Broker in Focus: Lee Trett, Echo Finance

Broker in Focus is a dedicated series that highlights the unique journeys of mortgage brokers, providing them with a platform to share their experiences, insights, and expertise. Through compelling personal stories and professional reflections, each featured broker recounts the key moments that have shaped their careers, delves into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today, and shares the valuable wisdom they have gained along the way.

This week, Mortgage Introducer is featuring Lee Trett (pictured), director of Echo Finance, whose shift from sales into broking wasn’t just about a career change, but also about building on his passion for helping clients and doing things the right way in a regulated environment.

Full name: Lee Trett

Job title: Director

Company: Echo Finance

Number of years in the industry: 18

Location: Mirfield in Yorkshire and Wirral

How and when did you become a mortgage broker?

I became a mortgage broker in February 2007 and entered the industry via a career in sales, which felt like a gateway to the sector. Before that, I played bass in a funk-rock band and was making a real go of that (but that’s a whole other story)!

What I enjoyed about sales was helping customers and the financial aspects of my role. Honing my skills in these areas prepared me well for the world of mortgage advice, but I was really attracted to the idea of working in a regulated environment.

As a salesman, I was always keen to do things the right way and look after my clients’ needs. As a mortgage broker in a regulated industry, I like how that was mandatory.
 

In your opinion, what has been the most positive development in broking?

I think the quality of advice clients are receiving from mortgage brokers across the industry has never stopped improving. There are many reasons for this, but I’d say two of the biggest are the Financial Conduct Authority’s focus on treating customers fairly and the way brokerages like ours have leveraged digital technology to better service customers.

Through our sister company, Teito, we can offer an array of tools such as calculators and a live rates comparison tool that lets customers source their own mortgage, to empower our clients. We have found that giving customers tools like these puts them in a much stronger position when sitting down with one of our brokers to go through their options.

Further to this, digital technology played a vital role when it came to expanding our brokerage. It allowed us to recruit brokers from all over the country, many of whom are home-based, but use tools including webchat to connect with clients across the UK.

What challenges do you see currently facing the industry?

I think this comes back to digital technology again and how to integrate new and evolving types of tech into the mortgage industry. Although I feel we have been at the forefront of harnessing technology to empower our customers, mortgage lenders are often slower or reluctant to adopt it, so it’s about encouraging them to get involved.

For example, I think the concept of open banking is huge for mortgages, allowing customers to share their financial history with lenders more quickly and helping mortgage providers offer personalised product recommendations, but I’d like to see more lenders on board.

Can you share a memorable or challenging experience from your career as a broker and the lessons you gained from it?

I’d definitely say our transition from a largely face-to-face advisory service to a remote model. We did this one year before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s a good thing we did, given what came next.

We run a network of lead-generation websites as well as the lead marketplace, LeadCrowd, and this arm of our business has been bringing in enquiries from all over the UK for years now. Figuring out how to offer these customers the same level of service on a remote advisory model as the clients we deal with face-to-face was a big challenge.

There had to be increased oversight to maintain adviser quality and competence, but more significantly, we built our own CRM system – Echo CRM – to give us ultimate control over consumer data. This laid the foundations for our online comparison service, Teito.

Could you share any valuable advice for individuals aspiring to become brokers or those new to broking?

I would recommend that they find a brokerage that offers mentoring and training in a whole-of-market environment. At Echo Finance, our senior advisers provide hands-on mentoring and regular training courses to help new brokers, and even some established ones, develop their skills and stay ahead of the curve in the industry.

Make sure that the brokerage you choose is able to provide you with leads. Even if you have the resources to generate your own, working for a firm that can step in and provide them in the event of a lull is invaluable. No leads means no business, after all.

Broker in Focus is a weekly Mortgage Introducer feature, spotlighting mortgage brokers from diverse backgrounds and locations across the UK. Among those recently featured are Keith Humphreys of Pinpoint Commercial Finance, Nick Hayes of Pia Financial Solutions, Alan Kent of Viable Mortgages, Chetan Jethwa of Vistaara Financial Solutions, Kane Powell of Heron Financial, Richard Jennings of Richard Jennings Mortgage Services, Barry Wise of The Mortgage Pod, Bob Singh of Chess Mortgages, Matt Davey of Peritus Private Finance, and Chris Hall of 1st Call 4 Mortgages.  

Are you a mortgage broker interested in being featured? Email the author with your details.