Jane Benjamin from Sesame Bankhall Group, Danny Belton at L&G Mortgage Club, Martin Reynolds of SimplyBiz and Seb Murphy at JLM Mortgages provided commentary through the podcast.
Murphy said: “I think we can all agree that our industry has been lagging behind for the past 10 years, so the fact we’ve seen such a big step forward is great.
He went on to explain that adopting technology to make the customer journey much better and make brokers more efficient is important going forward.
The guests were also optimistic about business in 2021 with Benjamin and Reynolds specifically calling out the value of advice in a year.
Reynolds said: “Advice is key. We need to be proud of what we do.”
Benjamin added: “There’s a huge product transfer opportunity of £250bn next year.
“How can we all help them [customers] to find us [advisers]?”
Whilst Belton had enjoyed the flexibility of working from home and the improved work-life balance it had allowed, he acknowledged that as a ‘”relationship business” a return to face-to-face meetings would be welcome for certain projects and partnerships.
Furthermore, Murphy highlighted how much he has missed the office environment and “how important it is to have people you respect and trust around you and how important it is to look after the people you work with”.
Iain Cunningham, corporate account manager at Accord Mortgages, who hosted the podcast said: “Regardless of your circumstances, the last 10 months have had a huge impact on all of us, so it was a privilege to hear everyone’s personal journey and what coping mechanisms they have employed.
“As Jane commented, 2020 was relentless.
“But it did give us time to think, a chance to reset and re-evaluate what’s important to us, both professionally and personally which can only benefit us longer term.
“I also think there is a real sense of achievement at what has been delivered during these exceptional times.
“And, whilst uncertainty looks set to continue for the first half of this year at least, we should all take reassurance and comfort that as an industry we are resilient, innovative and are there for each other to deal with whatever 2021 may hold.”
