Looking to work as a Mortgage Adviser.

1. Having met Tommy at his first team meeting in Hackney, I watched while he
interacted with everyone, gave feedback, advice, listened and took notes.
Everything mattered from opportunities for Offer Subs, refer a friend, re-
mortgage, 40/10 training, when people were taking annual leave to how
much time financial advisers were getting with the Estate Agents and Branch
Managers.
From Hackney, Tommy moved on to see the team in Bow, where 12 years
ago he had been a branch adviser,
it was clear that Tommy takes
the time to know every
member of staff and build a rapport
with everyone he can, and clearly
delivers a message that when
one person does well, we all do well.
The message when Tommy leaves a
building is emblazoned in his
delivery, working together gets the
best outcome,
communication is important, and following the process is vital.
From Bow, we moved
to see the team in the
Canary Wharf office,
where Tommy discussed with staff members the challenges
and joys of working in London. Coming from a small Suffolk
town, it is still exciting to be on the underground and people
watching as I stand on platforms waiting for the tubes. As I
followed Tommy through his busy work day it was clear that
working and living in London, no doubt has its ups and downs,
however working in Canary Wharf, sitting in same space as
companies such as JP Morgan and KPMG, frequenting, the
bars, coffee shops, and restaurants as some of the staff which
make up the varied tapestry that is London, can only serve to
give varied excitement on a day to day basis. I had noticed, the houses changed in style significantly as we moved
from Hackney, Bow and Canary Wharf, when considering it is all London, the cross section of business for a mortgage
adviser, can only offer none stop variety .
A Day in the Life of a Financial Services Director at Just
Mortgages
Today I spent the day
with Tommy Taylor
observing, a typical day in
the life of a Financial
Services Director. What
became clear is that for a
financial director, there is
no such thing as a typical
day and the work is hard,
exhausting but equally,
exhilarating and very
rewarding, To lead a team
of driven individuals that
want to achieve is tough
but from my observations
clearly worth it.
The team at Hackney during their morning meeting ……………
Tommy with Branch Manager at Bow …………….

2. As I had come to expect from the rapport Tommy clearly has with
all the staff members he interacts with he interest in what they
had to say.
Tommy took the time out of his busy work day, to answer some
day in the life questions and he had some really insightful
answers:
No two days are the same, but I like to spend as much time as I can out in the field. Meeting with people in the
branch, spending time with DSDs, helping them to improve their business by understanding what is working well and
what barriers there are to success. Typically involves starting off in a branch observing a morning meeting sometimes
you see some great things that you can share with other branches, other times you see opportunities to help them
improve their business. Ultimately in all cases you want them feeling positive and supported and feeling good about
their business going forward. The days we can get to 3 or 4 branches can be long but really beneficial. You really
good home feeling good and feeling like you have a better understanding of your business and that you have made a
difference.
I think so, we don’t just like to manage from a distance we like to roll our sleeves up and be hands on and help, our
DSD’s (Divisional Sales Directors) that manage our advisers directly one of the key things they do is spend time with
the mortgage advisers calling out with them to make first appointment calls. I don’t hear of this happening in other
companies it is something we are very proud of our management team here are very hands on and they are in the
trenchers with the brokers doing the job.
I wanted to be a mortgage broker so I went off and got CeMap, I was lucky enough to be offered a position here back
in 2006 with no experience whatsoever at all and I started off as a mortgage broker and I did very, very well, I was
consistently in the top 10 of the business and one of the things I love most about being a branch based broker was
motivating the team around me to get me leads and developing their skills. That naturally transitioned into me
wanting to lead a team of mortgage brokers and got the opportunity in 2012 to move into a Division Sales Director
Role, which I did, and then I steadily built the team within Felicity J Lord in central London over the course of a
number of years, 6 years I did that job, I won top Divisional Sales Director in 2013 and built the business to a very
successful position and the opportunity came up in 2017 to work with one divisional sales director to support and
Tommy with the team at Canary Wharf…………..
What does your average day look like?
A Question and Answer Session with Tommy
Do you find all your advisers feel supported with your presence in the branches?
Tell me about your 12.5 years at JM?

