Login
ISCOVER
An additional 250 support staff are expected to join Loan Market over the next 12 months to help support growth amid the best interests duty implementation, the aggregation group has revealed.
Loan Market has revealed that it has inducted one customer service manager (CSM) a day since July, as brokers seek support on the back of a wave of credit demand and refinancing activity.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Moreover, the group revealed that it plans to welcome 250 additional support staff in the next year, as brokers look to service increasing demand and prepare for the incoming best interests duty.
According to the aggregator – which has this week been celebrating the contributions of its support staff through its #nationalcsmweek2020 – support staff such as CSMs are key to enabling brokerages to double their volumes and “break through the $20 million settlements milestone”, Loan Market’s executive director of network success, Andrea McNaughton, said.
By taking on responsibilities beyond chasing information from clients and lenders – such as assisting with credit analysis, marketing and loan packaging – CSMs enable brokers to focus on customer service and revenue-generating activities.
Ms McNaughton said: “CSMs used to be the unsung heroes of brokerages, but their importance and contribution doesn’t go unnoticed anymore.
“A broker can possibly handle writing $20 million in loans without help, but it’s very hard to get there and punch through the ceiling without a well-trained CSM helping them with the load,” she said.
“Equally, if you have a brokerage that’s producing $40 million in settlements a year but working at capacity, the most efficient way to get to $60-$80 million is with a CSM.”
She highlighted that Loan Market brokers had lodged an average of 38.4 loans over the six months to April, approximately double the industry average (as estimated by MFAA), which she said was testament to the group’s focus on training and support for CSMs.
Moreover, Ms McNaughton outlined that brokers have never been busier, but they needed support to capitalise on current opportunities, particularly with the changing regulatory environment.
“Loan Market now supports and trains CSMs in the streams of loan packaging, loan processing, marketing, settlements, office management and credit analysis. The value that CSMs deliver is multidimensional,” Ms McNaughton said.
She added that the incoming CSMs will also be taught Loan Market’s compliance and customer-service program, The Loan Market Way, to “seamlessly contribute to their broker’s tech platforms and benchmarked client management”.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION