A Smarter Way to Manage Your Mortgage: Why Advantage FS Has Switched to Adviser IQ

At Advantage FS, we’re always looking for ways to make the mortgage process better for our clients.

Not flashier. Not more complicated. Just better.

That’s why we’ve recently made a significant investment in the way we manage our clients and mortgage cases, moving our business across to Adviser IQ, a CRM platform built specifically for mortgage and protection advisers.

You might reasonably ask: “What does that actually mean for me?”

Quite a lot, as it happens.

Less admin. More time for advice.

Nobody takes out a mortgage because they particularly enjoy filling in forms, sending documents and chasing updates.

And while administration is an unavoidable part of arranging a mortgage, we believe it shouldn’t get in the way of what matters most: giving you great advice and keeping you informed.

Adviser IQ brings much more of the mortgage journey together in one place. It gives our advisers and support team a clearer view of every client’s application, what’s been completed, what’s outstanding and what needs to happen next.

That means less time spent hunting through emails, spreadsheets and different systems – and more time spent helping our clients.

A clearer view of your mortgage

Mortgage applications can become complicated very quickly.

There might be a decision in principle, an application, a valuation, a request for further documents, an underwriting query and, eventually, an offer.

With Adviser IQ, we can track the progress of cases through the mortgage journey and identify where things are up to more easily.

For our clients, that means we’re better placed to answer the question we hear every day:

“What’s happening with my mortgage?”

And, just as importantly, we can identify when something needs attention before it becomes a bigger problem.

Better communication

One of the biggest frustrations with any mortgage application is waiting for updates.

We’ve all experienced the dreaded feeling of sending an email and wondering whether it has been seen.

Adviser IQ gives us improved tools for managing communication and client activity, helping us keep track of messages, tasks and outstanding information.

It also provides a secure client portal, allowing clients to interact with their mortgage journey digitally, including sharing documents and communicating with their adviser.

The result should be a smoother experience, with fewer occasions where you have to wonder what happens next.

Making document collection easier

If there is one thing guaranteed to slow down a mortgage application, it’s missing paperwork.

Payslip here. Bank statement there. Proof of deposit somewhere else.

Adviser IQ’s client portal allows clients to securely upload documents, while our team can manage those documents as part of the wider case.

That might sound like a small improvement, but across hundreds of mortgage cases, making these processes simpler can make a significant difference.

Technology doing the boring stuff

We’re not interested in technology for technology’s sake.

The point of a good CRM is to take care of repetitive administrative tasks so that our advisers don’t have to.

Adviser IQ provides workflow automation designed around the mortgage process, including tasks, follow-ups and document requests.

That allows our team to spend less time doing things that a computer is perfectly capable of doing and more time doing things that computers aren’t very good at:

talking to people, understanding complicated situations and giving good advice.

Compliance that works alongside the advice

Mortgages are regulated financial products, so keeping accurate records and demonstrating the advice process is hugely important.

Adviser IQ has been designed specifically for regulated mortgage and protection businesses, with features including audit trails, compliance workflows and suitability documentation.

For clients, that means another layer of structure behind the scenes.

You probably won’t notice it – and that’s rather the point.

Good systems should make the process feel simpler for the client while giving the business better oversight behind the scenes.

It’s about what happens after your mortgage too

A mortgage doesn’t necessarily end when the keys are handed over.

Interest rates change. Circumstances change. Fixed-rate deals eventually come to an end.

One of the benefits of having a more sophisticated CRM is that it allows us to manage our existing client relationships more effectively, rather than simply focusing on the mortgage we’re arranging today.

Adviser IQ includes tools designed to help advisers track client retention, reviews and future mortgage opportunities.

That supports something we have always believed at Advantage FS:

We don’t want to arrange your mortgage once and never hear from you again.

We want to be your mortgage broker for the long term.

So, what does the change mean for Advantage FS clients?

Ultimately, the answer is quite simple.

A better organised mortgage broker should mean a better organised mortgage experience.

Our move to Adviser IQ gives us better visibility of our cases, more automation, improved communication tools and a more structured way of managing our client relationships.

But the technology itself isn’t the important part.

The important part is what it allows us to do.

Spend less time on administration.
Spend more time with our clients.
Keep better track of every mortgage.
Communicate more effectively.
And continue improving the service we provide.

Because at Advantage FS, we’re not trying to make getting a mortgage feel like dealing with a bank’s computer system.

We’re trying to use better technology to make the human side of mortgage advice even better.

And that’s ultimately why we’ve made the move.