This chef-turned-broker explains how generating new business is the ‘easiest’ part of his job and what his biggest challenges have been in the industry.
How and why did you become a broker?
Well, 23 years ago – when I was turning 230 – I was a chef and realised that the industry wasn’t for me. It was too repetitive. I decided I needed a new career. That’s when I stumbled upon becoming a broker and I started training as a broker.
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How did you choose your aggregator?
I stated at a place called easyapply and was then headhunted by a real estate-based lending firm that was under Suncorp as a mobile lender.
After about four years, we got floated as brokers and started with PLAN.
About seven years ago, the brand was sold and we decided that it was not going down the path that we wanted to go down. So we decided we needed to go and look for a new aggregator.
That’s when we were looking for something new, small, adaptable, and something that we could mould into what we wanted. And then we stumbled onto Nectar and have been with them for about seven years now.
What kind of loans are you writing?
There aren’t many loans that I don’t write. At the moment I’m loving the commercial side of things. I think it’s one of the high-potential markets because brokers only do a small percentage of commercial lending, at the moment, due to the complexity of it.
Most of our commercial loans are in real estate because we have a real estate commercial brand that refers to us. So that’s where most of my loans are going.
How do you generate new business?
Generating new business is probably the easiest part of my job because I have been around for 23 years and had the same phone number for 23 years!
I’ve got four real estate agencies referring to me and we bought a financial adviser business that has an accounting business attached to it. So I’m getting some accounting leads.
I also decided to employ an onshore call centre to call my whole book. And that generated quite a bit of business during that quiet time. Fifty per cent of it was looking at getting things priced and refinanced. That just makes your trail book stronger.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced in the broking industry?
There are too many knee-jerk reactions from the powers that be in regard to the market. They see an issue and they try and fix it. And sometimes that knee-jerk reaction didn’t really need to be made.
For instance, increasing the interest buffer to 3 per cent. It’s becoming an issue because people are trapped in mortgages that they can’t get out of because of that higher buffer.
I’ve been through a few price booms and that normally reduces what people can borrow. Then interest rates come down and people buy. Then the price of houses goes up to a point where they can’t afford it anyway.
Knee-jerk reactions kind of move the market outside of what the market would do anyway through normal attrition. We need to educate.
What are your top tips for new brokers?
Confidence is what sells. People are looking for confidence over the phone, confidence over Zoom, and confidence in the appointment.
Look after yourself as much as you look after the business. You are not good for anyone if you are burnt out or ill. So, take that time out and look after yourself.
Lastly, new brokers need admin and they needed it yesterday. It changes your business completely and allows you to be more consistent with your numbers month in and month out.
“Ten calls before 10am” is an old-school saying, but get on that phone and don’t stop phoning until your battery runs out. It’s what makes you money.
[Related: Elite Broker Q&A: Advice for new starters from elite broker Luke Harborne]
