Deal Desks
Today's Novelty, but Tomorrow's Table Stakes
3 years ago, I hadn't even heard of the Deal Desk concept, but now many top teams across Canada are implementing their own Deal Desk.
Why this spike in popularity?
What is a Deal Desk?
Before answering this, it's important to define exactly what we mean by Deal Desk.
A Deal Desk is a centralized place where an agent can send live deals for underwriting:
The agent is not hands-off. They'll still do prospecting, intro/discovery calls, post-close follow-ups and partner networking. All things related to sales.
I first saw this concept with DocAssist- a Deal Desk for all Canadians. DocAssist has since closed operations, but the comeback is now happening for brokerages.
Deal Desks for Brokerages
At the surface-level, a Deal Desk looks like more work for a brokerage- so why do it?
The obvious answer is because they can charge for it. While this is true, it's also true for non-brokerages (e.g. DocAssist), so why the popularity among brokerages?
There are some control-related benefits (more control over compliance/volume bonuses), but it's not the full story. To get the full story, let’s look on the agent side.
Deal Desks for Agents
I maintain that the #1 agent skill is selling. If you can't sell, life is tough as a broker.
But if you can sell, you can get bogged down by paperwork/admin tasks. An assistant can help, but they need to A) be trained and B) get paid even in slow times.
A Deal Desk solves both of these issues. In short, it's the most reliable and cost-effective way to outsource your underwriting.
With effective underwriting, an agent can sell more, and guess what? That benefits the brokerage! A Deal Desk is a tide that lifts all ships. Not a bad deal for all involved.
Deal Desks and Technology
OK, I'm interested in Deal Desks, but how does it relate to technology?
The #1 hurdle for a brokerage to implement this is a system to manage it.
While I won’t recommend a specific solution, an effective Deal Desk system needs to:
Allow the underwriting team to manage many deals at once
Enable an easy way for the agent to check the deal status
Alert the agent when something is needed on the file
[Ideally] integrate with your deal submission platform
In my opinion, Deal Desks are today’s novelty, but tomorrow’s table stakes.
There are too many benefits, and early adopting brokerages are already attracting more-and-more agents because of it.
For a full discussion on this, check out the latest episode of Mortgage Tech Talks.