Mortgage brokers - let's talk about workloads and burnout

Burnout is a real problem for Brokers, especially as the market has been so busy and many lenders service so poor. Top tips I have learned in the last few years include: 1) Specialise. Do not try and be the expert in every lending area. Partner with experts in Buy to Let, Bridging, Complex Residential. This then means your client gets great service from a specialist, your time is not taken up on cases you do not specialise in and you can still gain income from fee sharing agreements. 2) Do not be afraid to say no to a client if they are not prepared to provide the information you need, when you need it. The time you gain can be spent on your other clients who do. 3)Have a case management system and process, and stick to it. 4) Don't try and do it alone. Whether that means recruiting an administrator, buddying with other companies or getting to know the lenders BDM's, all can help you avoid burnout 5) Work with specialist solicitors who know your niche as well as you do. Avoid the client choosing the solicitor. Give clients options and choice, but ensure they are firms of solicitors you work with, trust and communicate well. Burnoit can be avoided, however following some of these tips will definitely help reduce your stress and work levels.

Its very easy to fall into the trap of becoming over worked, so many times you hear the "influencers" saying work while they sleep, work 18 hour days and so on, ive been there its not a nice place. Especially being self employed its easy to sit working at 5am or 10pm. It has never been easier to access us brokers with social media, whatsapp, text and all of these available in our pocket. It has never been more important to look after your own mental well being, my best tip, get a dog! Twice a day as a minimum you need to be outside, it offers companionship and a welcome break from the screens!

Starting work at 7am and finishing at 9pm was certainly not sustainable but for a period of time this was my only option to be able to cope with the level of demand and maintain a punctual service. I was happy to do this though as it is my own business and therefore reputation is everything to me. If I was employed then I wouldn't consider it acceptable to be working like that and it should be the choice of the employee as to whether they want to commit extra hours. My advice for those struggling with burnout would be to start each day by creating a to do list and prioritise tasks which are urgent or playing on your mind. You don't have to complete that list each day but it does help to physically see what you need to do and cross off completed tasks as you go.

Having worked as a manager for a very large sportswear retailer in my younger days, where an 80 hour week was normal. I have learned how to manage my time and my clients expectations. I have two phones, one for personal use and one for work. Yes, I do sometimes look like a pharmaceutical distribution engineer, but it means I can just switch off when I need to. I have not loaded my work emails onto my phones, so I am not looking at emails at 9 pm at night. I mean what can I do, the lenders won't be in. I will work weekends, and late nights if I choose to and its right for the client. I set the expectation quite clearly though in my meetings. I can totally see how people get caught up in this job role, with clients demands and lenders changing everything at the drop of a hat, it is very much a challenge! I still get a massive buzz out of my clients picking up the keys to their new house, its what the job is about for me.

Ultimately we are dealing with the client's dreams and aspirations of buying a house. This means we also deal with the emotional side of customers along the way. This with lenders unable to cope with the demand of cases coming in, added with England having an extremely outdated legal system for buying a house that is not fit for the 21st century. Now more than ever Brokers are having to do more above and beyond than just arranging a mortgage as to many third parties are dropping the ball along the way. Finding balance is always going to be extremely hard in this line of work, mortgages don't sleep for anyone and many will find it hard to switch off with emails coming through at all hours. Our tips on finding balance is setting expectations early on, which involved discussing the times you'll be available, expected service levels, and then having admin support to process cases in the background. Our final tip, is don't be afraid to say no and turn away work, in our eyes, it's far better to preserve your reputation and service levels than over committing yourselves for a little extra money which may end up damaging your reputation in the long run.

One of the main issues of being self-employed, be that as a mortgage broker or something else, is that it's all too easy to just work - when you're busy you take on every enquiry that comes your way, because your scared that at some point they'll stop, and if it does go quiet you then spend all your time and energy in networking , marketing and business development activity. It's a very hard treadmill to get off (if anyone has worked out the secret, please share!). The past few years have been incredibly busy, to the point I'm wondering if everyone in the UK has now moved house (except me, I've not really moved out of this office). The volumes we are seeing just can't be sustainable, can they? But the last thing any broker wants to do is let a client down, so we start that little bit earlier and finish that little bit later, maybe do the odd weekend here and there. Then you realise that 8am - 10pm has become normal and you work more weekends than you don't... Some things that have helped me over the years, sound trivial but sometimes it's the little things that really help: - Book time for you in your diary. It sounds daft but if you have "watch the footie at the pub with friends" as an appointment in your diary you are less likely to book something in over the top of it. - Make a choice of when to do the extra hours (because you will do them); late nights or weekends and stick to it as best you can. Give up one or the other, not both. Tell your family which you chose, it's harder to break your rules if others know what the rules are! - Don't let a clients' inefficiency become your problem. If you've been chasing them for weeks for information/documents and they only reply at 5pm on a Friday evening, don't feel you now have to drop everything to submit their case, it can wait until Monday, they didn't see it as that urgent so neither should you.