In the hot seat: Chris Hall

Chris Hall, managing director at Bluecranecapital, talks about how to survive a career in finance, explaining the importance of resilience, respect and consistency and offering some key tips for mentee brokers

In the hot seat: Chris Hall

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Q: What’s the greatest challenge for brokers at this time?

A: It would probably be keeping up with the lender policy updates and changes. At Bluecranecapital we have over 35 residential lenders on our panel with FAST, which gives our clients a broad range of options (pending their circumstances) and makes life interesting. I’m lucky that we have a great staff who stay on top of these changes, and we regularly discuss the potential impact this may have on our clients.

Q: What inspired you to become a broker? 

A: I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could build a business based on values that are important to me. Banking was my background and my skill set so I thought I could mix the two and see how I’d go. Still a long way to go, though!

In terms of the service itself, I love the relationship element and having a solution for any scenario and transaction. Unfortunately, when you’re in a bank you have to follow fairly strict guidelines in terms of credit policy, and if you are trying to develop a long-standing relationship with a client you need to be able to have multiple options and solutions.

Q: What’s one thing, personal or professional, that you hope to achieve before the end of 2020?

A: I'm pretty pumped about getting married to my partner, Kat. She has backed me since day one.

Q: What is one piece of advice you often give your mentee brokers?

A: Don’t do it on your own. I’ve been lucky to have staff join us who have complimented me on my skill set, but the most important thing is that we all share similar values and standards around how we treat clients.

Q: What are your top survival tips for working in finance?

A: Resilience: we get some form of challenge, resistance or bad news in the office every day. Once you come to terms with the fact that this is a tough industry, life will become somewhat easier.

Respect: when things go wrong with the lenders, try not to lose your cool or burn bridges. Most often the person delivering the message isn’t the one who made the decision.

Consistency: be consistent in your sales and operations approach – good behaviours over time will lead to results.

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