Welcome to the first blog in our Meet Your BDM series. Every day this week we’ll be catching up with one of our five different business development managers and giving you the chance to find out a bit more about them.
First up is Senior BDM Richard Sherman who joined MT Finance back in 2018.
You’ve been in financial services for over a decade, what do you most enjoy about the sector?
There is so much happening all the time. It’s fast-paced and emotional but rewarding in so many ways.
You’ve also worked for brokers in the past, how has this experience helped you as a BDM?
I would like to think it makes me understand the rollercoaster a broker goes through when working on an application. I like to help them succeed in finding a home for their enquiry. Even if it isn’t something we can support, I will try to give them a steer in the right direction, if they want it of course. I also like to explain, honestly, when we can’t help so they understand why not. It’s very easy to say no, but that doesn’t help anyone the next time a deal lands on their desk. You also have to understand the emotional investment everyone has in this deal. I say this to our underwriters all the time and explain that this is a broker’s livelihood we are working on here as well as their client’s dream house, investment property or maybe helping them get out of financial difficulties. So much is riding on this.
What is your favourite part of the job?
I think it’s the variation of each day. One day you can be working from home, speaking to brokers and colleagues all day on the phone and working on deals, then you could be at a broker exhibition, then the next day you could be 200 miles away visiting key intermediary partners. Maintaining relationships is the focus and I have been working with some of my broker partners now for six years. We know each other and want to help each other succeed.
What advice would you give to anyone considering a career in specialist finance?
Probably the same as I gave myself. I’d hit a bit of a brick wall in my career path and didn’t really know what direction to take next. I remember thinking to myself, what industry will always be about and what do people always need support with? Answering those questions led me to specialist property finance and that’s when the opportunity presented itself to become a broker and do my CeMAP training. This allowed me to really get a good understanding of the role and the market I was going to be in. Without that, I wouldn’t be at MT Finance today.
What fact would people be surprised to know about you?
One interesting fact about me is since lockdown when I decided to repaint pretty much every room in my house and needed some music to listen to, I’ve got really into country music. An artist called Sam Hunt is now on heavy rotation on my Spotify playlist. I know some of my fellow brokers are also fans!
Based in Southampton, Richard covers the South West and South Wales and is here to guide brokers through their bridging and buy-to-let cases. If you have an application that you’d like to discuss with him, you can request to book in a visit. Alternatively, you can email him or phone him on 07366144697.