Broker forecasts ‘enormous’ time saving with new website

“From a time-saving point of view, it’s enormous because it’s going to allow us to have a very detailed understanding of our clients’ circumstances before we meet them,” Mr Kingsley told The Adviser.

The system will use a ‘dynamic form’ that will add and delete fields depending on choices the clients make. It is expected to launch in March after six months of development, he said.

Empower won the Best Customer Service award at the Melbourne leg of the Better Business Awards last week.

Mr Kingsley said strong customer service was an important part of the firm’s success, with referrals providing 65 per cent of new business in 2012/2013.

He said there were two keys to keeping clients happy: diligent staff and strong systems.

Empower has spent the past 14 months using a customised version of Infusionsoft, a cloud-based CRM application, in which it invested a five-figure sum, he said.

Mr Kingsley told The Adviser that Infusionsoft brings order to the 75 steps involved in writing a loan. The software guides staff through the process and prevents them from moving on a step until the previous step is completed. It also makes sure clients are updated at critical points, he added.

“We can ensure that staff are made aware of their obligations to the client, so if anyone is trying to cheat the system or not do the right thing, we’re aware of that,” he said.

“We’re also aware of workflows at any point of time, so we can go into the system and see which one of our brokers is very busy and put more of our resources there.”

Empower derives about 42 per cent of its revenue from mortgage broking, according to Mr Kingsley.