When the ‘why’ may be not enough

I believe the role of a mortgage broker is so critical in an age when we have lost a generation that understands financial fitness and how to build wealth over time. The nature of the relationship with a client and their broker should be one of education over the transaction.

So if we play such a critical role, don’t you think that we should be prepared to take on such an important mantle for our clients? Nobody wants to have the brain surgeon doing their first operation; they want the one that has done hundreds of operations. But we all have to start somewhere, so preparation is the key.

I once spent six months training for a surf trip in the gym. Not in the surf, but swimming, weights, running and breathing, all in preparation not just to surf but not to drown! The first day I was surfing, my leg rope snagged the reef while I was waiting for a wave and dragged me under the water for over a minute, backward and upside down! I didn’t panic. I knew I could hold my breath; I had done the training. So I waited for the turbulence to die down before I resurfaced and got on with my surf.

In business, your preparation is critical to enabling you to deliver an exceptional experience for your client. So how does a broker prepare and what are you preparing for? One of the most common areas I coach brokers on is about the fact that they believe they don’t have enough time in their day to work on the business.

If you are preparing in the cracks, you don’t have time to waste, so why keep trying and failing? Stop and do the work, the training, the mental gym workout to increase your chances of success.

Don’t manage time, because you can’t; you can only manage what you do with it. So put development time in your diary today for at least once a week. Read a book, watch a webinar, do something – but use the time to improve yourself. Whether you’re a new broker or a seasoned veteran, one of the keys to your development is to always be learning and have a growth mindset.

Carol Dweck from Stanford University wrote: “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”

I could not agree more. In an environment that is constantly changing, the need for brokers to adapt to new technology, social media marketing, credit policy, consumer behaviour patterns, volatile markets mean that the need to always be learning in preparation for execution is a critical success factor to your business.

In my business, Broker Essentials, I mentor not just brokers looking to grow and scale their business but brokers who have been in the industry for over 15 years and looking to change how they approach their business, their lives and re-establishing their “why”. Marshall Goldsmith, one of my favourite leadership coaches, once said: “An individual that resists help has maxed out personally and professionally.”

To all the brokers who want to be better in all facets of their business, preparation through the development of your knowledge is the key. So love the learning, work with your aggregator, your business coach, your peers, your BDMs, or me, and seek out to be the best possible broker you can be every day – not just once a year at a conference or a PD day.

Breathe in all of your daily interactions, treat them as learnings in your life and look at them through the lens of a customer and what this could mean to your business.

This is the second part of a series of blogs from Jason Back. You can find part one of the blog series in the May 2019 edition of The Adviser magazine, or a version of that article here.