Now working as its sales and marketing director, Hollingworth’s 14 years of mortgage distribution experience has given her an insight into how the lender-broker relationship should be working. With this knowledge, Bluestone is taking measures to further support its broker network.
This includes the lender’s plans to lean more on client data rather than relying on official sources such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It intends to build client profiles through its own technology which Hollingworth says will be used to help its broker network understand clients better and further product development.
Bluestone also plans to set up a forum to hold discussions with brokers and it will also form a separate group of brokers who they will consult with regularly.
Although feedback gained through meetings with business development managers (BDMs) is a great source for Bluestone, Hollingworth says hearing comments directly from brokers is “invaluable”.
“Even if we think we’ve got something right, we haven’t until the broker agrees we have,” she says.
Other side of the market
With her most recent position being at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Hollingworth believes she can bring an understanding of what brokers go through on a daily basis to strengthen Bluestone’s relationship with intermediaries – the primary function of her current role.
“What I really want to do is bring that learning from my distribution days to help streamline and make the front-end journey more efficient.
“This effectively says: ‘how can we help the broker to help their customer? And once they have that customer, how can we help them look after their client and also do business with us in an easy way?’”
Speaking about the specialist lending Bluestone does to help customers who are rejected from the high street, Hollingworth says supporting advisers serve this market is very important. This is because once they have helped such customers get onto the mortgage ladder, they are likely to have a loyal client for the lifespan of their financial journey.
As a result, Hollingworth has embarked on a project looking at the end-to-end journey of a customer and broker.
She adds: “The project looks at all the processes, understanding what they have to do in the first place to give the advice and make the recommendation.
“Then I’ll look at the point in which they decide they want to deal with Bluestone, if it’s the right thing for the customer, and see how we can make that painless, seamless and frictionless.”
Technology focus
No matter how well a lender makes its technological operations, Hollingworth says advisers will always have their favourites but anything Bluestone can do to make the journey easier and remove hassle is always beneficial.
“Not that I’m suggesting it effects their recommendations. But because there are 100-odd lenders out there, that’s 100-odd systems brokers have got to work with.”
Hollingworth says while there will never be commonality across lender systems, the most the industry can do is be “better joined up” about what the future looks like for technology.
Increasing need for advice
Hollingworth has no concerns that the threat of execution-only will impact the lender’s business as the clients Bluestone targets will require advice.
She says: “The huge majority of people want advice because they just want somebody to tell them, somebody to talk to and somebody to help.”
Overall, she does not think the advice market will see a decline as the complexities of borrowers will push the need for adviser assistance.
“Could I see a time where a customer goes online because they’re squeaky clean, it’s a good loan to value and their income is right? I can see that happening,” she adds.
“However, who is normal? Who fits a little box? There’s not many people.”
Budget aspirations
Hollingworth says in the upcoming spring Budget, she wants to see the government focus on what will happen after the Help to Buy scheme is no longer available to help second-time buyers.
Because first-time buyers can bypass the starter home stage with government assistance, this has resulted in a strain in housing supply for those looking to upsize.
“If we’re looking at a world without Help to Buy for the second time buyer, there will be no properties,” she says.
If this is not addressed it could create a larger under-served market, Hollingworth adds, and it will take an industry-wide effort to plug the gap.
