Mortgage businesses must integrate these components if they are to succeed long-term, BHBTV's Chris Baker says
Chris Baker, founder and chief executive officer of BHBTV and BHB Rich Media, continues to argue that up-to-date industry knowledge is a must for any mortgage business aiming to deliver a high quality of service for the long haul.
Baker’s BHBTV (Brokers Helping Brokers TV) aims to deliver in this aspect through its “hundreds of hours of free learning content on different apps – including iOS, Android, and smart TVs – in a veritable Netflix style learning environment, taught by brokers and industry partners helping mortgage professionals everywhere,” he told Canadian Mortgage Professional.
The platform’s rich catalogue is its greatest strength.
“We offer channels on BHBTV for lenders, tech companies, real estate lawyers, appraisers, and more, so that they can use the BHBTV platform to help promote products, teach efficiency, and, other amazing content,” Baker said.
Baker added that he is proud of the positive reception that the BHBTV ecosystem has garnered in the industry, early speed bumps notwithstanding.
“Our mission of Brokers Helping Brokers was met with scepticism due to bad learning experience others have had before, but we eat, sleep, and breathe that mission and I think that holds a lot of weight and is why we have grown so fast, particularly since we launched the BHBTV platform,” Baker said.
“One lender said that, ‘Having a channel on here is like a 24/7 trade show booth,’ and that is very true. The idea came from a broker panel who told us, ‘this is awesome, but I would love to have one spot where if I miss a Home Trust webinar and also a Lendesk webinar because I am with clients, I want a place where I can go to catch both – without having to [look for] my BDM, the company website, or their YouTube page. I don’t have time to be bouncing from site to site, so I often miss important information.’ We solved that issue with partner channels on BHBTV, but would be remiss not to give our broker panel credit for that.”
A vital component of the platform’s ongoing success is its commitment towards its users and partners.
“We only grow if you do,” Baker said. “If the content we provide on BHBTV doesn’t hit the mark and is more fluff than business-altering, then we aren’t doing our job. So we specialize in lifelong learning, in particular from peers who have actually experienced success. We pride ourselves in either creating or finding the industry’s best and most informative content that will actually influence your success.”
On a personal level, Baker said that BHBTV provided him the unique opportunity to “combine my radio and television broadcasting education with the industry I love.”
Baker said that his previous experience provided him with invaluable context on what tools successful mortgage professionals truly require.
“My career at Street Capital as a [business development manager] gave me phenomenal insight into one of the greatest needs of independent mortgage professionals in North America: learning and development, my old forte,” Baker said. “When RFA acquired Street Capital and began building their future, my future became founding Mortgage Magnates, known today as BHBTV.”
“I loved the independence and the ability to help clients with the biggest single purchase they will ever make. From funding deals, to helping others fund deals to now enabling better advice through learning and development and hopefully even better market share for the industry, I am excited to not only stay in this industry but help create and develop the future.”
BHBTV embodies a fundamental component of Baker’s ethos: lifelong learning through collaboration and networking.
“BHBTV is one avenue but there are other amazing avenues such as colleagues in Facebook Groups like ‘I Love Mortgage Brokering’ and ‘WIMI’,” Baker said. “Watch the shows on BHBTV, listen to Scott Peckford's various podcasts or some of the others, truly commit to your growth. Not just in the beginning, but until the day you walk away from mortgages.”
Baker is slated to moderate the panel dubbed “The Shifting Role Technology is Playing with Brokers, Lenders, and Borrowers ” at the Canadian Mortgage Summit on November 24.
