Past winners from the 2019 Canadian Mortgage Awards reflect on being recognized by the industry, and the impact it’s had on their business
Nominations are open for the 2020 Canadian Mortgage Awards.
The gold standard event has celebrated the outstanding successes in leadership, service, innovation and support for 14 years, with over 20 categories to recognize the achievements of brokerages, brokers, lenders and more.
Millennial’s Choice Mortgages Inc took home the award last year for Brokerage of the Year – Diversification. That nod is for a brokerage that has implemented the most effective diversification business model.
Founder Matthew Ablakan said winning the award gave them clout among colleagues within the industry, and credibility with clients. He commends the Canadian Mortgage Awards for giving the industry more recognition on a whole, and an opportunity to educate the public on what a broker does.
“I’m able to say, ‘I’m great at what I do, there’s a whole industry behind it, and this is why you should work with us,’” said Ablakan. He encourages mortgage professionals to participate and support events like these. “Even if you’re not a finalist for an award, it’s important to acknowledge the achievements of others, but also visualize yourself being on that stage,” he said.
Millennial’s Choice offers services in real estate, insurance, investment and of course, mortgage. “It’s a one-stop shop. You save time and money because you only have to speak with one group of individuals that work together versus having to talk to completely different service providers that take time and attention away from things that are more important in your life,” he said.
Ablakan said the key to running multiple businesses under the same umbrella is good communication. After working at a dual licensed brokerage at the start of his career, he realized both divisions were not on the same page. “At Millennials Choice, we are interconnected. Our real estate side is always aware of what’s happening on our mortgage side, and vice versa. With the proper disclosures of course, we are able to offer a more streamlined, effective homebuying experience for our clients,” he said.
Teranet won the award for Industry Service Provider of the Year at the 2019 event for adding the most value to their customers’ businesses. “Our team put a lot of hard work into our Purview platform, so being recognized by industry peers was a huge accomplishment”, said Emily Boyce, marketing manager at Teranet. “We care a lot about the industry. There's a lot of strength in the mortgage broker community and we want to continue to work with them and help them advance the profession, so getting recognized was definitely something that meant a lot to everybody here,” she added.
Purview is the company’s automated valuation and fraud detection solution. Over the past year, they made a few enhancements to improve the user experience. “We've implemented a live chat feature with our customer service team, so it's easier for the brokers to get in touch with us and we've also updated a lot of the data sources so the data that they're getting is better and more accurate,” said Boyce. The company also implemented an advisory council with mortgage brokers last year in order to get feedback, stimulate innovation and keep customer satisfaction at a high. In fact, in their recent customer experience survey, Purview received a 95% satisfaction rate.
Both self and peer nominations for the 2020 Canadian Mortgage Awards are open until January 15. The winners will be announced at the black-tie gala on April 15 in Toronto.
