Mortgage Advising Isn't About Mortgages, It's About Relationships

As soon as you switch on your referral brain and make that shift in focus from mortgage to relationship, I guarantee you will become more referable in the eyes of your client.

In my 26 years as an adviser, I like to think that I know a thing or two about mortgage products, rates, underwriting, compliance, affordability calculators, credit scoring etc... but I would not pick any of these things as the reason I am still in business.

I believe that my greatest skill is being able to create strong personal working relationships with clients, that last for years after a mortgage completes. It is the empathy one shares with a client and the authenticity shown, whilst getting on with the professional job in hand.

If you concentrate your efforts on generating a really comfortable environment for your clients and work hard towards earning their trust and respect, you will go a long way to becoming a more referable adviser.

There will always be an adviser out there who charges less than you do; is more technically knowledgeable than you are; who is more numerically gifted than you; ( Just as an aside, I always semi-joke with my clients that they should " never trust a mortgage adviser who is any good at maths." ) Yet, for all that, most clients, most of the time, will do business with the adviser they get on with the best.

Of course, there will be some clients who opt for the cheapest option, or end up doing the mortgage themselves. Please don't beat yourself up about these ( Believe me, I know that we take their rejection personally ). You will not win all the business all the time, but you can strive to be the very best version of you that you can.

Think about what action you can take this week to show your clients how much you care and how valued they are. Top tip: A great place to start, is to ask them for feedback. How have they found the service so far? Is there anything that's getting in the way? What can you do better?

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