Some 44% of respondents said business development managers (BDMs) are more important than ever, while only 6% said they had become less important, according to Mortgage Introducer’s Broker Experience Study.

As well as this, 47% said BDMs were just as important and 3% said they were less important now.

The study also revealed that the role of BDMs must change with some key traits of the perfect BDM identified, which is just one of the findings within the Broker Experience Study 2021.

When measuring the perceptions of BDMs from a wide range of lenders, the top performing lenders across different sectors included HSBC, Principality and TMW.

Jeff Knight, director at Grey Matter Marketing Solutions, said “It was great to have worked with Mortgage Introducer and Tim Hague in this really important Broker Study.

“There were some powerful pieces of insight generated. When it comes to BDMs, brokers need strong relationships with expert BDMs. However, how BDMs now interact with brokers must change.

“Some lenders are ahead of the game already. And having fantastic BDMs – and training BDMs who do not fit into this mould – will be a key differentiator in 2022 and beyond. ”