Don’t be a Blockbuster

"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance," said Steve Ballmer, then CEO of Microsoft in April 2007.

Related topics:  Blogs
Nicola Firth | Knowledge Bank
19th July 2018
Nicola Firth Knowledge Bank
"This does not necessarily mean that we are all going to lose our jobs to the ‘robo’ or automated advisers, but it does mean that we need to embrace technology "

Another CEO who lived to rue his lack of foresightedness was John Antioco, the former CEO of Blockbuster. Did you know that, back in 2000, when Blockbuster was still the go-to place to hire a film, that an unknown company called NetFlix, who used to send DVDs out by post, approached Blockbuster and asked if they wanted to buy them for $50m. They suggested that Blockbuster use Netflix as its online service. Antioco, reported as saying Netflix was a "very small niche business," ended the negotiations and “nearly laughed us out of the office” said Netflix’s then Chief Finance Officer.

In May this year Netflix was worth more than Disney and is now the world’s most highly valued media and entertainment company, worth $152.7 billion by revenue, with 125 million customers. While in the first quarter of 2018, 15.6% of all smartphones sold worldwide were an Apple iPhone. Apple has been amongst the top five smartphone vendors in the world since 2009 – just two years after Steve Ballmer made his fateful comments.

So, what has this got to do with mortgages, I hear you ask? Fundamentally it illustrates that we cannot ignore incoming technology. It is going to change our market whether we like it or not. This does not necessarily mean that we are all going to lose our jobs to the ‘robo’ or automated advisers, but it does mean that we need to embrace technology that can help us work faster and smarter in order to compete with the automated models, while also providing valuable face-to-face advice.

To look back, we have already come a long way. After all, could you imagine now not having email, or not being able to search for a mortgage rate on Mortgage Brain or Trigold?

But there is a whole plethora of new technology out now to help brokers to do their jobs more quickly, easily and more compliantly than before. Some will even help counter the additional time that the MMR added to the advice process and help them to become slicker, faster and smarter. Criteria search is just one of these fundamental tools that is already saving brokers hours of time when searching for a mortgage for their clients, while also helping make it much easier to comply with FCA ‘best advice’ guidelines.

With so much new technology it can be easy to become a bit paralysed, to stand back and wait to see which one comes to the top of the pile, but by doing that you are in danger of becoming a Blockbuster. These tools are available now, so take advantage of them – and many are much simpler to use than you think. Tools like Knowledge Bank, are completely intuitive, require no training courses and literally take a couple of clicks and give you answers in seconds.

Brokers have had a rough deal over the last ten years but now you have the tools to help you, so put yourself and your business first. It will not only make your life easier, it should also be better for your customers, while your investment in technology could also make you a lot more profitable.

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