Why brokers need to shift to a business mindset

“Building a brokerage requires a complete mindset shift from thinking that you are a broker to thinking that you are building a broking business,” Mr Veigli said.

“These days, with all of the compliance requirements and work associated with being a broker, they could find it difficult to achieve their goals if they hold on to the mindset of trying to do everything themselves.”

Forming and kicking goals in a broking business

While brokers’ goals should be based on what they want to achieve rather than what others may impose on them, a full-time broker could aim to write $50 million a year in loans, Mr Veigli suggested.

“I think with the right advice, plan, strategies, and accountability that is definitely achievable,” he said.

“As a starting point, even a brand-new broker could aim to write at least $5 million a month. From there, depending on how ambitious they are, they could work their way up to writing $100 million to $200 million a year.”

Mr Veigli’s comments have preceded the upcoming New Broker Academy in September hosted by The Adviser, which is a free event designed to help new and prospective brokers build robust and successful broking businesses.

As one of the speakers at the academy, Mr Veigli will use his session to present a brokerage blueprint on how to build a high-performing, sustainable mortgage business from the ground up, and detail how brokers could set ambitious financial goals and reverse-engineer the numbers to understand how to achieve those goals.

During his session at the New Broker Academy, Mr Veigli will unpack the nine key areas of business (which he calls the 10X Plan) that brokers need to master (and in what order), to provide clarity around their goals and tools to achieve them, and build their broking business quickly.

Focus on attraction, connection, scale

Describing some of those concepts to The Adviser, Mr Veigli said that for brokers to grow their business, they would need to employ systems across three areas: attraction, connection, and scale.

Brokers could attract new business and referrals via key partnerships and other marketing strategies, he suggested.

Furthermore, he said that a trusted adviser sales process and a communication strategy could enable brokers to connect with existing, new, and prospective clients and convert a high percentage of those client inquiries.

“Then, they need to build systems and a team in order to increase capacity and scale,” Mr Veigli said.

Some common mistakes to avoid

During his session at the academy, Mr Veigli will shine a spotlight on how brokers could remove key personnel risk and build a business that works with or without them.

To do this, it is essential for brokers to document their systems and processes so that other brokers and staff can replicate it with ease, he emphasised.

“Some brokers tend to keep everything they do inside their head and they try to do everything themselves for too long instead of building the business,” he said.

“This means they get caught in the trap of working harder and harder to keep up with the demand.

“Another mistake is that they go over capacity by saying yes to too many things, and eventually drown in all of the paperwork.”

Mr Veigli recommended that brokers recruit staff and a support team at an appropriate time before they find themselves overworked.

“First, they need to build the system and processes so other people can follow it. Then, they can build a support team around them,” Mr Veigli said.

Mr Veigli enthused that the broking industry has been maturing as a “real profession” over the last 20 years, while broker market share has increased to a record high (recent MFAA data revealed that almost 70 per cent of all new home loans are being written by the third-party channel).

As such, he said the marketplace is “really starting to see that mortgage brokers are the only way to get a loan”.

He concluded: “I think that it’s an excellent time to become a broker. Regardless of the trends in the property market or the economy, there’s always an incredible need from clients for that hand-holding and advice from brokers.”

The New Broker Academy 2022 is hosted by The Adviser with the support of principal partner NextGen. It will take place in the following locations:

• 6 September: Rydges South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland
• 8 September: Montage, Sydney, NSW
• 13 September: Crown Melbourne, Victoria

Places for this free event are limited so book your seat now by registering here.

For more information about The Adviser’s New Broker Academy, including agenda and speakers, click here.

[Related: ‘Choose your avatar’: How brokers can form a referral community]