bps, moving the break-even point significantly up from c. £20bn of Assets under Administration to c. £40bn.  With only £600bn to divide, this results in a maximum of 15 companies breaking even.  With the five biggest platforms account for c.70% of the market, it is likely there will be only eight to ten profitable platforms by 2018.

The combination of advisers having signed up to multiple platforms already, squeezing margins and limited differentiation between platforms, is likely to result in consolidation around a few scale players, with a small number of niche providers remaining.

Winning platforms will be those who are able to differentiate themselves over and above technical platform functionality (e.g. integration with advisers’ back office software, financial planning tools, discretionary management outsourcing) and are on top of the consolidation wave. These platforms will also be able to maintain or improve upon their operational leverage.

 Intermediary service provider in Canada

Customer service quotes to inspire you

The most successful businesses have one thing in common – amazing customer service! And if you follow us on , you may have noticed some of the legendary customer service quotes we've been posting.

Here’s a collection of 20 of the best quotes that you may find useful and inspiring:

“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends” – Walt Disney

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better” –  Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman down, simply by spending his money somewhere else” – Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart

“Unless you have 100% customer satisfaction…you must improve” – Horst Schulz, CEO, Starbucks

“Service, in short, is not what you do, but who you are. It is a way of living that you need to bring to everything you do, if you are to bring it to your customer interactions” – Betsy Sanders

“Customers today want the very most and the very best for the very least amount of money, and on the best terms. Only the individuals and companies that provide absolutely excellent products and services at absolutely excellent prices will survive” -  Brian Tracy

“Merely satisfying customers will not be enough to earn their loyalty. Instead, they must experience exceptional service worthy of their repeat business and referral. Understand the factors that drive this customer revolution” – Rick Tate

“The customer’s perception is your reality” –  Kate Zabriskie

“The longer you wait, the harder it is to produce outstanding customer service” – William H. Davidow

“Profit in business comes from repeat customers; customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them” –  W. Edwards Deming

“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends” –  Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

“Good customer service costs less than bad customer service” –  Sally Gronow, Welsh Water

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” –  Bill Gates

“The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers” –  Shiv Singh

“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages” –  Henry Ford

“The customer experience is the next competitive battleground” –  Jerry Gregoire, CIO, Dell Computers

“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong” –  Donald Porter, British Airways

“There is a spiritual aspect to our lives – when we give we receive – when a business does something good for somebody, that somebody feels good about them!” – Ben Cohen, Ben & Jerry’s

9 Customer Service Quotes that will make you think Twice

1. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

– Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft 

We often get stuck in the echo chamber only hearing the virtues of our product. However, as Gates succinctly puts it, our toughest critics are usually the best source of information. Sometimes you need to step outside the bubble and listen to people that will tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear.

2. “Rule #1 — The Customer is Always Right”; Rule #2 – If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule #1.”

– Stew Leonard, Founder of supermarket chain 

Stew Leonard believes in his two rules so fervently, that they are etched in a three-ton granite rock at the entrance of his shop. As Leonard learnt early on, each customer is valuable and treating them like liars is never an appropriate response. Further, most customers are honest and it is unfair to penalize them because a small minority might be dishonest.

3. “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”

– Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon 

Bezos’ quote very eloquently exemplifies the ethos behind customer service at Amazon. The key to growing the brand in its early years was making it easy for customers to find obscure things. When a customer found something they could not on other websites, they would remark on it to their friends. This word of mouth marketing is dependent on satisfying your initial customers.

4. “There is a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer.”

– Shep Hyken, Marketing Expert 

Having great customer service should be a given. However, engendering confidence in your customer base requires you to create positive customer experiences on a consistent basis. This in turn will turn satisfied customers into loyal ones who will not want to shop anywhere else.

5. “Consumers are statistics. Customers are people.”

– Stanley Marcus, President and Chairman of Neiman Marcus 

This is a great antithesis to the fascination with big data and predictive analytics pervading the business-customer relationship. What Marcus is suggesting is that businesses need to stop overanalysing their data and actually talk to customers. Spreadsheets and charts are great to an extent, but customers have unique needs and wants which must be addressed on an individual basis.

6. “Remember that, in the end, the customer doesn’t know, or care, if you are small or large as an organization – she or he only focuses on the garment hanging on the rail in the store.”

– Giorgia Armani, Fashion Designer 

This famous quote by revered fashion designer Armani is especially important for smaller businesses about to make it big. When a young company starts out their customer service is usually immaculate as there is usually a limited customer base. However, as the customer base and the company concurrently increase, customer service is often the first department to take a hit. No matter how big or small the company your customer will expect the same level of service and it is your duty to meet that expectation.

7. “There is only one boss-the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

– Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart 

Sam Walton was almost fired as a sales trainee from J.C. Penny because he hated keeping customers waiting while he fussed with paperwork. This is a level of dedication unheard of in retail, even where commissions rule the day. It is also telling that companies continue to adopt a top-down approach with leaders’ micro-managing instead of letting their employees perform. At Zopim we are careful to strike a balance between providing guidance to our CSRs while at the same time giving them the leeway to serve the customer as they see fit. This balance is important as each customer has a unique request and must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

8. “Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.”

– Zig Ziglar, Author

This quote seems a little strange, after all isn’t the aim to provide 100% customer satisfaction? Well first, it is impossible to completely satisfy all your customers and second, the best learning opportunities come from the customers who complain. Ziglar’s quote strongly echoes Gates’ above. Imagine two customers, one who doesn’t make a fuss but decides not to shop at your store, and another who angrily complains and then leaves your store. While the second customer may be seen as a nuisance, at least you know why they no longer want to shop at your store. This is valuable information you can use to make your store better.

9. “A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.”

– Chinese proverb 

And finally, the most useful advice when starting a store is to simply create a positive experience. We can all feel negative energy and it does not bode well for a shop that revels in it, unless you work at a Halloween shop of course.