On Tuesday 16 January, NatWest Intermediary Solutions launched a new BDM model for the way it supports brokers. It will pair up a field BDM and phone BDM to work in partnership to give brokers a more tailored and effective service.

It implemented this approach last year for central London brokers following a successful pilot in 2016. This success has laid the foundation for the partnership approach to be rolled out across the UK.

There are a number of benefits for brokers:

  • They will get a more responsive service and greater access to at least one BDM. So if the field BDM is in a meeting, a broker will simply call the phone BDM.
  • A field BDM will be able to provide hands-on training, participate in team meetings and give face-to-face presentations. A phone BDM will conduct webinars and is better placed to answer web-based questions.
  • The two BDMs will dovetail to provide a seamless broker journey. For instance, when one is on holiday the other one will still be working so there will not be any disruption in service.
  • Brokers will have more opportunities to speak to and see a BDM and it will enable the BDMs to deliver a more responsive follow up to any discussions.

Mark Bullard, Head of Sales, NatWest Intermediary Solutions, said, “Our team of BDMs are quite rightly highly regarded by the brokers they serve. Their proactivity, knowledge and experience enable mortgage advisers to get the best outcomes for their customers. We wanted to build on this solid platform to give intermediaries an even better, more cohesive service and believe that by assigning a field and phone BDM to each broker we will achieve this.

Bullard continued, “The experience we have gained from rolling out this model with a significant number of high profile firms in central London, together with the fantastic feedback we’ve had from those brokers who received this service, means we are very confident that brokers will recognise a significant improvement in the support they receive from our BDMs.”

NatWest’s BDM Support team will also be aligned to support specific BDM teams so that brokers will get to establish a relationship with them.