Last summer, I saw countless photos of lender BDMs on British holidays with their families announcing this is the reason “why” they do what they do. And that’s just lovely, justifiable and correct on all levels.
I want to develop their “why” even further. Yes, you work for your family and endeavour to create the best life you can in an equal, conscious and sharing manner. But what about your job, your role?
Henry Ford was reported to have once said, “If I asked my customer what they wanted, they would’ve said faster horses”. Now whether this is true or not is doubtful. I’m sure he did, and I’m also positive you’ve heard it many times, probably on LinkedIn by someone being ever so philosophical.
It’s time for BDMs to ask what their customers actually want and perhaps modernise their approach. And it’s not beers, doughnuts or award dinners.
Its education. Because most mortgage brokers and advisers these days don’t have a lot to fall back on anymore. Most are self-employed or pseudo-self-employed with CeMAP in the closet. They need help to understand the natural complexities of our industry and marketplace. Quickly too.
Who is better placed but the BDM? You’re usually mature, experienced and a great communicator. Intelligent, witty and trustworthy. Knowledgeable, practical and very motivated to hit your targets.
As a mortgage guru, a trainer, an enter-trainer or a mentor to brokers, you need the following skills sets, many of which you already have or can just accentuate. Use the following as a checklist to bring some structure to your CPD.
In no particular order:
- A trust builder
- A relationship builder
- Insightful with body language and verbal signals
- Empathetic – an empath
- A consultant
- A business coach
- A problem solver
- A goal setter
- Intuitive listener
- A networker
- A great presenter in a room
- An even better presenter online in front of a camera
- An innovator with educating
- A distaste for PowerPoint Voice Overs
- Have a face for cameras
- A voice for radio or podcasting
- Technically able to run livestreams from home or the office
- The flexibility of behaviours with a knowledge of behavioural styles and NLP
- An influencer
- Full of resilience and energy
- Self-motivated
- Able to “chunk” technical issues down to bite-sized pieces
- A storyteller, a visualiser – tools to help people understand technical areas.
This time we need to ask our brokers what they want from us, the BDM. The world has changed, is changing. The Pandemic has merely accelerated various trends by 5 plus years; these trends were happening anyway. The broker expectation of a BDM has changed, particularly with the younger brokers. And it’s not to be your pal or mate or buddy solely anymore. Sorry.
