But technology cannot exist on its own. It needs people with knowledge to press the right buttons and ask the right questions. By doing so they can acquire new clients, retain existing ones, and give everyone the very best levels of service. Mark Lofthouse, CEO of Mortgage Brain, looks at the importance of being trained in mortgage technology and how webinars are helping advisers to get the most out of the systems they use.
Think of the phrase 'training course' and what immediately pops in to your mind? Time well spent which will make you better at your job? Time ill spent which could be better used getting on with your mountain of work? Hurrah! A day away from the office, let's sit at the back and not pay any attention?
Whatever your view, a day of well-run training can be very valuable for employers, employees and customers.
For employers, it's an opportunity to keep everyone abreast of the latest developments in their industry, which in turn will make them more efficient, productive and useful.
Assuming they turn up and face the right way, employees can learn skills which will not only give them more job satisfaction but also make them more desirable to their current employer. And customers, naturally, will reap the benefits from dealing with highly motivated people and a company that's right at the top of its game.
Technology courses are no different, either in their importance or in the reaction they provoke, although as with all new software there is sometimes an added level of suspicion. In fact, it's possible to argue that with software changing so fast, technology courses are more vital than most. Systems move on so quickly that it’s easy to get left behind and not take full advantage of improvements and enhancements as they are added.
And no matter how regularly we use these systems, there are always new ‘tricks’ we can learn to get the job done faster and more efficiently. Whether it's a short cut on Microsoft Word or an update to MortgageBrain Anywhere, it’s almost always the case that within a few days people wonder how they ever got by without the extra knowledge.
Equally, it's important that every training session is meaningful and a good use of your time (or 'short' if you prefer) which is why we’ve started to do a lot more of our training through a range of new product demonstration webinars.
Webinars is a terrible word, but go with it because they are proving a highly effective training method.
Designed to ensure brokers are fully up to speed and maximising the full potential offered by our suite of mortgage technology solutions, record numbers of intermediaries have been registering to attend the webinars we run over the past few weeks and months.
They are highly interactive and can include live walkthroughs of the new systems as well as demonstrations of new features and short cuts. Not only that, they can all be carried out from the comfort of your own office and are absolutely free. Importantly, they are short enough to keep your attention but long enough to deliver real value.
But if webinars aren't your thing, there are plenty of other ways you can keep up to speed. Big seminars, small intensive courses, one to one sessions, distance learning where you do things at your own pace or video tutorials: are all extremely accessible.
And many are free, so the only costs are time and travel.
And if even that is too much of a commitment, you can visit the Mortgage Brain website for information and additionally the internet is replete with downloadable hints and tips documents. Or there are live support centres, which will respond in real time.
Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter how you stay trained up, but it’s vital that you do. Across the UK there are thousands of brokers and administrative staff who are not using systems to their full capacity and in the process being less efficient and making compliance harder.
You, your business and your clients will all see the benefits of training, so get involved!
