POINT BLANK -- Banking on service

Bankwest’s newly appointed head of broker sales Aaron Milburn speaks to The Adviser about his new role – and his vision.

DOES BANKWEST HAVE ANY PLANS TO INCREASE ITS MARKET SHARE VIA THE BROKER CHANNEL?

Before we look at increasing market share, we are going to look into the quality of the services we provide and the quality of submissions coming from the broker channel. I am passionate about working with the aggregators to support the brokers where possible, whether that is through workshops or one-on-one training. Our focus will be on quality as opposed to quantity. Once we have built a foundation of quality brokers, we will look at increasing our market share.

WHAT ARE BANKWEST’S SERVICING GOALS FOR 2010?

I think we can listen to what our brokers and aggregators are asking for. Also, we can learn to take heed of the decisions we have made in the past that haven’t always [produced] the best result. We have actively made changes to our servicing structure and will continue to improve our service proposition where possible. A lot of the changes we have already implemented have come on the back of communication with our brokers. I spend 80 per cent of my time on the road, meeting brokers. Wherever I go, I want to make sure I reach as many brokers as possible. At the end of the day, they are my customers, and it is my job to help them wherever possible. We also do quarterly broker surveys, which give us an in-depth look at what our brokers want and demand from us as a bank.

YOU HAVE RECENTLY BEEN APPOINTED HEAD OF BROKER SALES AT BANKWEST. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO BRING TO THE ROLE?

I really want to work in partnership with our aggregators and our brokers. If we are going to create a strategy going forward for [the Bankwest] brand, this bank and indeed for this industry – inclusive of legislation – it is important we seek the advice of our broker and aggregator partners. We need to listen to our brokers, we need to listen to our aggregators and we need to feed any advice they have for us back through to our products. We want to deliver what the industry is looking for.

IN YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH BROKERS AND AGGREGATORS, WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND TO BE THE MOST COMMON GRIPE?

Service is a major gripe. I read day after day where a bank will launch a great product, but then servicing times will blow out at the back end. More than anything, I think brokers are looking for consistency. Has anyone delivered it yet? I am not sure they have. Certainly, Bankwest would like to be the bank to provide that consistency. Australia suffered at the hands of the global financial crisis, as did brokers. But looking at the brokers still involved in the industry, there is a lot of resilience and that is something that really blows me away.

WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL GOALS IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE?

Some of my personal goals would be around how happy my team is and how engaged they are. Certainly feedback from the aggregators and brokers shows that we are starting to head in the right direction. We are incredibly transparent and I think that works in our favour.

We have fantastic management information now, which really does allow me to have very focused conversations with our aggregators about increasing both parties’ productivity.

For me, it is all about getting to know people. I have met some fantastic people, but at the moment my goal is to meet as many brokers on the grass [roots] level as possible. I also want to listen to our brokers. Not just listen, but work with that information. I think it is easy to go back and say “thank you for your feedback” and then do nothing with it. I don’t want to do that, and we will not do that.

WHAT IMPACT DO YOU THINK THE NEW LICENSING REGIME WILL HAVE ON THE BROKING INDUSTRY?

It is early days and everyone has their views. In my opinion, I think consumer confidence will grow in a regulated industry. Consumers can rest assured that the advice they are being given is regulated to a degree and the person giving that advice is a true professional in every aspect.

I think we will need to monitor how regulation pans out and not make any concrete strategic moves now.

If we make any changes right now, we might find ourselves backed into a corner when licensing finally comes into play. Personally, I don’t plan to make any sweeping changes. I plan to continue to support the brokers that have supported Bankwest over the years. The very inception of my role serves to highlight how serious Bankwest is about this channel. It is a huge part of what we do. Bankwest is a very successful business and the broker community is largely responsible for a lot of that success.