Brokers should be utilising ‘useful belief’

Mr Helder explained: “There's a part of the brain that is called the reticular activating system, which filters millions of pieces of information we get every day. I call it the 'red Toyota theory'. If you drove into work today you might not have seen any cars that were a red Toyota, but if you decided to buy a red Toyota, you would see them everywhere. It's the same principle: when mortgage brokers think it’s a great time and there is opportunity everywhere, the brain goes and finds opportunity. 

“So, useful belief for a mortgage broker would be thinking: 'This is the best time ever to be in the mortgage broking business', or 'This is the best time to be at my company'. Or, it could be more broad, such as 'This is the best time to be in my industry'. If they believe it is tough times, the brain will find tough times. So, it's about clearing the pathway to go out there and maximise the performance of your business.” 

Experience with brokers 

Touching on his first-hand experience using mortgage brokers, Mr Helder revealed that he has had both good and bad experiences. The first experience was “outstanding”, he told The Adviser, because the broker “took control of the situation and took all the worry out of it”. 

“They handled it all, did all the homework and research side of it and presented me with a good, strong opportunity,” he said. “But I had an experience later which was the opposite, where I continually had to chase the person for the information. What was worse, I was told I would get finance to a certain level only to have them turn around after I had purchased a property and tell me that that was not the case. So at the end of the day there were a lot of promises made that didn’t get fulfilled and I ended up not using them and going straight to the bank.” 

While Mr Helder conceded that this experience was just after the global financial crisis, and could have been due to the way lenders were changing their policies, he said the biggest problem was that his broker was “flippant”. 

“He was the real 'yeah, yeah, yeah' guy – he wasn't really listening to me, but agreeing to everything,” he added. 

As such, Mr Helder believes successful brokers should focus on “making people feel fantastic and building those relationships and taking the worry out of it. And making sure that their best deals are getting tabled.” 

He said: “If the adviser has their own interest at heart, and not the customer's interest at heart, everything is going to fall apart. You have to be out there working for the customer, for the clients, and do everything you can to blow them away with outstanding service. You cannot be taking the client for granted, which is what happened to me the second time. You have to have tremendous passion for the industry and tremendous passion for your client base.” 

Mr Helder concluded: “The mortgage broking business is a very simple business: at the end of the day it’s about creating a phenomenal experience that gets people talking and that you yourself connect with a passion to your industry. When you combine those two things, and adopt useful belief, I think it’ll work out.” 

Better Business Summit 2017

Chris Helder will lead a high-energy sales advice session at the Better Business Summit 2017, and will reveal tactics for following up leads and the language needed to close more business, tips on how to make a favourable first impression, and how to improve communication skills.

Now in its fourth consecutive year, the award-winning Better Business Summit runs across five cities over February and March, and features a jam-packed agenda crammed with practical tips, tools and strategies to help all brokers grow their business.

The day will culminate in the Better Business Awards, where each state’s best brokers, aggregator BDMs, lender BDMs, loan administrators and those running community engagement programs will be honoured. A list of finalists for the awards is out now.

Early bird tickets for the Better Business Summit 2017 close on Friday, 16 December.

With limited tickets remaining in each state, book your seat now to make sure you don’t miss out.

[Related: Better Business Summit 2017 agenda revealed]