Speaking at The Mortgage Administrator Online Event today, James Enos, national account manager – south at Hodge Bank (pictured), said it would adopt some of the communication practices it used during the pandemic going forward to ensure successful engagement with clients and broker partners.
Enos said the bank had expanded its telephone-based business development management (BDM) team in preparation for field-based staff getting back to in-person meetings and becoming less accessible.
He also said the bank was “mobilising the underwriting team to be able to pick up the phone,” and speak to brokers and administrators directly, to “make sure we that don’t sit on a question or will not get an answer back.”
The client’s perspective
Otherwise, Enos advised brokers to build relationships with underwriters and BDMs to learn what is needed for a successful application.
He also said it was important to rely on both hard and soft facts which could answer potential underwriter questions.
Enos said: “Understanding the client’s circumstances and the information that’s provided is so important to the lender, the underwriter and anyone who’s going to be engaging with that documentation in the application.
“I would always suggest, to not rely on the hard facts themselves. I would always encourage you to put any information in there that you feel is relevant to help that application go smoothly.”
He added: “If the underwriter can’t decipher the information then we’ll have additional questions, we’ll only come back and ask for further information. Providing from the outset means they are answered and it’s easier to move onto next stage.
“Answer the questions before they get asked and tell the story from a client’s perspective.”
The event’s sessions will be available on demand from 24 June on the Mortgage Solutions YouTube channel. Please subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNpzeC0ldmJU9_ueoTtL8g
