Describe your firm in a few sentences
Shaw Financial Services is an independent mortgage brokerage based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
The majority of our business is from first-time buyers who need help understanding the buying process. However, we cover the full spectrum of mortgages.
What might you have been if not a broker?
Before being a broker I was in the armed forces, so it’s been quite a change.
Ensure you invest at the start with an excellent digital marketer to get things right the first time
If I could pick a different career, I’d choose to be a professional musician, playing the trumpet in a symphony orchestra. To sit on stage and open a second half with Mahler 2 would be as enjoyable as it would be nerve-wracking.
What plans do you have for the future of your firm?
Much of that is dictated by the current market, with demand falling due to rates and the cost-of-living crisis.
Countless professions with a vast array of transferable skills would shine in our environment
Ideally, the plan is to grow the advice team over time. However, we want to remain agile and use tech to service more business, rather than add bodies for the sake of it.
What single thing could lenders do to improve brokers’ lives the most?
There isn’t one silver bullet because it varies so much between lenders.
We should ensure that new brokers taking CeMap understand it’s like passing your driving theory test
However, most brokers I speak to aren’t keen on live-chat facilities. They would much rather talk to someone who can answer the query definitively than copy and paste from their published website criteria.
The reason we ring is when we’re walking in the grey areas. If we could find the answer, we’d have found it.
What advice do you have for a broker just starting out?
If I had my time again, there’s so much I’d do differently.
The biggest thing is to map out your process of onboarding clients and what tools you’ll use, and then stick to it. Most problems occur only when you deviate from your process.
To encourage new entrants we must be honest about what being a broker is, and what it isn’t
Also, ensure you invest at the start with an excellent digital marketer to get things right the first time.
Is there a skill that you think is under-rated in your profession?
The most under-rated skill is the ability to deal with such a wide variety of circumstances. We’re expected by many clients to be property coaches, psychiatrists, marriage counsellors, economists, solicitors, surveyors and everything else in between.
The skill of moving from one consultation — talking about limited company buy-to-lets and figures, portfolios and interest cover ratio calculations — to talking to a separated couple about to embark on divorce proceedings so they can understand their options, while they have a domestic at the same time, can be challenging.
Map out your process of onboarding clients and what tools you’ll use, and then stick to it
Clients put an awful lot of trust in us as brokers. We know so much about their personal, professional and financial lives, and it’s a privilege that so many have so much faith in us.
As such, we need to reward our clients with the honesty and integrity they deserve, which the majority of brokers already do.
How can the industry encourage a new intake of brokers?
To encourage new entrants into the industry we must be honest about what being a broker is, and what it isn’t.
Most brokers I speak to aren’t keen on live-chat facilities. They would much rather talk to someone
We aren’t economists, we don’t go into battle with lenders, and we don’t make millions of pounds. Moreover, we should ensure that new brokers taking CeMap understand it’s like passing your driving theory test.
Most young brokers, when they first deal with a client, are like a rabbit in the headlights, so an element of more real-world training would be beneficial.
An excellent place to start bringing in new blood would be marketing the profession to those considering a career change.
We want to remain agile and use tech to service more business, rather than add bodies for the sake of it
The role of a broker can be well paid, and countless professions with a vast array of transferable skills would shine in our environment.
If you would like your firm to be featured in Broker Focus, please email Mortgage Strategy deputy editor David Burrows at: david.burrows@emap.com
This article featured in the October 2023 edition of MS.
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