The foundations are usually invisible, but they determine the resilience of everything we create

Who is Alexander Alexandrov outside of the business card? If you had to introduce yourself to someone who has never heard of you, what would you tell them?

Outside of the business card, first and foremost, I am a person of my word and when I make a commitment, I stand by it, regardless of the subsequent outcome. This is a matter of character, upbringing, and value system. I am direct and prefer to say things as I see them, even though sometimes this may bring me personal negatives.

For me, family is above all. Home is the place where I relax, find myself, and understand what truly matters. As a parent, I believe that investing in children is the most meaningful and far-reaching. However, I think it should be invisible and unobtrusive – to provide your children with opportunities, knowledge, upbringing, and most importantly, personal example, but without constantly reminding them how much you do for them and expecting gratitude, obedience, or any other return. They must make their own choices and follow their path, pursuing their dreams. Only then will they build character, learn to take responsibility, and most importantly, grow into good people, and in my opinion, this is the safest formula for becoming successful in their endeavors.

Another part of me is the competitive spirit, a legacy from my career as a professional athlete. Sports taught me not only discipline but also how important teamwork is. On the field, you understand that you can accomplish nothing alone and that victory is a team effort. There, I learned to accept both success and failure. In failure, I learned not to seek excuses, but to analyze my mistakes and to continue working even harder.

I believe these are values that naturally transferred into my professional commitments – to keep your word, take responsibility, stand by your team, and never give up, just because the result hasn't come immediately.

Your professional journey begins in the banking sector. What lessons from those years do you use every day as an entrepreneur?

In the banking sector, I learned to assess risk, not to rush, and to think several steps ahead. From those years and my work with clients, I understood that this business relies on the trust that clients place in you and I realized how important responsibility is when offering banking products. In this sense, the most important lesson, which I apply today, is that a financial decision is never just a number. For example, when a person applies for a loan, for them, it may be the biggest step in their life. That’s why in financial consultation, it is not enough to focus only on income, collateral, interest rate, and their desire to acquire property. There are many other external macroeconomic factors, as well as purely personal circumstances, that should be considered to find the most suitable solution for them. Sometimes the best consultation is to say: “Wait. The moment is not right.” And this is another thing that my professional experience in the banking sector taught me: To say “no” when that is the right answer in the specific situation and for the specific person. I believe that this is how trust is built, the foundation for long-term and fruitful relationships with the client. Today’s refusal can be tomorrow’s success.

When did you feel that the moment had come to leave the security of a corporate career and start your own business? Was there a specific moment that tipped the scales?

For me, the decision was not an escape from the banking sector, related to accumulated disappointment or provoked by a specific bad moment.  On the contrary – I am grateful for the years spent there and for everything I have learned and I believe that I am now successfully applying that experience in my own consulting business. Rather, for a person with my character perhaps this was a natural next step.

After more than 25 years in the banking sector, one begins to understand very well not only how the system works, but also that along with security, a corporate career brings a number of limitations and frameworks in personal terms.

The moment simply came when I felt that by starting my own business I would be much more effective and useful, both for myself and for my clients, and I jumped in, even though it was not the most suitable time for such a decision. This  was during Covid, when the world was "frozen" and there were not many prospects for developing business initiatives.

Security is a nice thing, but sometimes it is precisely that, that prevents you from moving forward.

What was the initial idea behind “Dalex Credit” and how has it changed with accumulated experience?

To be honest, there was initially no clear idea, but over time it emerged on its own. We gathered colleagues from the industry and decided to combine our experience and knowledge in the process of lending to individuals and legal entities in collaboration with partner banks. In other words, we tried to help people navigate more easily through the complexities of the credit market and to answer their question: “Am I doing the right thing?”.

Today, for me, “Dalex Credit” is not just a credit intermediary. I want it to be the place where a person receives honest professional advice, even when that advice is not the most convenient and ultimately the obstacles have built the trust we need not only in seeking credit but also in all areas of life.