3. develop them which led to the opportunity to interview for the Financial Sales Director position which I now hold,
where my job is to manage and develop a team of divisional sales directors across the business.
No, I was just happy at the time to be offered the opportunity to be a mortgage adviser. You get carried away with
what a great job that is and how exciting it is but I now have the opportunity to do something that combines my love
of being a mortgage adviser in terms of leading a team of brokers and DSD’s but also with my passion of leading a
team of people and motivating them.
Ultimately, I love being in situations that allow me to motivate and inspire others. My job gives me a great platform
to do every day and through different mediums.
I think they have to think they have to think very carefully about the business they join. There is nothing worse than
climbing the ladder than to find out you have it against the wrong wall. You need to be thinking long term, because
people who move around every two years are going nowhere fast. You need to be thinking about your end goal, is it
to grow a great business in an estate agents that gives you a six figure income for the future, is it to go self-
employed, is it to go towards management, ask yourself within that business whatever your end goal is, are there
people within that business achieving that? If you can’t say yes to that question then you need to walk away, you
need to challenge your future employer as to if they are going to help you achieve that goal. One of the great things
about JM, whether or not if its employed, self-employed, or management, there are great examples of people who
have made true successes of which ever path you want to go down?
Hard work, one of the things that runs through this business is an entrepreneurial spirit. We don’t do well here;
actually no one can do well if they sit around and wait for leads to land in their lap. We have a great remuneration
scheme here for people who really want to roll their sleeves up and do well.
For me it is recruiting likeminded people who want to be a part of our culture for the long term. Sometimes people
underestimate how difficult the job is, it can sometimes take 2-3 years to really get into it. Everyone is out there
selling the dream, but it isn’t always delivered correctly. One of the things we do to combat that is invite all new
brokers to come and spend a half a day in the business with a broker on their own, asking questions and really
understanding what it is all about. We aren’t hiding anything we probably are one of the most transparent
businesses out there and we are more than happy for people to come and find out for themselves that it is indeed all
it is cracked up to be?
Did you envisage when you started 12.5 years ago that you would be in the position you are in now?
What is your favourite aspect of your job?
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in mortgage advice?
What do you put those successes down to?
What is the most difficult element of your job?

4. It is they underestimate the scale of job. There is 2 elements to this job, the skill of mortgage broking and providing
advice and that is a skill, then there is the other part of the job and that is finding people to do that to. Actually in
most businesses the majority of your time is spent looking for customers and people underestimate how hard that is
and how hard it is to get going. One of the things we do here is work with our new brokers to get through that
difficult stage so they can come through the other side and grow a successful career.
I think the word family is the crucial in that question. We are a family and anyone that joins us becomes a part of the
Spicerhaart family. We are big on the reward culture here, including trips abroad for top performers; we do all sorts
of things like that. But we also recognise that you have a family as well, so work life balance is a really important part
of the culture here. Key to what we do here is our magic moments charity a children’s charity dedicated to providing
support for children with life limiting illnesses, last year we took over 200 families for a trip of a lifetime to Disney
Land Paris which for some will have been the last trip they had with their children, it’s really important to me to be
involved. We do a lot of work with charity and do some really great stuff. It is really embraced within the fabric of
what we do family is at the core.
Any leadership position requires a balanced mixture of three words… control, inspiration and development and
when I say leadership I include our mortgage advisers in that as we see them as the managers of the Financial
Services business in their branches. You need to have a good control of your business, your lead source, your
process, to ensure you are busy, your customer experience is second to none and that your customers are protected.
You need to be able to inspire the people around you to be the best possible versions of themselves. Finally you
need to create a culture of development. In our business we have a strong coaching culture so you need to want to
be side by side your people coaching them to be better, developing skills to be as good as they can possibly be.
I would be very interested in having a coffee and meeting anyone would like to working with just mortgages and
where we can take their career. People can call me on 07940114893 to discuss further.
For anyone considering a future in Mortgage Broking, Tommy’s 12.5 year journey from first time broker just starting
on the career ladder to Divisional Sales Director and eventually Financial Services Director shows a professional
career is possible for those willing to start at entry level, and work their way up. There are no short cuts with
mortgage broking, but it is a role where the only limits are those which are self-imposed. In a company as people
driven as Just Mortgages great careers are possible for those willing to work on getting the right results.
Spending the day observing the day in a life of a Financial Services Director, it is clear a number of skills are needed.
Obviously there is a wealth of knowledge required to go with this job, you need to be a people person, and have the
tenacity to build rapport quickly and easily, along with other skills such as problem solving, team building and
strategic thinking. The role of an FSD is not one for the faint hearted but for the hardworking.
What do you think one of the most frustrating things for new brokers are when they first enter the role?
What do you like most about the Spicerhaart Family?
Sum up your job in three words?
Any final words?
1. Any final words?