Emmanuel Marios of Derwent Finance was crowned Victorian/Tasmanian Finance Broker of the Year at the Better Business Awards 2022. What has enabled his Tasmanian brokerage to reach new heights? We catch up with him to find out.
Earlier this year, Mr Marios of the Hobart-based mortgage brokerage Derwent Finance won the Victorian/Tasmanian Finance Broker of the Year Award at the Better Business Awards 2022.
We discover how this director is utilising social media and technology to expand his client base across the nation.
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How did you become a broker?
I was in the floor covering and construction industry prior to coming into mortgage broking… I didn't really like it.
So, I did a bit of research. I spoke to a few different aggregators, just to get a bit of an understanding of how it works.
I started mortgage broking approximately five years ago. I decided to go out on my own and create a new legacy, a new business, and we created Derwent Finance. Everything has been kicking off since that day.
What were the biggest challenges you faced when entering the industry?
The biggest challenges for the first two years were two things:
1) knowledge ( because you want to grow your knowledge throughout that time), and
2) finding business.
Even though the market in Tasmania has been very competitive and such a hot topic, you have to show customers that they can trust you and that you're a professional.
Tasmania is such a small community. Traditionally, your mums and dads already have their broker that they've been dealing with for four, five, six, seven years etc.
The biggest challenge I found was purely just finding business, especially in this market.
How did you attract new clients?
What I started doing is social media. I started educating a lot of clients. I started posting videos on social media about home loans and started speaking to real estate agents, conveyancers and builders.
I think our social presence has helped significantly. We took the time in consistently posting content online… Throughout the months and years, people have seen us and that trust has already kicked in and they know what we're talking about.
Our biggest core in our business is social media. I'm on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, the whole lot.
What kind of videos are you posting on TikTok?
My wife and business partner, Rihanna, is the guru of TikToks in our office. She does small 30-second clips purely just for first-time buyers explaining how to get a home loan and does a bit of a fun twist with it.
She gets [high] engagement, like two million hits... Ever since we've been on TikTok, we've actually expanded out from Tasmania, and we’re now servicing Australia-wide.
What challenges did you face once you became more established?
Obviously, as time goes by, your workload grows. [I was] having a bit of a reality check that I can't be a one-stop shop, I can't do everything myself and I'm going to have to eventually grow my team to help me and support me.
It did take me like two to three years to start thinking about that… we just bit the bullet and started growing a team and now we have specific staff members in our office who do specific things throughout the process to make sure the client experience is A1.
What does your loan-writing process look like now?
We're pretty different. We get our clients and providers have their documents. Then we actually add them into our own app.
If you go on the Apple Store or Google Play, you can search ‘Derwent Finance’. The app shows our clients where their home loan application or pre-assessments are and it gives them live updates.
It's been fantastic. We hardly ever use email. It's all done through the app, and customers love it.
What makes a successful broker?
You need to forget about volume and purely focus on customer base and customer experience. And, most importantly, education and network… I tell everybody to forget about the volume, forget the loan amounts, just do the right thing, and the customers will come flowing.
Don't hide behind your computer screen. Pull out your phone, video yourself, post yourself on social media. It works. Technology is growing and we just have to adapt to it. Because if we don't, unfortunately, we're going to be left behind.
You can find out more about Emmanuel Marios and how he runs his brokerage in The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast.
Tune in to the episode with Emmanuel, How TikTok and a new app is helping the Victorian/Tasmanian Finance Broker of the Year 2022, below:
[Related: How TikTok and a new app is helping the Victorian/Tasmanian Finance Broker of the Year 2022]
