Funding BDM Jordan Paris lives by the "Seek first to understand" mantra to help brokers feel confident about their "out of the box" transactions
BDM in the spotlight asks a different BDM the same questions – giving you regular insights into the lives of some of the top BDMs in the country.
Name: Jordan Paris
Years in the industry: Over 7 years in both mortgage sales and broking
Company: Funding.com.au
Location: Surfers Paradise, QLD
1. What did you do before entering the industry?
Prior to joining mortgage lender funding.com.au (Funding), I was a broker in the private lending space. I basically matched businesses and property investors needing capital to high net-worth individuals and family offices in the sector. I was able to see how valuable it is for businesses and individuals to get funding when banks couldn’t assist and bridge that gap.
2. How often do you see mortgage managers in a week?
I have meetings with brokers daily. I find that other than settling deals, and fulfilling and managing the expectations of clients, communication throughout the transaction process is vital. Majority of my meetings is discussing how brokers can use specialist lending, and how our funding solution can benefit a growing pool of borrowers around the country.
3. What do mortgage managers want most from you?
In two words, it’s “transparent communication”. I live by the mantra “Seek first to understand.” In my view, apart from speedy settlements, brokers want efficiency and certainty with their “out of the box” transactions. They want to know that what you’re telling them, they can relay back to the client.
Brokers want to be reassured of our ability to settle the deal within the requested short time frame because it’s important to their clients and to their livelihood. This, in my view, is a win-win and creates referral businesses for everyone involved.
4. What is your favourite part of the job?
Having a happy broker and a happy client. Listening to what exactly they want to achieve and delivering on that.
5. What distinguishes the best brokers you deal with?
Follow up, follow up and follow up. A better broker just follows up, calls back, answers questions and is there for the client when needed.
6. What’s your ideal weekend?
Getting out on the water or cooking a feast with friends on a Saturday with a great drop of red.
7. What’s the strangest lending scenario you’ve ever encountered?
We definitely get a few strange lending scenarios. Sometimes it feels like you must “kiss a few frogs to find the princess of a deal”. Probably not a strange one but a recent loan we had was for a building called Australia 108. We didn’t know it existed until the credit team Googled it and found it’s set to be Melbourne’s tallest building. Very striking.
8. What's your top time-saving tip and how much time does it save you?
Customer fact find. We have a one-page deal summary that we go over for a few minutes, then we get a good understanding whether we can assist. We don’t want to waste our time or our brokers’.
9. What’s your favourite meal?
My favourite meal is a meal that you can share with everybody. So, to me nothing beats a long Friday Chinese Yum Cha lunch with brokers and clients discussing business and positive solutions while eating lots of fried rice.
