Building solid professional relationships with referral sources and clients isn’t something commercial mortgage brokers should take lightly if a new study is anything to go by. The University of Oxford and Deloitte considered 366 professions and the likelihood that said professions would be replaced by automation. While the study revealed commercial mortgage brokers aren’t the most at-risk professionals, they come under the financial adviser category — a position designated “too close to call” — and face a 41% risk, according to the study. Now is the time to brush up on your people skills and really strengthen your professional relationships. Here’s how:

Communication is crucial.

Whether it’s your borrowers, your referral sources or your lenders, communicating with them effectively and efficiently is important. Make sure to keep in touch with both sources and lenders – a call or email once or twice a month should suffice. When you’re working with a small-balance commercial borrower, be sure to keep them up to date throughout the lending process.

Always be honest.

Being truthful with your lenders, sources and borrowers is crucial to maintaining good relationships. Commercial mortgage brokers need to be upfront and honest throughout the lending process. This makes it easier to sell deals to your sources’ clients and will strengthen your sources’ and lenders’ trust in you as a commercial mortgage broker.

Present with a positive attitude.

The phrase “attitude is everything” isn’t all that far off the mark. Doing business with a proactive and positive attitude will inspire confidence in borrowers, referral sources and commercial lenders. You need to convince people that working with you is a good idea if you want to succeed as a commercial mortgage broker.

Know your business.

Your commercial mortgage referral sources and their clients will likely have questions throughout the lending process, and if you can’t answer those questions, they won’t trust you. You need to know the specifics of each of your lenders’ programs before offering your services to any referral source or borrower.

Technology is an incredible tool, but nothing can replace the human element of personally doing business with a mortgage broker. While there will certainly be borrowers in the future who may choose to handle their mortgage needs in an automated format, there will always be people looking for excellent customer service and expertise in the commercial mortgage industry. As long as you continue to hone your relationship-building skills, you should succeed as a commercial mortgage broker.

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