Brand power

Many brokers rely on extensive professional and personal branding to find success in their local community.

“You really want to take the time to understand your local market and then play an active role in that community,” says Choice’s CEO, Stephen Moore. “Absorb yourself in your local market.

“Combining local area advertising with a respected brand can help brokers establish themselves as the local trusted credit adviser. That is critical for brokers.

“In addition, you want to focus on individual needs. Take the time to listen, understand your client needs and provide trusted advice. If you do that, it will ultimately lead to word-of-mouth repeat and referral business.”

Personal and professional branding

Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success says personal branding is now critical to success in business.

“Many people think personal branding is just for celebrities like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, yet each and every one of us is a brand,” Mr Schawbel said in a Mashable blog post. “Personal branding is the process by which we market ourselves to others.

As a brand, we can leverage the same strategies that make these celebrities and corporate brands appeal to others. We can build brand equity just like them.”

Choice Home Loans principal Bradley Beck says almost all of his business is generated through word of mouth and referrals due to his personal and professional branding – and he has combined this with Choice Home Loans’ recent relaunch to really solidify his business within the community.

“My business is purely referral business,” he says. “To a certain extent, I work purely and wholly on reputation and part of that reputation is about servicing clients and having them feel comfortable around me and my brand.”

Mr Beck says he has been able to spend time on this strategy because Choice Home Loans takes care of the rest.

The power of brands

Mr Beck says he’s recently spoken to a number of brokers considering making the switch to a brand because people are increasingly recognising the power and potential in brands.

“These brokers are really looking for some sort of brand presence, which Choice Home Loans definitely ticks off,” he says. “A lot of brokers are also looking for branding support material because when you first start off, you do want to do a fair amount of local area advertising to promote yourself. However, it’s easier to do this in conjunction with a strong brand – that shows more credibility.”

Sandra Abela, also a Choice Home Loans broker, agrees and says she would rather be backed by a reputable brand than spend time creating, establishing and growing her own brand.

“With a company like Choice Home Loans, which has a good reputation, I didn’t have to prove myself. I found that to be a bonus when I joined – and I still find it to be a bonus to tell you the truth. I’d rather be marketed as Choice Home Loans than Sandra Home Loans,” she says.

Mr Beck says when he was looking to join an aggregation group, he wasn’t seeking leads. “I felt that was my responsibility to prospect and find clients,” he says. However, he was looking for branding and marketing support, “So they were my right-hand man when I was starting my business”, he explains.

Ms Abela says being with a branded business not only makes her life easier but also helps her clients.

“I decided that going with a branded name that was more recognised would give my potential clients the comfort that they’re actually going with a bigger entity,” she says.