Mortgage careers Customer service excellence in mortgage advice: skills that set you apart

Here's what nobody tells you about mortgage advice: technical knowledge gets you qualified, but exceptional customer service gets you clients for life. 

Gordon Reid from LIBF (part of Walbrook Institute London) has spent years watching mortgage advisers succeed and struggle. His observation cuts straight to what matters: "You could have two advisers who both give you exactly the same product, or both advise you to take exactly the same product, but one of them gives you huge confidence and one of them gives you no confidence whatsoever. The difference between the two will be that customer service aspect – it is massive." 

Picture this, you're making the biggest financial commitment of your life, you've never done anything like it before, and frankly, it scares you senseless.

That's exactly where most mortgage clients find themselves. "Most people who are looking for mortgage advice have a) no experience of mortgages and b) are terrified of them," Gordon explains, "They're navigating completely unfamiliar territory whilst committing to the biggest financial commitment they will make in their lives."

Your technical expertise matters enormously. But your ability to guide them through with genuine confidence? That transforms everything.

LIBF programmes develop both technical competence and relationship management skills. CeMAP provides essential foundations, whilst CeMAP Diploma specifically enhances your ability to handle complex cases and develop advanced skills. 

Specialist qualifications like CeRER include guidance on adapting questioning techniques for specific client groups, particularly those seeking later life lending. CPSP helps you develop skills for detailed conversations about specialist property finance. 

These programmes ensure you can match technical competence with exceptional client management – because both matter enormously.

Outstanding customer service directly fuels business growth. When clients feel genuinely supported, they return for future needs and refer others to you. 

Gordon advocates thinking long-term: " As a mortgage adviser, you should see your customer as someone you’ll build a lasting relationship with. That means doing the right thing now – even if it’s not the most profitable option – because it could be what’s best for them in the long run."

Sometimes this means acknowledging you're not the right adviser for specific situations. "To be able to say to a customer, 'I'm not the right person for you. I think you need to go and see so-and-so' is brave, but it's sometimes the right thing to do," Gordon notes. 

This honesty builds trust that generates long-term business relationships and valuable referrals. Clients remember advisers who put their interests first. 

Strong customer service experience provides excellent foundations for mortgage advice careers. Technical financial knowledge can be learned through qualifications, but exceptional service skills often prove more innate. 

"You don't have to have a background in finance to be a mortgage adviser. You will learn that. You can learn the technical stuff," Gordon explains. "Sometimes the customer service side of things, some of that is innate. Some people are just so much better at it than anybody else... and that in some ways is the hardest aspect to train." 

Gordon shares his favourite recruitment story. The best adviser he ever recruited? A local florist. 

He'd noticed her exceptional natural talent whilst waiting to speak with her: "I had to wait for her for 10 minutes because she was serving these customers. When she had finished, she then impressively guided me through my requirements, and after I said to her, 'have you ever thought of applying to come and work for Nationwide?'" 

Her skill in helping customers articulate what they wanted to achieve – rather than simply asking what flowers they wanted – demonstrated perfect advice process foundations. "It was like a whole mortgage advice process," Gordon explains. Those skills transferred seamlessly. 

Gordon recommends several approaches for enhancing customer service capabilities: 

• Stay current with regulatory updates and industry developments. Falling behind weakens your service quality. 

• Subscribe to mortgage publications: "Everybody working within the mortgage industry should be signed up to at least one of the mortgage publications." 

• Pursue advanced qualifications to develop both technical knowledge and service skills. 

• Learn about specialist areas, even if you don't plan to advise in them. This helps you identify when clients need specialist support. 

• Recognise when referring clients serves them best. Sometimes the greatest service is acknowledging when someone needs different expertise. 

• Continuing professional development remains essential for excellent service, think about becoming a LIBF member, even when you aren’t studying one of our qualifications.