How many advisers and broker firms do you cover in your role?
Our distribution partners and patches are being finalised but when we do launch, I will be dedicated to covering the north east of England and Yorkshire.
How do you successfully organise and deal with business on a daily basis?
It starts with good diary management and planning. You also have to be incredibly flexible to deal with anything that can come your way. It’s a balance between appointments, responding to calls and emails and also having enough time between your intermediary visits. Importantly you have to remember that the day may not have gone to plan but you have to focus on what you have achieved as opposed to what you haven’t.
What issues come up time and time again?
Whenever there is a change to regulation, whether it be the Mortgage Market Review or Mortgage Credit Directive, we send the industry into major confusion and we all start interpreting the changes in a variety of ways. There has to be a more effective way of translating change and providing the industry with clear guidelines and support through the changes.
What do you wish brokers understood about your job?
I like to think that brokers do understand our role. There is so much pressure on the broker to get things right and that can cause bad feeling when something goes wrong. This is where the relationship with the BDM is integral. When the going gets tough I like to think that we both stay focused on the customer and then collectively we will work together to put things right.
What do you think is the most important attribute in a good BDM?
Honesty…
“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.” – Gandhi
In my opinion I believe that this means if you say something and you preach it, then it is your duty to follow through with it. If you preach something upon others and you don’t follow through with it yourself, you are being “dishonest” to others and to yourself. Do not act upon what you heard or what you think is right, act upon what you believe in and what you say to other people.
When you’re unavailable to contact via telephone, what’s the second-best way for brokers to get in touch?
We will have a support team made up of telephone business development managers and administrators who will help when I am unavailable.
Getting in touch is easy as the brokers can use our social media channels including twitter or they can call us, use our webchat or send us an email.
If you were head of the FCA for the day, what would you change about regulation in the mortgage industry?
Mortgage prisoners – I would be more proactive in making sure homeowners don’t become prisoners and I would look to outline measures to enable lenders to support existing customers. I respect the new rules that are intended to stop customers taking mortgages they can’t afford but I struggle to understand how we can’t support an existing borrower who is told they can’t afford a cheaper mortgage when their circumstances have not changed.
What was your motivation for choosing business development as a career?
Somebody in the industry persuaded me that being a BDM was a good idea. It looks like SHE (Maria Harris) was right as I cannot imagine doing anything else.
How do you establish and maintain a good relationship with brokers?
I love to talk and I even have a degree in communication studies but when I visit my brokers I genuinely listen. I take time to understand their needs, I return calls and I look to support my brokers. I also think it’s important to outline quickly when we can’t support an application and where possible explain why that is the outcome which means the broker can move on to the next lender and hopefully has not wasted too much time.
And how do you establish and maintain good relationships internally?
I take time to get know my colleagues both personally and professionally. It’s the simple things like finding out about their family, what are their interests and understand the things are important to them. I am so fortunate to have been office-based since 2015 and my internal relationships are fantastic. I feel well equipped to know who to go to and who can help me when I need support when I am out on the road.
What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
In my previous role as BDM it wasn’t uncommon to be asked if we could just ignore the glitches on the client’s credit file. I always responded with an honest answer, ‘no’.
And finally, what did you want to be growing up?
A policewoman and I still think I would have made a great officer. It’s okay though as there is still financial crime in the industry to keep me interested.
