From young couples looking for their first home to expats who want to settle permanently in the Netherlands: the customers of ING's Advice Team Housing could not be more diverse. That - and much more - makes the work of housing consultants Mark Heukels and Kelsey Hoekstra so interesting.

Mark has been working at ING since 2008, always in positions in the residential and mortgage field. He works from the ING office in Amsterdam-Zuid. Half of the time he works as a housing consultant, the other half he spends developing propositions for expats, in a team at the head office. Kelsey rolled into her job through an internship at the Digital Living Team. She stayed there for a year and then went to the Hub of Advies Team Wonen, where the housing advisors speak to customers via video calls.

 'Wanting to make customers happy, that's very much in my DNA'

 Both have a Hotel School background, which comes in handy in their daily work. "The hospitality industry, wanting to make customers happy, that's very much in my DNA," says Kelsey. "And I find the combination with financial services super interesting." "That also applies to me," Mark adds. "It was never my idea to go into the hospitality industry. I always liked numbers, sales and customer contacts too, and all that came together here."

Tuning in

The human touch is the most important thing about the work, both agree. Of course, your knowledge of mortgages and related products must be in tip-top shape and always up-to-date. You have to be able to plan, have a feeling for sales and not be averse to administration. "You can learn all that. But in your conversations with customers, you appeal to other skills. Every person is different, every conversation is different. Being able to tune in, sensing what someone needs, asking the right questions, really listening, you have to have that in you."

Pregnancy ultrasound

"Our work is so much more than arranging mortgages," says Mark. "We guide the entire customer journey, from the first exploratory steps on the housing market up to and including the moment that the key has been handed over." Kelsey: "Sometimes it goes even further, like the young expat couple who sent me photos of the new bathroom and later also a pregnancy ultrasound. Although of course I am no longer the advisor, but just interested. I realized then how much trust these people gave me and what my work meant to them."

 'Buying a house is exciting, even if you've already done it eight times'

"Buying a house is a big decision and remains exciting, even if you've done it eight times," says Mark. "Until you have 100% certainty from the bank that everything is done, it's just stressing. We take away that stress as much as possible. We are always there for them, take them through all the steps of the process, and do everything to make their wish come true. If you succeed, the satisfaction and joy are enormous. I once advised a couple who had already been outbid several times. I had prepared the entire file in such a way that this time they could offer financing without reservation. And it worked. Those people called me with tears in their eyes. Isn't that nice."

Entrepreneurship

Kelsey: "I enjoy it anyway when everything falls into place. That's so good." Mark: "And it doesn't matter if you help someone for 200,000 or for 700,00 euros. If I can also use my creativity a bit in a tailor-made proposal, then my day is a success. That's where entrepreneurship comes into play – another characteristic that is actually indispensable in this work."