With such a range of lenders competing for your attention, it’s useful to determine a set of expectations to do business by.

Here, I suggest three areas to consider to help secure finance for your client in a more efficient way.

Accessibility

Aside from a lender’s product offering, accessibility has to be of prime importance when choosing who to work with. An attractive commission and competitive rates for your client may draw you in, but they won’t complete a deal alone.

If you’re having problems submitting financial details and you’re unable to talk to a member of the lender’s team, your client could grow impatient and decide to look elsewhere. The result? Losing potential business.

In an increasingly technology-reliant market, the value of talking to a person if you have a question or seek an update on a case can be very reassuring. Make sure that you’re not just a number in the system: look for those lenders who place an emphasis on their relationships with brokers and will go above and beyond to support your case.

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Transparency

Once you’ve found the perfect product from an accessible lender, it’s time to focus on how transparent they are. I often hear from brokers about their experience of working with lenders who over-promise on interest rates or the time it takes for a credit decision to be made. Not only can this be frustrating for you as a broker but, again, your client could lose patience in your skills and look elsewhere. Stick to lenders who are realistic with their numbers.

A quality lender should tell you their average interest rates rather than attempt to reel you in with figures at the more appealing end of the scale. Online calculators on a lender’s website and easy-to-understand information on additional fees are another sign that you’re working with a transparent partner.

Speed of decision

The world of commercial finance moves fast. You may have a number of accessible, transparent partners in your portfolio, but only if they can do this while offering you a speedy service should you consider them as an elite lender.

As mentioned above, brokers should expect partners to be clear on timelines for credit decisions, commission, as well as additional fees. It isn’t unreasonable to expect a credit decision to be made the same working day.

Without a quick turnaround, clients could miss an opportunity to purchase seasonally dependent stock or bridge a gap that could see their books fall deeper into the red than they can afford. A swift decision and payment should therefore be a necessity rather than a luxury.

While this isn’t a complete list of the qualities you should look for in a lender, the above suggestions offer a strong basis from which to start from. By defining your expectations, you can efficiently decide on who you should be working with. Take these suggestions on board and I’m confident you’ll have refined your portfolio for the future.