2018-10-01
Kevin Tunnicliffe
Kevin is SortRefer’s CEO. He brought the portal to life nine years ago and has grown the business to what it is now, an award-winning portal for mortgage intermediaries and estate agents. After experiencing frustrations as a mortgage broker, he wanted to create a portal that was different. A portal that focused heavily on technology and customer service.
What were the highs and lows of working as a mortgage broker?
The highs were the times I spent with clients. I enjoyed explaining the mortgage process to clients (who started off with little or no knowledge) who grew to understand the process and I got a real sense of achievement watching that happen. A low was the property crash in the early 2000’s which saw deals disappearing in front of our eyes.
What frustrations did you experience?
Sitting on the phone to Lenders was really time consuming and I often found myself getting frustrated by the lack of customer service the Lenders provided at that time.
What were your career highlights?
A big career highlight for me was being trusted to organise my dad’s mortgage. I secured him a good deal with a remortgage product that allowed him to buy a property in Spain. My business was built on referrals and every referral I got was another career highlight.
How and why did you create SortRefer?
There were other portals out there at the time, but they didn’t service every need, so I sought to create a bigger, better portal.
What has your mortgage broker background brought to SortRefer?
I’m able to fully appreciate customer services as a means to add value. As a business we don’t have a customer services team for the sake of it. We have a customer services team who support our introducer base who use us. Currently three members of the team are studying a CeMap qualification and it’s important we’re as knowledgeable as our users.
As a broker, I mostly offered a face to face service, giving unlimited advice, which really helped to build rapport and strong relationships. At SortRefer we have a growing sales team out on the road offering a personal service, account managing and building new business. I fully appreciate the personal touch needed, even as technology evolves.
If you were still a mortgage broker, what would make you use SortRefer as a portal?
I’d use SortRefer for the information, products, added value and customer service we provide.
Do you have an idea to implement at SortRefer in future?
Time will tell…
If you were still a broker and didn’t have SortRefer, how would work as a mortgage broker be any different?
Work as a broker would be very different now with the technological advances from when I was a broker. I’d be able to use lots of different software to help me save other time. Regarding Conveyancing, I’d perhaps use other portals. But mainly I’d be using my time calling suppliers to chase for updates and this would take away time spent with clients.
