Growing a premium client base with zero marketing spend

Q. Why did you become a broker?

I always wanted to have my own business. I have a family of entrepreneurs and that was always a goal of mine.

But my dad said to me when I was young: “Go work for a bank. Learn how to work in a big business. Learn how to be managed. Learn how to manage people. That’ll set you up really well.”

I had a goal that when I turned 30, I wanted to be self-employed. I literally turned 30 I was still working at the bank. I reflected and said: “Well, you made a promise to yourself.”

I quit two days later.

Q. How did you get started?

Certe Finance was actually an offshoot of a client of mine who had a wealth business. We tucked in originally and added a finance offering to that.

I had really good grounding. I had a base where I had an office. I had other people in the office. I had a good lead network and that was sort of the foundation for us.

I was 100 per cent independent. It was its own stand-alone business at the time. That business partner had a small share in the business and it was a way to service their clients as well. And that evolved over time. Then I bought back my share and the business was 100 per cent mine after a couple of years.

But we still share the same name and share an office together.

Q. Who are your target clients and what kind of loans are you writing?

I think it’s very important you map out exactly the type of client you want to go after… I was very strategic and specific when I started. I spent a lot of time planning before I’d ever written a loan.

I actually got a strategic person to put a roadmap together for me and we mapped out different types of clientele. I was very specific around two types of client bases I want to go after: young professionals and – at the time – family offices and sophisticated investors.

I was specific and I started targeting early. They ended up being the only types of clients I was getting because the referrals that were coming in were from that client base.

It just evolved and snowballed from there.

Q. Did you do any marketing to find these clients?

I like to fly under the radar. That’s kind of my marketing strategy: to not market!

It’s actually a strategic decision. There are lots of different approaches in terms of how people want to present to the market. I think social media and podcasts and videos are fantastic. And I think people are doing an amazing job. But it’s a very crowded space.

The type of clients I go after, I wouldn’t attract through that channel. It’s very relationship-driven. It’s very high-touch. And so ours is all about relationships and word of mouth. I’ve never done any marketing, never done podcasts, never done branding, never done videos.

I’m very strategic around that because the clients I deal with like discretion.

Q. Your average loan size is $2.2 million. How have you been able to achieve that?

I’m very fortunate. I don’t want that to sound like I’m big-noting myself. It just is what it is. Again, it really does come back to when I started I was really specific around the types of clients I wanted.

But that only works because it’s a really high-touch model and I’m deeply involved.

If any of my clients call me now, I could tell you their security, I would know their loans, I know which bank it’s with, I know what they’re paying, I know their structure, and I know that for basically all my clients because I’m involved in their transaction.

I think that leads to being able to do those transactions and service them at a high level.

And being in Sydney certainly helps!

As a broker, you need to be likeable, you need to be trustworthy, and you need to be a subject expert

Q. What advice would you give new brokers starting their journey?

I think there are three things to be successful in any industry. As a broker, you need to be likeable, you need to be trustworthy, and you need to be a subject expert.

So, I think my advice would be to focus on learning, be really trustworthy and honest with clients, and try to develop a relationship with them.