Brokers ‘have to show’ emotional IQ: ALIC

Speaking to The Adviser, Ms Choi said that numbers is one of her strong areas, but that all brokers can “actually learn from everyone in every experience, no matter how senior, how junior, how young, old, whatever it is, there's something that can be learned everywhere and actually it's just remembering that they're human at the end of the day as well”.

“While business is business, there's the emotional IQ that you kind of have to show to be able to build successful relationships.”

She explained that she doesn’t consider selling loans to be her job as a broker; it’s education. The first step in meeting with her clients involves a chat which uncovers who her client is, where they’ve come from and the experiences they’ve had.

“One of the really frustrating things ... going back to the education, is that the Australian dream is perhaps becoming less and less achievable from what the media purports, but at the same time, everybody wants a roof to live under,” she said.

“Depending on their [the clients’] experiences and what they've learned, sometimes they may not even be aware that if two young graduates who have been working for a few years and want to go and buy a house to live in and start with a million dollar property, that that is potentially ... more risk taking than they would otherwise realise.”

However, Ms Choi made the addendum that she won’t lose a client over advice.

“I’m not there to tell them what to do,” she said.

“My job is to ... highlight their options through numbers and give them the parameters in which they can do what they want. I'm not necessarily saying that they ... need to buy an investment first. I'm perhaps saying that if you wanted to get into a house that you wanted to live in, maybe start with something a little bit smaller.”

[Related: Natasha Choi talks debt, balance and her learnings as a new broker]