For people who are not well acquainted with credit brokerage – what services does your company offer and in which situations does a client benefit the most from such a partner?

We help the client navigate the entire path – from the initial idea of purchasing a property, through a detailed analysis of their financial situation and the selection of the most suitable credit solution, and finally to the finalization of the documents and the successful disbursement of funds.

The greatest benefit from us is for clients with specific or more complex cases. These cases are the most interesting and challenging for our team, and the internal rule in the office is that "nothing is impossible".

Often people do not suspect who is the best option for them. It happens that a client sees one-single offer and decides that it is optimal. This is where our key role comes in - to showthem the whole picture of the market and help them  make an informed and financially advantageous decision.

Who is the ideal client for “Dalex Credit” – the person with whom your work brings the greatest value for both parties?

There are no ideal people, but there is an ideal approach in our work. For us, the most important thing is for the client to trust us and to be completely open. The more we know about their real situation, possibilities, and goals, the more accurately and effectively we can find a solution.

For “Dalex Credit,” the perfect deal is not always that of a client with the highest income or the largest loan amount. The value for both parties is determined by the satisfaction of successfully closing the deal at the right moment with the best parameters for the client.

Our ideal partner can be a young family buying their first home; an entrepreneur seeking capital to grow their business, or an individual looking to restructure debts and ease their budget.

Our primary commitment is to respond to their trust and to perform our work with quality, finding the optimal solutions for them.

Financial decisions are often among the most important in people's lives. How do you earn their trust right from the first meeting?

With openness and honesty. For us, the first meeting does not start with a presentation of what we can do for the client, but with listening to understand what the client actually needs.

Sometimes the most professional thing you can say to the client is: “I don’t think this is the right time for this loan.” This may not be the most popular and expected answer, but it is the honest one. For me, trust is not earned with promises and empty words. We do not make a deal at any cost; the client's interest is our priority.

Words must have value, even when the answer is not what the client wants to hear.

Perhaps this approach is the reason I have been hearing for over 25 years: “Your client recommended you.” This is the highest praise and means we have succeeded in exceeding expectations.

How do you guarantee the quality of service when every situation and every client is different?

Precisely because every case is unique and clients are different, the solution must be strictly individual. But for it to be successful, our standard of work always remains the same.

The quality of our service is guaranteed by clear rules for analysis, detailed checks, comparison of market offers, and a reasoned presentation of options. Immediately after that comes the role of accumulated experience, good relationships with partner banks, and above all, the ability to understand which of the options would be the most effective for that person and their situation.

The standard is one. The solution is different.

In my opinion, this is the essence of professional credit brokerage.

We do not want all clients to receive the same solution. We want all clients to receive the same high level of service and satisfaction.

What are the most common misconceptions people have when seeking a loan, and what do you try to show them right from the start?

The most common misconception is that the loan is only about the interest rate. Sometimes an offer with a lower interest rate may turn out to be less suitable when all accompanying conditions are considered – fees, insurance, term, collateral, and the final total cost of the loan.

Another misconception is that if you have a good income, the loan is guaranteed, but this is not always the case. Banks assess the overall profile and risk of the borrower, where details such as credit history, field of activity, and debt structure can be crucial.

Our job is not just to “polish” the loan to make it look good on paper. Our mission is to understand whether it is good for the client as a long-term financial perspective and to help them make a decision.

What does the credit brokerage market in Bulgaria look like today, and what are the biggest challenges facing your business?

The market in our country has enormous potential, but in my opinion, we, the credit consultants, face a very important task – to clear the name of the profession, which in recent years has been partially tarnished by cases of unethical and unprofessional practices by certain participants working in the segment.

Right here is one of my major personal goals as the chairperson of the Association of Credit Intermediaries in Bulgaria. Therefore, together with my colleagues from the Board and our members, we are making efforts for the sector to become transparent, highly professional, and recognized as an authority and integrity. Every client in Bulgaria should be assured that the credit intermediary is a certified professional they can trust.

