Smart Money People’s H2 2023 Mortgage Lender Benchmark, which collated views 790 mortgage brokers, providing 3,666 individual pieces of feedback on 105 lenders, found that only 5.5 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed and the rest were unsure.
The report continued that nearly a third said they typically first hear about a lender and what they offer from BDMs, with 35 per cent pointing to product sourcing.
Around 37 per cent said BDMs were the most valuable form of support service to serve clients effectively, scoring higher than dedicated phone lines, training programs or webinars and live chat.
Approximately 43 per cent of brokers were happy with BDM support, with over a third saying that lenders did not provide enough BDM support and the rest were unsure.
A topic that frequently came up was the move from in-person BDMs to telephone-based BDMs, with many saying that while they were comfortable with the change it did bring up problems with availability and accessibility on the lack of in-person support.
Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People, said: “It’s clear that brokers still clearly value the role of BDMs and although they understand the need for lenders to evolve, moving too quickly to a hybrid approach is a concern and can damage that lender’s relationship with its brokers.
“Lenders who can excel in providing superior BDM support with BDMs who have good case knowledge, along with being readily available and accessible will stand out from the crowd.”
The previous benchmark report from Smart Money People showed that brokers’ satisfaction with lenders staid high at 82.9 per cent, close to a record high, possibly indicating that lenders were coping well with market uncertainty and rising rates.
This is a recovery from the report at the halfway mark last year when broker satisfaction dropped to the lowest level ever recorded at 79.3 per cent.
