Top tips for new brokers from an award-winning broker

Noting the ongoing change in the broking industry and uncertainty since the ASIC remuneration review, Sedgwick reviews and recent Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, Mr Dedic outlined several tips for new brokers.

Having set up Balwyn-based brokerage Red Door Financial Group in 2016 (which also took home the awards of Best New Office and Best Independent Office [5 brokers or less] at the Better Business Awards in Victoria last month), Mr Dedic is himself a relatively new broker but said that his biggest piece of advice for anyone starting their own brokerage was to “learn how to compartmentalise your own life”.

Mr Dedic said that he believed that, as broking is a client-based and customer-focused industry, it was too easy for brokers to “tailor their lives around their clients’ lives and in turn sometimes… forget yourself”.

As such, he said the biggest lesson he had learned was to compartmentalise his day into five to 10-minute increments to not only “take care of the tasks on hand [but] at the same time ensure that I’m the best person I can be”.

He elaborated: “So, take time out of your day to train, take time out of your day to take your partner for a bite to eat (if you have one) or take time out of your day to go have a coffee and be the best person you can be. Because the last thing you want, as a broker, is to resent your job or have a client call you and you look at the phone and [think] ‘I don’t want to pick up this call’.

“So, that is what I learned very, very quickly. And I think that is part of me maturing… and also learning how to ensure that I’m the best person I can be to ensure that the business is presented in the best way it can be and to ensure that our stakeholders, including our clients, are getting the best service.

“Because, if you are going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk in broking. There is a lot of competition out there, and it’s not hard for a client to find that competition. So, you need to be the best you can be. That’s the best piece of advice I have,” he said.

Other tips Mr Dedic offered for new brokers included to take the plunge and be confident in starting up their own business.

“Just do it,” he told the Elite Broker podcast. “Sit down with your accountant, get your trust structures or your company structures set up, go speak to your aggregator and tell them what you want to do and believe in yourself,” he said.

Noting that there was a lot of uncertainty on the horizon for the broking industry, particularly around remuneration and trail commissions, Mr Dedic suggested that new brokers try and focus on their customer service offerings and everyday business.

He said: “I’m not scared of change. In fact, I embrace it. Red Door only started two years ago, and when we started in this industry, it had already started changing… we just became so [well] versed in change.

“Are we concerned about change in future? Not really, because I think that if you know how to deliver a service to your clients, and you believe in yourself and you believe in your brand and you stop focusing on what can and what might be... and you [instead] focus on today and being the best person in business you can be today, that change will not necessarily affect you.”

Mr Dedic added that he had confidence that his aggregator “has got [his] back” and that they were advocating for industry and trail commissions “extremely well”. 

“I’m going to leave it to them and get on with my business,” he said.

New Broker Academy 2019

For more information, tips and strategies for surviving in a changing broking industry, make sure you attend The Adviser’s New Broker Academy 2019.

Given the huge amount of change facing the industry, this year’s academy is a must-attend event for all brokers looking to get a head start on building and running a leading brokerage and to learn the tips and tricks on staying ahead of the curve.

At this year’s New Broker Academy, partnered by Heritage Bank, gain critical insights into the future of mortgage broking and walk away with the blueprint to build a successful brokerage from the start, create value beyond trail and monopolise on the new opportunities being presented in a changing lending landscape.

In interactive panel sessions, in-depth workshop sessions and peer-to-peer discussions tailored to maximise your learnings, you will hear from Australia’s top brokers and industry thought leaders on:

• Building a brokerage that lasts

• The answer to lost trail

• Finding the right broker model for you

• The secrets to building lasting and successful referral partnerships 

• Maximising your marketing and sales techniques, and much more!

Stewart Saunders, Heritage Bank’s head of broker distribution, commented: “Heritage Bank is delighted to live our people-first philosophy by giving newcomers to the industry a helping hand through our sponsorship of the New Broker Academy.

“We appreciate that starting out in any industry is a huge challenge. Getting the right type of training and development, such as that offered by The Adviser New Broker Academy, is vitally important in helping new brokers find their feet. It’s also vital in helping increase the professionalism and skills of the industry as a whole, driving better outcomes for everyone – brokers, their customers, and the banks they deal with every day.”

Secure your ticket for the New Broker Academy today.

[Related: How this multi-award-winning brokerage stands out from the crowd]