Podcast #17 - How to turn your brokerage into an award winning business

In episode 17 of the Growth Series podcast, Jeremy Duncombe, Director of Intermediaries at Accord Mortgages, is joined by Gary Das, Managing Director at Active Mortgage, to discuss his journey in the industry; becoming self employed, writing a best-selling book and, most recently, seeing Active Mortgage win Best Small Broker at the Mortgage Strategy Awards 2019.

Gary talks about how his business strategies have evolved significantly over the years, from the days of buying his leads, names and clients from services like Money Supermarket, making mistakes and learning from them to improve his practice through the recession years, and on to generating his own leads through digital and content marketing.

“Something I’ve always been an advocate of, which I learned very early on in my career, is to spend at least an hour or two a day proactively focussing on lead generation. When I started, it was knocking on doors, it was ringing databases… now with the wonders of digital marketing and social media, it’s putting posts out, creating content, it’s replying to messages, commenting on people’s comments; it’s building that ongoing relationship and that personal brand.”

He’s a big supporter of doing things differently and, in fact, his insight into content didn’t come from the mortgage world at all; he was open to inspiration from anywhere. Recognising a trend in the fitness industry of professionals using video and content marketing, he saw the value that came from educating consumers, both for the consumers themselves and for those doing the educating. “I think more education is needed for the consumer to understand the elements of residential, buy to let, HMOs, investment strategies. More education into the marketplace is only going to improve the industry long term.”

Standing firmly as a proponent of embracing new technology, in this example with content marketing, Gary thinks that Active Mortgage’s adoption of social media and commitment to educating was an important factor in earning the Best Small Broker title.

“I think you have to be doing content marketing in today’s world and allocating time for it, doing a few posts a day; to stand out, to give you that opportunity to expand. Your niche now doesn’t necessarily have to be the same niche next year; it could grow.”

Speaking of growth, the Growth Series is a dedicated resource that aims to help mortgage brokers grow their business using digital and communications marketing techniques. For more hints and tips on how to grow your business, you can sign up to the Growth Series for free, here.

Podcast #17

0.00  - 1.01 Welcome and introduction

1.02 - 20.03 In conversation with Jeremy Duncombe, Director of Intermediaries at Accord Mortgages, is Gary Das, Managing Director of award winning mortgage broker, Active Mortgage, discussing his business journey from becoming self-employed to winning Best Small Broker at the Mortgage Strategy Awards 2019, including:

• Learning from outside the industry; doing things differently

• Using content marketing to generate leads and build your brand, and how to retain clients

• The importance of embracing change and new technology

20.04 - 21.15 Outro