SPOTLIGHT -- Inside Mortgage Central

St George invited The Adviser to meet the team behind its mortgage broker support hub.

Customer satisfaction is an integral part of a healthy business relationship. Mortgage brokers, like everyday banking clients or home loan borrowers, are effectively ‘customers': brokers deal with the lenders, they manage transactions and they drive business to the banks via the third party distribution channel.

And so it follows that face-to-face support is pivotal to the lender-mortgage broker relationship. Brokers think so too.

The Adviser's Third Party Banking Report - Major Lenders 2010 revealed the general sentiment among brokers that the mortgage business is, by and large, a ‘people' game,

Brokers rated the importance of BDMs and support staff above all other attributes that have an impact on a broker's lender preference.

Access to BDMs, BDM proactivity and effectiveness in resolving issues that arise during the mortgage process were key priorities for the 740 brokers who participated in the national survey.

Meanwhile, turnaround times, business support, channel conflict, credit assessment staff and broker interaction topped numerous other issues - even broker commissions.

Many lenders have recently made a move to embrace broker support and implement a system to ensure smooth and transitional communication between brokers and lenders. And while St George may be one of the smallest of the major banks, it has also taken a big step forward in strengthening its broker service proposition.

With the importance of human support a number one priority for most brokers, St George has developed a central broker support hub, Mortgage Central. Mortgage Central is quintessentially a personalised phone BDM for brokers who offer St George loan products, regardless of the volume of loans they write for the bank.

The Mortgage Central team work to address brokers' enquiries through all stages of the mortgage process, from pre-application to post-settlement.

St George manager, head of Mortgage Central for intermediary distribution, Daniela Tagliano puts it simply: "Mortgage Central is about making it easier for brokers to do business with us," she says.

"Regardless of segment, whether you're a flame member, a gold member or a silver member, the Mortgage Central team is available to assist with your enquiries."

And according to St George's general manager, intermediary distribution, Steven Heavey, the bank's commitment to its broker channel through the staffed support centre is stronger than ever.

"We wanted to invest in a higher than average ‘base level' service for all our brokers," Mr Heavey said, referring to the dedicated frontline broker support center.

Mr Heavey says all of the consultants at Mortgage Central are qualified and capable of helping brokers with any question they may have, before the loan is signed to settlement and beyond.

"All of the Mortgage Central consultants are certificate IV qualified in financial services and are able to assist any accredited St George broker," he says.

According to Ms Tagliano, the success of Mortgage Central since its inception three years ago has been largely down to the quality and dedication of the team.

"Knowledge is power in the lending space and Mortgage Central ensures our broker partners are provided with exceptional service which, in turn, results in our broker partners advocating our products and services to new customers," Ms Tagliano says.

Mortgage Central provides broker advice and support on three key aspects: loan scenarios, relationship consulting, and post-settlement support.

And owing to a strong relationship with St George's back office while working off five core databases to track and monitor loan progression, Mortgage Central is equipped to tackle any enquiry or issue, big or small.

THE LOAN SCENARIO SPECIALIST

Part of Mortgage Central's service and support offering for brokers is the loan scenario advice team, which deal specifically with those unusual and enigmatic loan enquiries before a loan application proceeds to lodgement.

Mortgage Central loan scenario specialist Lynnette Walker leads the frontline for loan scenario enquiries, receiving around 50 to 70 broker enquiries a day.

"Our main enquiries are in relation to product and policy, such as brokers enquiring about a loan interest rate, securities required, and so on.

"Other banks don't provide this kind of service for their brokers, that's the kind of feedback we're getting," she says.

According to Ms Walker, St George's focus on providing brokers with the loan scenario service has been a major contributor to helping brokers better understand the bank's products and policies and this in turn has enabled them to improve their standing in the bank's segmented groups.

"It's great to see brokers progress from silver to gold to flame brokers, building on their knowledge of our loan products through our loan scenario support channel," she says.

THE RELATIONSHIP CONSULTANT

And while some brokers may not have a personal BDM, Mortgage Central's relationship consultant team gives all brokers, regardless of accreditation level, access to an entire team of St George BDMs, contactable by phone or by email, five days a week.

"Many of our callers enquire to simply touch base and see how their client's loan is tracking, while others want to know about upcoming campaigns, or want to simply chat about their business," relationship consultant specialist Audrey Farragher says.

"Our role is very similar to that of a BDM, and we deal with broker enquiries from loan application to settlement.

"Loan tracking, valuation enquiries, missing support documentation: these are just some of the matters brokers commonly enquire about," she says.

Having internal access to the bank's mortgage processing information and personnel, coupled with loan turnaround data and updates every 20-seconds, Mortgage Central's relationship consultant team are well-equipped to answer broker questions throughout any stage of the loan process.

THE POST-SETTLEMENT SPECIALIST

Ms Tagliano says the Mortgage Central post-settlement team is focused on helping brokers build stronger bonds with their clients with the goal of retaining the customer for the long-term.

"It is about winning the customer again and again. Customer retention is not just about the win but the ongoing relationship provided through exceptional service," she says.

And while brokers generally step away from a transaction once a loan settles, allowing customers to resolve post-settlement issues directly with their lender, Mortgage Central helps brokers improve their customer retention by facilitating post-settlement enquiries a broker makes on a client's behalf.

Following loan settlement, brokers may have questions from their clients about interest rate calculations, their offset account, increasing their loan repayment deductions, or mortgage title registrations.

The post-settlement team, which consist of six qualified and experienced mortgage consultants, are there to help brokers answer their client's questions and resolve any issues quickly and with ease.

"We try and sort out any issues straight away over the phone, or as soon as practicable," post-settlement specialist Faisal Lootfun says.

"We get about 30 to 35 calls a day, plus we have one person in our team each day dedicated solely to email responses, so brokers can be guaranteed a response to their enquiry at the absolute earliest possible," she says.

And for Ms Lootfun, helping to support brokers after a loan has settled has mutual benefits for her and the team at Mortgage Central.

"The best part of my day is when someone says ‘thank you', or when brokers request to speak to you by name," she says.

"It's a really great feeling when you see how you've built a relationship of loyalty with a broker," she says.

And Mr Heavey agrees, owing the success of the team to its relationship with mortgage intermediaries, a relationship it has established for over 15 years.

"We will continue to build on St George's strengths by showing brokers how they can benefit from the bank's commitment to quality business," Mr Heavy says.

"We pride ourselves as a bank that offers brokers the strength, security and a full range of products and services - along with the genuine support and friendly service of a small bank."