Reaching an necessary milestone like an anniversary is a good time to re-assess and try the larger image – the place you got here from, how you bought there, and most significantly of all, the place you’re going, writes Jeremy Duncombe, managing director for Accord Mortgages.
Jeremy Duncombe
It’s no secret that my crew and I are celebrating this 12 months. It’s because 2023 marks the 20-year anniversary because the launch of Accord Mortgages.
Accord was launched on 14 April 2003, once we had been trying to diversify our mortgages and concentrate on a separate providing for brokers, with a devoted crew, proposition and merchandise, and an authentic product vary targeted purely on specialist lending. Wanting again on this anniversary 12 months, I can see how a lot the model and what we provide has developed throughout that point.
As for the market, what a 20-years it’s been! With a lot change, not least in the previous few years with the covid pandemic, swiftly adopted by the cost-of-living disaster – occasions that nobody may have realistically predicted.
Wanting again
It’s definitely true that, from a private perspective, an anniversary is an ideal time to look again and take inventory, and this is applicable equally within the enterprise world. As everyone knows, it’s simple to get caught up within the day-to-day with out lifting your head above the parapet, it doesn’t matter what your place or function in an organisation. So, I’d encourage everybody – lenders and brokers alike – to make use of any upcoming enterprise milestones as an incredible alternative to have a look at the broader image, take into account the place they’ve come from, how they received right here, and most significantly, the place they’re going – as a enterprise, a crew or a person.
the place, and the way, you began means actually appreciating and acknowledging your heritage as a enterprise, and what it means to colleagues and prospects. Everybody loves a very good story, strong foundations, long-term stability and a transparent path and goal. And there are numerous methods you should use this to have fun and improve your model, particularly whenever you attain a major milestone.
Beginning with the place your story started additionally permits you to re-connect together with your goal as a enterprise. For us, as a part of Yorkshire Constructing Society, this meant reflecting on our journey beginning in 1852, with a transparent goal to assist our members purchase a house. So, regardless of being a comparatively ‘new’ model, we nonetheless have an incredible historical past behind us.
Think about the now
The following step is recognising the way you’ve received to the place you’re, and the steps you’ve taken up to now. Most significantly, this implies acknowledging your folks, the relationships they’ve constructed, and the huge function they’ve performed in your success from day one. It’s not nearly providing a services or products – the standard of that service could make or break you – for this reason it’s so necessary to make your prospects really feel particular, and one thing we take very severely at Accord.
It’s additionally essential to have a look at the place you’re within the second. For instance, reviewing your customer support expertise, even when there are not any apparent issues, as issues change shortly and it’s necessary to flex as your prospects’ wants evolve. Is the dimensions of your crew match to offer the absolute best service? Are you in the best places to achieve all those that may want your assist? These are all questions that lenders and brokers ought to ask themselves frequently.
Staying up-to-date with the market and conserving abreast of what’s on the market and what’s new – in addition to what rivals are doing – are additionally steps that everybody in our fast-moving business ought to be taking often, particularly now, when the market is such a unstable place and it may be troublesome to maintain on prime of its path.
Deal with the long run
Lastly, an anniversary is clearly very optimistic – not least as a result of it helps us to look to the long run. The place are we going? The place will we need to be on the subsequent milestone and the way will we intend to get there? Having a transparent path is necessary, and in addition ensures that we are able to keep targeted on what’s subsequent. Seeking to the long run can assist us all to evaluate our strengths, the place we have to make enhancements, and future methods.
Because of this, when the time comes, we hope to have much more to have fun on the subsequent milestone – one thing that, at Accord, we’re definitely aiming for.
Jeremy Duncombe is managing director of Accord Mortgages
