So, first things first Jeff, can you provide our readers with a little bit of information about your background and how you ended up setting up Momenti Group?
Like so many people, I fell into the mortgage market, back in 1997 when I joined a lender as Marketing Manager, who was about to launch into the UK mortgage market. I learned fast. I had to. And the people there were amazing and so many have gone on to have great careers in the industry.
Thereafter I worked my way up to Marketing Director with responsibility for product design, research, pricing, strategy and communications. I was the spokesperson and learned a lot about leadership, courtesy of an Exec Coach.
During lockdown I knew it was time to do something new. Do something different. I wanted to use all those skills and knowledge I had amassed to help others get to grips with the mortgage market. Eventually this led me to setting up Momenti Group where I help companies build the marketing strategy and marketing teams that give them true momentum. I do this in many ways.
You recently launched The Observatory, can you tell us a bit about this?
This is a membership community built for mortgage marketers - and for the sales, insight and product people working alongside them.
People join as members – on an annual basis, and get access to a range of benefits. For example, members can join live sessions, where we discuss different topics, allowing us to observe what is going on in the mortgage market and marketing right now.
They can join Mastermind groups with like-minded people. This is popular. We run face to face meet ups to help build know how and extend their network. And there is a diverse resource library that helps build understanding through a collection of content.
It allows members to observe, understand and connect. It is all about the experience and being able to get on the front foot.
We heard about “Ask Jeff” – What is this?
Ah, that is a new feature for members.
People often get in touch to get my opinion on advertising, email marketing, team leadership, agency choice and so on. And right now, people turn to AI for answers – but AI can’t give the depth of answers about mortgage marketing that are needed. So “Ask Jeff” began as tongue in cheek in response to “Ask AI” – but it stuck.
Essentially, members can get in touch anytime, as much as they want to pick my brains and bounce ideas around.
What drove you to create The Observatory?
Membership communities are not a new idea. Indeed, I used to run another one until a while back. However, the model has shifted because the world changes. I wanted to create something that is relevant for people now.
I listened to people’s challenges, their priorities and what they really need to give them confidence to excel in their jobs. It will evolve. It has to.
But the two things I know is as true today as it always has been that you never stop learning - the market keeps changing, and so do you. And the more genuinely connected you are, the easier it gets. Not just contacts, but people you can actually turn to.
Just look at Square 1 Media, these were people I never worked with but built connections with and now they are a Corporate Partner of The Observatory.
Connections matter.
You mention membership – Is there a fee to join?
There is a fee. It is an annual fee.
People join as an individual, as a pair, small team. And in some cases, they have multiple people from a range of teams all signed up.
I deliberately made the membership fee accessible to everyone – not just those with the bigger budgets.
The fees are shown on the Momenti Group website.
What are the big challenges you see in the market?
There are many. But the one that drives so many other challenges is rate changes.
The impact this has on mortgage brokers is well documented. But it also impacts lenders. It impacts Marketing – as it disrupts campaigns and brand building– and impacts Sales as it puts them on the back foot.
I had similar challenges, way back before the financial crisis when SWAPs were volatile. It took me a long time to muster a solution to that, but we did. And now I help lenders adapt to a fast-paced market, because that is not going to change any time soon. And one easy thing to do is this: look at your data, match applications to all those different product permutations – then keep the ones where most of your business comes from (probably 25% of your products).
What is the one big piece of advice you would give lenders?
One of the benefits of what I do is that I can see things differently to when I was at lenders. And recently I had one of those eureka moments.
I knew about the importance of mental availability. And of using brand salience as a key metric. But it dawned on me…the start of the broker decisioning process for a mortgage case is “who do I know can help me with this case”.
The solution hit me - the real driver of all this is Mental Availability: the likelihood your brand comes to mind in a buying situation. Once lenders understand that, they can build marketing and sales strategies around it, becoming more efficient and less reliant on price-led competition.
So that's my advice: make increasing Mental Availability a genuine strategic priority, with real goals and measurable outcomes. Too often I hear people talk about brand awareness, which is fine, but this goes further - it's about knowing whether you're on a broker's mental panel at all, because if you're not, you won't get a look in, regardless of price. Understanding what drives that - what's known as Category Entry Points — is where you start.
And the starting point for all of it is answering one question: why does a broker think of you when they need your services?
Finally do you have a wish for the industry?
My big wish is that more marketers become part of the C-Suite. I want Marketing to be taken more seriously, because it is far more than a colouring in department. My hope is those who join The Observatory are the ones who learn how to enhance their careers in this trajectory and are the ones getting pats on the back from their CEO.
