Know Your BDM – Peter McDermid, Lendinvest

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  • 23/08/2016
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Know Your BDM – Peter McDermid, Lendinvest
This week in the hot seat for Specialist Lending Solutions' Know Your BDM series is Peter McDermid from Lendinvest.

How many brokers and broker firms do you cover in your role?

I have a network of 40 directly authorised brokers, and deal with a further 100-150 introducers made up of professional partners.

How do you successfully organise and deal with business on a daily basis?

I use a disciplined time management schedule, and have built a robust contact strategy. That means splitting my day into face-to-face appointments, telephone prospecting and deal arranging.

What issues come up time and time again?

Downvaluations are a regular issue. Clients may have over optimistic expectations over what a property is worth, and that can be frustrating.

What do you wish brokers understood about your job?

I have strong relationship with my network of brokers and introducer partners, and as a result I think they have a pretty good idea of how my job works, even if they don’t always like what I have to say.

What do you think is the most important attribute in a good BDM?

Brokers want reliability from their BDMs. They want to know there is someone there who can deal with any issues that may pop up.

I think the key thing is to be someone who does what they say they will. False promises don’t help anyone.

When you’re unavailable to contact via telephone, what’s the second-best way for brokers to get in touch?

Email is the next best option. You can’t always take a call if you are in an important meeting, but I always respond to calls or emails the same working day.

If you were head of the FCA for the day, what would you change about regulation in the mortgage industry?

I think there’s some work to do on improving communication with brokers. Earlier this year for example, several brokers I spoke to were confused about exactly what permissions were required for dealing with certain lenders.

What was your motivation for choosing business development as a career?

It’s the perfect role for me. I love the freedom that the role brings, and the sense of achievement I get if I exceed targets.

How do you establish and maintain a good relationship with brokers?

My relationship with brokers is based on honesty and integrity. Brokers’ confidence in you is built up when you demonstrate that you can do what you say you will.

Even if I’m giving them a negative response, they know it’s because I don’t want to waste their time.

And how do you establish and maintain good relationships internally?

Being as approachable and adaptable as possible. It is important as a BDM to be a good team player, making sure you can pick up colleagues’ work when need be, and know that they will do the same for you.

What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?

I’ve been asked about castles a few times. There are castles in every region in Scotland, so plenty of demand to adapt them!

And finally, what did you want to be growing up?

I always wanted to be a footballer and play for Hibs.

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