"His advice for brokers to set themselves targets and then work out what they need to do to achieve this on a monthly, weekly and daily basis is a great way of keeping things manageable"
Speaking on the Accord Growth Series podcast, Dan spoke about the challenges of balancing his busy professional life with home-schooling his children.
Dan commented: “This whole situation has been an eye opener in terms of training. We’ve held social media masterclasses and we’ve seen some incredible successes already. One of our attendees found that by adding a few new words to his Facebook business page he was able to double the number of likes. It’s great to be able to provide this sort of help.
“We always need to be learning, this is the attitude we all should have. My kids are even teaching me things again, like fractions and being good on a trampoline!”
Maintaining good communication is also key. Dan says at the start of lockdown the team were having twice daily video calls. “There was no obligation to join, but we wanted to give people the chance to chat, to check in and learn from each other. We can only focus on what we can control. It’s been a great way of staying connected, but now things are a bit more normal we’ve reduced to once a day. We’re also holding our weekly sales meeting on Zoom.”
Most importantly for Dan it’s about staying positive and protecting your mental health. “Understand your own body. It’s good to walk around during the day so take a break, take a stroll, head downstairs, get a drink and talk to your family. If we do the right things, we’ll get the right result.
“My advice to any brokers who are struggling would be to speak to people and get help. It’s also really important to talk to positive people to get you in the right frame of mind. Keep an eye on the trade press and listen to a podcast that makes you laugh!”
Chris Hill, regional sales manager at Accord Mortgages, who interviewed Maskell, added: “Dan has an incredibly positive mind-set and his attitude goes a long way in this environment. His advice for brokers to set themselves targets and then work out what they need to do to achieve this on a monthly, weekly and daily basis is a great way of keeping things manageable when there is a lot of uncertainty and no real knowledge of when this situation will end.
“We are all facing our own challenges during lockdown, whether it’s using new technologies to stay connected, balancing parental and professional duties or simply getting used to spending a lot more time at home, so taking the opportunity to learn from each other and find better ways of adapting is crucial. It’s why we’re continuing to build our Growth Series library with podcasts like this and with guides and blogs on the topics we know are relevant to the current environment.”
