This week Mortgage Solutions talks to Hinckley and Rugby for Intermediaries’ newly appointed business development manager (BDM) Lisa Paxton.
What locations and how many broker and advisory firms do you cover in your role?
As the only field-based BDM I cover the whole of the UK, but I predominantly visit brokers and advisers in the North of England, the Midlands, and North Wales. Given this is still a huge area, this obviously includes a significant number of broker and advisory firms.
Having a big patch is a great opportunity though to get out and meet as many brokers as possible. I am fortunate to be supported by two national account managers and a great telephone BDM team.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job as a BDM?
I am good with people, but it is important not to be too much of a people pleaser. Being honest with brokers is really important, ensuring you don’t over-promise and then under-deliver.
Being good at time management is also a key asset. I am on the road a lot but need to balance the time needed for face-to-face meetings with setting aside time for administration and answering broker queries.
What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?
I am relatively new to this role, having been promoted from a telephone BDM to a field-based BDM three months ago. At the moment my focus has been on meeting as many of our broker partners as possible and building relationships across the adviser community, so I think I need to improve on my delegation skills. It isn’t always easy handing tasks over to others, but I am getting better at it.
What do you love most about your job?
To me, the best bit about the job is the huge range of different people you get to meet and work with. Prior to working at Hinckley and Rugby, I was an adviser for 22 years, so I have always enjoyed working with people.
I am also a problem solver, so there is huge job satisfaction when brokers come to you with a difficult hard-to-place case, and you can help to arrange the required lending. Supporting brokers and ultimately helping people buy a home is one of the things I enjoy most about this role.
What is the hardest part of your job?
Throughout my career, it’s always been important to deliver an excellent level of service. I think the hardest part of the job is the challenge of managing my time. You can’t always get back to every call or email immediately, which at times can be frustrating. But I’m learning to delegate better to ensure clients get the answers they need, but realise it doesn’t always have to be me delivering this.
What is the best piece of career-related advice you’ve ever been given? Who gave it to you?
There are two pieces of advice I was given early on in my career that have always stuck with me. When I was an adviser at Nationwide, my manager stressed the importance of always being yourself and being honest with the client. You don’t help anyone by simply telling them what they want to hear — it’s far better to be realistic, and you are then more likely to find a better long-term lending solution.
The other piece of advice I was given was to push myself and try something outside my comfort zone. This came about after I found it a bit daunting initially when it came to giving presentations. But my manager at the time encouraged me to persevere — and I am glad I did. This advice I think is essential, not only when it comes to advancing your career but also for your own personal development. It’s good to be challenged from time to time, you can learn a lot about yourself.
How do you keep up to date with developments in the market?
I spend a lot of time on the road, so podcasts are great to listen to in the car. I particularly like Lenders Live mortgage podcast and L&G Mortgage Club’s coffee morning series. Social media is also great for keeping up with all the latest mortgage news, and I regularly read all the mortgage publications and trade press.
I also regularly attend industry events. It’s sometimes tempting to catch up with your emails when other lenders are giving presentations, but I find it can be hugely beneficial to listen to what others are doing in the market. We can all learn a lot from our competitors.
Tell us about your trickiest case, or one of the more quirky cases you’ve been involved in. How did you help resolve the problem?
This isn’t an easy question to answer as a lot of the cases we receive at Hinckley and Rugby are quirky and tricky. We manually underwrite our cases, so we tend to see a lot of business that is turned down by mainstream lenders. But the common sense approach taken by our mortgage referrals committee means that we can get a decision on many of these cases within 48 hours, even on complex cases.
For example, we recently arranged a mortgage for a flat that was in a 15-storey tower block in London, was being purchased on a joint borrower sole proprietor basis, the joint borrower was not a family member and they had three different income sources. Many lenders might look at one or two of these factors but not all together — but we were able to consider each issue on its merits and as a result ensure the mortgage was approved.
What was your motivation for choosing this career?
I was a mortgage adviser for 22 years and was looking for a new role in the mortgage industry, one where I could make use of my market knowledge and expertise, but would be a new challenge.
Becoming a BDM seemed a really good fit for me. I still get that face-to-face contact with clients, but I am seeing a different side of the industry.
If you could do any other job in the property sector, what would it be and why?
At the moment I am really enjoying the new role and building up my skills as a BDM and don’t think there’s any other job in the property sector I’d prefer to be doing right now.
What did you want to be growing up?
I was really keen on being a police officer. I guess even from an early age I liked the idea of helping other people. Though being a BDM doesn’t seem quite as physically demanding or dangerous.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I would love the ability to freeze time. In my day-to-day job, this would be brilliant, it would certainly help me catch up on paperwork on the busiest days.
What is your strategy for tackling challenges?
A methodical approach always helps. I try to keep calm and then look at how the issue can be tackled step-by-step. Sometimes it can be a bit daunting to look at a problem all at once, but if you break it down it can seem far more manageable. I think this is good advice for life generally, not just the challenges we face at work.
What is your greatest skill, either work or non-work related?
First and foremost, I think I care — about the job I’m doing and the people I work with. I want to help and I’m a good listener and empathetic, so I can always see where others are coming from. This is really important when it comes to helping others and solving problems.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
