Pepper Money

Nicola Boardman, director of sales operations at Pepper Money

What did your company do to earn four stars and the Most Improved award this year in your category?

• Implemented new Case Management Model.
• Introduced forums to listen to broker feedback.
• Invested and grew our teams to support service delivery to our broker partners and customers.
• Introduced new technology to complement our human underwriters.
• Committed to a continuous improvement approach.

Why did you enhance service to advisers and what do you plan to do next year?

Over the past year, the delivery of good service in the mortgage industry has never been more important. We supported brokers and our customers throughout 2020 and with the initiatives aimed to fuel the housing market as we entered 2021 this offered a great opportunity. At Pepper Money, we grew our teams and invested in our people, processes and systems to create a dedicated, consistent service. This included a case management model to provide the best end result to those who needed it. This is evidenced by records being smashed through the past 12 months, despite the challenges in front of us.

What have you done to improve service over the past 12 months?

We use a continuous improvement culture at Pepper Money. Given the challenges of the past 12 months, we understood the need to evaluate and identify areas of improvement to serve brokers in their time of need.  We have made a significant investment in recruitment in addition to our systems and product offering, although our talented team are the key to our success and make the difference for service delivery. 

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

We’ve worked hard to meet the ever-changing needs of brokers and their customers resulting from the pandemic. Taking a human approach to assessing applications and working closer with brokers has been key to finding solutions and ultimately better outcomes.

What kind of investment does good service need?

Most importantly is the investment in our people. We use technology as an enabler to give our people everything they need to make sensible lending decisions. We’ve been able to grow our underwriting specialist team by more than two-thirds since the beginning of the year, which shows our commitment to providing excellent turnaround times to brokers and their customers.

What do you plan to do for 2021-22?

2021-22 will be another strong year for us from a service perspective, hopefully culminating in that five-star ranking at the end of year. Using our continuous improvement approach, we’re going to improve our service offering. We’re also looking to better partner with our broker network to find ways to enhance our service offering.

What does good service mean to you?

Good service to me is communicating quickly and honestly with those who you serve. At times, you may have to make a difficult decision, or stay behind to push a case over line, but if you’re upfront and clear with brokers about your decision making, this can make a world of difference.