So many things changed in 2020, including the way business was done, and especially the way we all communicated and interacted. In our industry, this meant that the crucial face-to-face communication between BDM teams and their brokers was lost.

This could have presented a huge challenge for lenders, however, as technology intervened to provide answers, a new way of communicating became more popular. Online channels, such as webchat and social media stepped in as a go-to method of communication. At Accord, we saw a massive increase in webchat in 2020, with more than 115,000 conversations, compared to just 30,000 in 2019.

This was originally down to necessity, as lenders’ phone lines weren’t as readily available during the pandemic.  But, we believe the shift to using webchat isn’t just a temporary fix. It offers too much potential for brokers and lenders to be switched off or reduced when things get back to ‘normal’.

For brokers, it provides the ability to get the answers they need without picking up the phone, potentially on hold to their BDM, or waiting for a call. And this crucially means saving valuable time for both them and their clients.  For lenders, it offers more flexibility, and reduced operating costs. In other words – a win-win for everyone.

Habitually, even outside the industry, we reach for the phone first in search of a quick answer. But, now more than ever, brokers have the ability to self-serve on other channels, and there’s a chance many answers they’re searching for – like updates on cases or criteria queries– could be found quicker on a website, through webchat or via online case updates.

Not only can webchat often be used to answer lending and criteria queries, it can generally help with a declined Decision in Principle (Dip) or assistance with application queries.

And yet we suspect even now, a year down the line, brokers aren’t always making the most of it’s potential. Perhaps this is fear that a query is just too complex, or a preference to hear an actual person’s voice. We understand these concerns, and our teams will always be happy to help. But for some, embracing other channels first may be beneficial. If brokers can help themselves, it frees up lenders to be available more readily to advisers whose questions can’t be answered elsewhere.

So, if you’ve thought about using other channels before the phone, but dismissed it as ‘not for you’ or tried it for a basic query but not been back since, why not give it another go? We’re always at the end of the phone when needed, but believe other communication channels will become, if they aren’t already, a fundamental part of lenders’ dialogue with brokers. So now might be the time to really start making the most of it.

Nicola Oates is team manager at Accord Mortgages