Guest article: How do brokers choose their lenders?

Check this out! Mint Bridging's featured in the recent FIBA newsletter about brokers and lender relationships. 

Relationships are an integral part of any business success and at Mint Bridging, this is our core priority. The more people we meet and speak with, the more they’ll remember us, remember what we do and why we’re unique. The bottom line is that it’s always about reinforcement and relationship building.

Since we founded Mint in 2011, we have worked closely with brokers to nurture these relationships. They choose us, we don’t choose them – so it’s our job to ensure they are constantly aware of us, why we’re different and why they can benefit from our product range offering. Since Mint launched, the bridging industry has changed in terms of the amount of lenders in the market, what they can offer and what options are available to introducers. In an increasingly growing sector, introducers now have a multitude of options when looking for a lender.

We may have great rates, which is appreciated by some introducers, yet this may not be what others are looking for. It’s really about knowing the market and having an understanding of the loans that introducers bring to us, and the leeway we have to make the deal work. That level of loyalty needs to work both ways. A broker could be looking for short-term lending on an auction property or, since we’re becoming known in the industry for our knowledge in development, they gravitate towards us for this specific expertise. For example, we recently launched an auction product, and heavily publicised this because it’s a thriving market and we want those brokers to know we’re in the auction business. So it’s not solely about one-on-one relationships; it’s about ensuring brokers are also reading about us in industry news and seeing our social media updates.

In terms of initially finding those introducers, it’s about the right message at the right time, the consistency of the communication and the appropriate tone. Maturing our relationships with them takes time, and we always put their needs first. We need to be listeners, helpers and maintain that status quo of being regularly on their mind through ongoing communication. They’re more likely to call us when a new deal arises if we’ve spoken with them a few days ago or they’ve read about us earlier that morning in an industry publication. And, obviously, the better their experience of dealing with us, the more they refer us to other introducers – which is around 85% of our business, so that’s a really important element.   

We also need to consider that even if we have a brilliant rapport with brokers, what we offer may not be what their client is looking for. Therefore, it’s not a case of loyal brokers always using Mint as default, but they do know they will get a quick answer and details. We don’t leave introducers in the dark and drag out a decision at the detriment of them being able to fund it elsewhere. You don’t win all the deals that cross the door, but our loyal introducers know that we will do our best to help them fund it.

Ultimately, the more you stay in front of someone, the more likely they’ll call on us when a new finance need arises. We never underestimate the power of a client's happiness and word of mouth; client relationships impact the success or failure of your business.