Why the start of the year is a good time to rethink how we talk to Brokers

Originally published by The Intermediary

In the vast majority of these articles I tend to write about our industry, or landlord issues or wider buy to let trends, but this time I want to focus on something a little different and a little bit more personal.  

It is about how we, as lenders and those that work for lenders, communicate with you, brokers, and perhaps how we might be able to improve on this in order to get to the right outcomes quicker and with more clarity. 

A recent experience of mine brought this to the surface and made me realise that even those of us who work with brokers every day might not be as strong at communication as we think we are. 

A day of training that shifted my view 

Late last year I spent a day in media training with Alex Hammond and John Fitzsimons from Fleet’s PR agency, Square 1 Media.  

I will be honest. I did not expect to gain much from it. I write the odd piece for the trade press and speak to journalists occasionally, so I thought I had a decent grasp on the basics. Within the first hour it became clear how wrong I was. 

One of the first things that struck me was how rarely we stop to think about what we are saying. When you’ve worked in this industry for a long time, when you speak to brokers or indeed other industry people, you can all too often drift into auto mode.  

You handle questions without thinking, you give familiar answers, and you rely on instinct more than conscious thought. It gets the job done, but it can also allow weak habits to creep in, and it sometimes means the message you give is not as clear or helpful as it should be. 

At the start of the session I struggled far more than I expected. The moment I tried to switch off my normal auto pilot and move into more deliberate thinking, I could feel my mouth racing ahead of my brain. To my surprise I found myself slipping into a defensive style that is nothing like how I speak on panels or when dealing with brokers. It was discombobulating to be put in such an uncomfortable place 

But, in a way, the discomfort actually helped. It pushed me out of my usual pattern and forced me to slow down, take a breath and shape what I wanted to say rather than fall back on old habits.   

Once I relaxed and took guidance from Alex and John around thinking more clearly about what I really wanted to say, how I might handle a seemingly difficult question, then my answers improved. I was getting across the answers and the messages I wanted to get across, rather than fumbling my way around to try and reach them. They had more structure, but still sounded like me. I found a better balance that I have since carried into my work. 

Why this matters for lender communication 

As the day went on, it became clear just how often those of us who work in a sales capacity, or talk every day to you, the broker, may well talk first and think second. Of course, there’s no malice in this, we may talk fast or engage quickly, because we want to help and move things forward, but might that sometimes mean the message becomes muddled or incomplete? I have a feeling it might.  

It also reminded me there is a big difference between an official communication we as a lender might send out and the real conversations that follow. Emails, product notes and updates are absolutely necessary and work. However, the moments that may matter more are the conversations between brokers and the people who work at lenders. If those conversations are inconsistent or rushed, you’re likely to be feel it straight away. 

From my experience brokers want clarity and honesty. They want one message, not three different versions depending on who they speak to. This is a long-standing issue in the market and something many lenders have to keep working on. 

Why I think every broker-facing business should look at training 

This is why I think every lender, or indeed any business which is broker-facing, may want to revisit how they train their teams. Our day with Square 1 Media may have been labelled as media training, but the lessons reached far wider than that. The focus on conscious thinking, clearer structure, and the impact your words can have would be useful for anyone who deals with brokers in any part of the business. 

Role play is never the most comfortable activity, but it works. It gives people the chance to hear themselves, reflect on how they come across, and adjust before they go back into the real world. And in a market that relies so heavily on trust and confidence, that extra layer of thought makes a marked difference. 

A call for greater consistency 

With the new year underway, businesses may feel this is right time to look at their overall communication. You may think you have consistency across your teams, but in practice this can slip without anyone noticing. A broker may get one message from a BDM, a different wording from an underwriter, and something else again from a case manager. Even small differences can cause confusion. 

If we want broker trust, we need to close these gaps. It means slowing down, thinking through what we want to say, and making sure our messages match across the business. 

So, as we move further into 2026, I would suggest a simple aim: talk better, with more thought, and with more consistency. It is still good to talk, but the talk should have purpose, clarity and a shared understanding behind it.  

Wes Regis is National Account Manager at Fleet Mortgages