The (new) tools of the trade

Ask any broker how they’re doing at the moment, and the answer will very likely be: busy. With record levels of mortgages being written and a huge wave of leads being generated, keeping customer service levels at their peak can be challenging. But, given the increasing recognition that a broker’s time is in short supply, new platforms and tools are being launched to brokers to help them become more efficient. 

A key point about technology is not to replace what a broker does – but instead give them the freedom and capacity to focus on their main task at hand: delighting Australian borrowers with professional credit advice. Anything that is outside of the high-ticket items (think administration, data collection, repetitive tasks) is being increasingly digitised.

Elevating the fundamentals 

The two key tools that a broker will use day in, day out are their aggregator client relationship manager (CRM) and NextGen’s ApplyOnline. But while these are the dominant systems that brokers use, they’re not sitting still. These systems are constantly being updated, tweaked and refined to deliver more. Whether it’s integrating other platforms via APIs (such as identity checking against government platforms), building in digital signatures, providing personalised white label solutions or leaning towards open banking – a huge amount of time and money is being spent on giving brokers more.

Finding the right product

As well as a mountain of individual apps and tools, there is a growing range of platforms available to brokers to help make their lives easier and streamline the process when it comes to choosing an appropriate lender product.

For example, Pepper Money has its Product Selector tool, which provides an indicative suggestion of the type of loan a borrower could use, while there are a growing number of aggregation platforms available to help brokers slim down which lenders to use in the ever-growing SME finance space, such as Lend.

Andrew Moulds, head of asset finance at business finance platform Lend, outlined that they built the platform to “provide brokers with access to aligned commercial finance to support SME client growth”.

“As such, Lend ‘removes the gap’ between borrowers and lenders, and removes the barriers to entry for brokers to provide commercial finance. This is achieved through Lend’s best-in-market product-lender match technology that does the ‘heavy lifting’ for brokers by scouring thousands of commercial products and producing aligned funding solutions in seconds,” he explained. 

“Lend’s model supports brokers universally, independently of their commercial finance maturity and financial literacy levels. In addition, Lend consistently supports brokers to upskill through the LendEd education program that provides extra ‘tools’ and practical insights.”

Repricing

New solutions are also being released to help brokers save time after settlement. Given that a larger focus is being placed on customer service and refinancing (see Stephen Jones’ thoughts on the matter on page 38 for more) to help ensure broker clients are able to navigate a rising interest environment, more solutions are looking at addressing just this. Take, for example, Sherlok. This system – founded by former broker Adam Grocke – is believed to be Australia’s first automated repricing and home loan refinancing retention tool that delivers loan book growth and aims to increase client retention and satisfaction (which in turn reduces clawback).

In a series of videos on LinkedIn, Mr Grocke explained it thus: “We’re a platform built by brokers for brokers that helps them with three key things: predicting when a client is going to leave their trail book so brokers can look after the clients that are at risk of leaving, automating the repricing process to keep those customers on a competitive, low interest rate for the life of their loan, and also automating refinancing to single-click refinancing.” 

Concierge services

For brokers needing a bit more help with their lead management, there are a growing number of solutions for that, too.

Mortgage broking technology firm and lead management platform Effi helps brokers manage leads by providing an administrative concierge and lead nurturing service that emulates the broker themselves. 

It has been built to sound and work like the broker user themselves but automates the messaging, document collation and scheduling of appointments. 

FileInvite has also been transforming the way lenders request and collect files by creating a client portal that makes it easier and more secure to request, track, review, and approve documents.

It delivers operational efficiency and is easily integrated with existing software using open APIs to help brokers extend the capabilities of their CRMs, legacy databases, workflows and email systems.

For example, brokers can request documents using a secure, branded customer portal that’s easy for clients to use, and no passwords or downloads are required. Clients digitally complete, sign and upload files and automated text and email follow-ups with constant tracking and visibility, reducing the administrative burden.  

“With FileInvite, internal workflows are improved and borrowers have a better experience -- so you can close more deals, faster,” said Matt Harley, director of growth at FileInvite.

“By automating information collection in document-heavy workflows, FileInvite helps you create a seamless digital experience for your clients -- with time to close improved by as much as 50 per cent.”

What do brokers use?

To find out, we asked four brokers what platforms they use to make their job more efficient. Here's what they had to say...

Lastpass and remote VPN 

Lucy Blain, founder and broker at Blain Financial, told The Adviser: "There are some simple things we do such as having the database sync with my mobile phone, so that everyone’s name and number are in there. So when clients call, I’m already one step ahead. 

"There are little things too. For example, when we meet a client, I send them an electronic form so I’m not going back answering or asking questions. They can sit there on their mobile phone and give me all of the information that they need. 

"Little tips for within the office: we use a system called LastPass, which populates all of the passwords, which is game-changing because obviously there are so many passwords and logins we use.

"Our IT support is also fundamental to what we do, so we all log in using a VPN so we can log in from anywhere and we have zero downtime. That way, we’re going to be supported wherever we are in terms of technology. So that’s seamless."

 Workflow with Trello 

Thuy Hook from EZ Financing said: "We’re using a different system outside the CRM to do our daily workflow with our external staff. So I don’t actually lodge tasks like that inside the CRM. Instead, we can log in and you can see all the detail on the customer and you can see where they’re at and use the workflow inside Trello. 

"I love Trello. So I’ve been using that for the last six years and that’s where I keep all my compliance and the communication between us and the banks and you and the customer. We record everything in Trello and we keep that as our compliance document at the same time." 

Mailchimp for marketing 

Peter Vassilis, broker director at Black and White Finance, said: "We use MailChimp as a platform for sending out our EDMS, and we use the conventional Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn social media platforms. But basically, most of our work all comes out of Nexus, the CRM that Connective has provided us with. We used to use other platforms, but now with the new Nexus, the way you can automate your system, the way you can have tasks, the way you can SMS from it, email out of it, we’ve really been able to harness it. It works really well for our business. This is not a plug for Connective; This is me being objective! So it really works well. 

"We also use all the Microsoft Word tools and Excel and Gmail, but now the new Nexus is pretty much where we live."

Sherlok for repricing

Meanwhile Tracy Kearey from Mortgage Advice Bureau Connexion (MAB Connexion), said:

"We've recently started using Sherlok to automate our client retention services. In the past, we have paid admin staff full time to do the work. Those admin staff now have more time to support with new clients. It's been an incredible timesaver for us and puts us continually at front of mind for our clients. In the past four weeks, since using Sherlok, we've saved our clients $20,456 in interest repayments, one client we saved $5,430 in one year!

"Our loan book is quite large, which makes it impossible to do be able to reprice everyone's loans. Sherlok's AI analyses the whole loan book and then tells us which clients are most at risk and prioritiise repricing those clients first. Then, for the loans that can't be discounted, Sherlok provides a refinance comparison to the market which is basically a warm refinancing lead." 

Written by Annie Kane

Last Updated: 30 June 2022

Published: 05 April 2022