To achieve this, we rely on strict standards, an ethical code, training, certification, and above all, personal responsibility. The first two have already been adopted at the General Assembly of the Association and should be applied by the members of the Association. The processes of training and skill enhancement are ongoing – both internal and joint training with our banking partners, as it is also important for them to have professionals on the other side. Our next major step, for which we are actively seeking options and support from the Bulgarian National Bank and financial institutions, is the certification of employees in the sector.

Artificial intelligence and new technologies are changing almost every industry. How are they changing the way you work with your clients?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is actively entering our daily lives and will undoubtedly change our profession as well. For us, technologies are an exceptional opportunity to save a lot of the client's time. Through various platforms, each of us in the Association can respond more quickly and professionally. We can now process information within minutes, analyze more options simultaneously, and automate part of the routine processes. The information we provide to our banking partners is much more complete and structured, allowing us to receive a more accurate indicative offer in a timeframe that was unimaginable five years ago.

However, I do not believe that technologies can replace a good consultant and the necessity of personal contact with the client. For mortgage and business loans, physical meetings remain mandatory for me. Innovations help us precisely in this – to free up time for activities that no machine can perform: to listen to the client, to understand their specific situation, to think outside the box about the possibilities they are seeking, and to take professional responsibility for our advice.

If a technology saves me two hours of administrative work, I would prefer to spend those two hours in conversation with the client.

Where do you think technology is an invaluable assistant and where does human judgment remain irreplaceable?

Technology will always be better than us in processing vast amounts of data and in instantaneous calculations. However, humans remain irreplaceable in understanding context and emotions.

If an algorithm can perfectly assess the official income and obligations of a family, it cannot know their long-term plans, sense their hidden concerns, hopes, and personal priorities.

The algorithm sees the numbers. The credit intermediary sees the story behind them. It is precisely in this personal connection and the ability to look beyond pure mathematics that the true value of our profession lies.

As the chairperson of the Association of Credit Intermediaries in Bulgaria, what would you like to see change in the sector over the next few years?

This may be my biggest personal professional goal at the moment. My vision is for credit brokerage in Bulgaria to establish itself as a completely clean, professional, and valuable sector in the coming years.

I want the term "credit broker" to be a symbol of trust and security. When a client hears this definition, they should know that there is a person standing before them with training, knowledge, experience, and above all, with ironclad professional responsibility. That is why we in the Association believe in the implementation of unified standards and the certification of employees in financial consulting companies.

We cannot demand respect from society and institutions if we ourselves are not ready to take responsibility for the quality of the service we offer.

What lies ahead for "Dalex Credit" – what is the next big goal you are aiming for?

Our goal is to continue to grow sustainably, but without losing our character and identity. I want "Dalex Credit" to be a brand recognized for the quality of its work, not just for the number of deals completed. We are set to invest in people, technology, and optimize our processes. However, one thing we will not change is the personal relationship with the client. For me, it makes no sense to grow as an organization if we remain impersonal as a partner.

Growth has value only when the quality of service and the satisfaction of people grow alongside it.

If someone today is hesitant to trust your company, what would you like to tell them? And finally – what is the most important piece of advice for financial literacy that you would like everyone to remember?

I would tell them to come to us and have a conversation. There is no need to trust us beforehand. Let them ask their questions, tell us about their situation, and hear our opinion. If we see a real opportunity – we act immediately; if we identify a risk or problem, we point it out directly. If the client is still hesitant, I would advise them to meet with other colleagues as well. The opportunity to choose is the most important thing before making a decision.

For me, integrity means exactly that – to stand by your name and your words, regardless of whether the final result is convenient for you.

And my advice is simple: do not make a financial decision that you do not understand.

Ask. Compare. Read. Think not only about today's monthly installment but about how the decision will affect your life over the next 5, 10, or 15 years.

And if I may add something personal: think about the next generation as well. Children are our future. Not everything we do for them needs to yield immediate results. Sometimes the best investment is the one they will understand and appreciate much later.

Our job is to give them the foundation, but also the freedom to build upon it themselves.