Know Your BDM: Zouhair Mihramane, Hampshire Trust Bank

What locations and how many advisers and broker firms do you cover in your role? 

I look after 15 postcode areas across the South East, with around 300 firms registered and enough advisers to keep me extremely busy. 

What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?   

Communication skills are key – brokers really value BDMs who are prompt and efficient when it comes to responses to their questions or requirements, but also at the same time have that personable touch that makes them stand out amongst their peers. It is also handy to have a good sense of humour – I have been told I have some great jokes.  

What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?  

I do enjoy presenting whether that is online or in person though I do feel it is a skill that I could most certainly work on. At times you have a very short window to capture the audience’s attention and because of that, it can be easy for your message to be lost – so yes mastering that will make me even more successful. 

What is the hardest part of your job?  

You carry out a significant amount of travelling as a field-based BDM and staying on top of your admin can be the biggest challenge, though as time has gone on I’ve learnt a number of best practices around timekeeping and how best to address it, and definitely which service station is best to perch up at in order to make a start on it. 

What do you love most about your job?  

You build some great relationships within the mortgage advisory space with both internal and external stakeholders and maintaining those is very rewarding. Though I love meeting new people and helping new starters in the industry settle in and see them flourish as time goes on. 

What is the best piece of career-related advice you’ve ever been given? Who gave it to you? 

“No matter how special, talented or educated you think you are, how you treat people tells all. Integrity is everything.” This was a message I was given on my very first day in banking when I started my first role after university by my bank manager at the time. Looking back, I see just how powerful of a quote that was and it has always put me in in good stead wherever I have been. I love taking people on my journey through positive energy and vibes, and feel that has been reciprocated back by the majority of those I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. 

How do you keep up to date with developments in the market?  

Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions of course is a great starting point to keep up to date with current news in the advisory space. Though I find after spending a number of years working in the industry, you also build up connections with contacts at a number of lenders that you can reach out to and get updates. LinkedIn I also find to be a very useful tool in keeping up to date with developments across my professional network/market. 

What is the most quirky/unique property deal you’ve been involved in?  

It was probably one I had placed with HTB within my first two weeks of starting here. A £9.4m case where it was across three separate legal entities, and we put together a bespoke proposition that all parties were happy with. 

Tell us about your trickiest case – what happened and how did you resolve the problem(s)?  

I had one recently where a colleague was on annual leave and at the point of completion everything started to unravel from a conveyancing standpoint due to a number of issues. Whilst the case was being progressed through its dedicated lending manager, the network adviser I was with contacted me to see if I could further help, and from that point on, I was in dialogue with every department to get the case over the line. I have never adopted the mindset of ‘this is not one of my cases’ as at times you will always need to rely on your colleagues to help you out in times of need. More importantly, there is a customer at the end of every application. 

What was your motivation for choosing this career?  

I must thank my first line manager, Chris Molyneux, for seeing the potential in me to succeed in the intermediary space. I thoroughly enjoy meeting and helping people but at the same time, I have a desire to exceed targets. My current role enables me to cover all areas and at the same time educate myself as there is so much to learn in this industry. 

If you could do any other job in the property sector, what would it be and why?  

My goal in the future is to become a head of sales or sales director who can line manage individuals, as well at the same time be involved in the everyday business of working for a reputable mortgage lender. I used to line manage colleagues before and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing them grow in confidence and prosper. The responsibility the role has is also something that I would be most proud of achieving, as had you told my younger self, this would have been achievable when I first started off, I don’t think I would have believed you. Hard work is everything and as long as you put the effort in, in most cases it will eventually pay off.