What Makes an Unstoppable Broker?

One of my favourite quotes is,

“When you’re good, you study the competition. When you’re great, the competition studies you. When you’re unstoppable, there is no competition"

There are many answers to what makes a broker successful and given I'm lucky enough to know quite a number of outstanding brokers across the country, thought I'd outline a few areas of focus on what it takes to be a successful but more so, an unstoppable finance broker.

A broker's wealth of knowledge, that they bring to the market place, has got to be their most valuable tool in their kit bag and one that consumers look for when seeking out finance, especially given the complexity of the current lending environment. Their competitiveness to get their clients the best possible deal, with the right product and structure, from a large panel of lenders (obviously saving clients time and money) along with forming a relationship that extends way beyond settlement.

A personalised approach ensures that a client’s financial situation is fully understood, for the immediate need and any future requirements that might be identified. Frequent contact with clients and updates on analysing their needs (not just a touch base call) sees real service occur. If a broker is endeavouring to truly add value, every time they contact one of their clients, only then will they become the client's trusted adviser and not just a loan processor (and no that's not a line from a George Lucas film either).

Successful brokers have daily routines which are detailed structured plans that are followed every day without any "mind stories" (excuses). This varies from new brokers to ones with a number of years under their belts, for the obvious reasons of knowledge, experience and the size of portfolios held.

Even the best structured routines can be interrupted on any given day but success comes when a broker shows their resilience in overcoming the interruption and then getting on with their day whilst ensuring prioritisation is kept as a factor of utmost importance, before ending the day. 

Routines vary from one person operations to small/medium size firms to then larger companies. The main ingredients that are always the same for a successful broker is professional communication, availability, knowledge and consistency. Business structure becomes vital at the point where capacity and/or service may be impacted. Is support personnel required?

Taking, returning and proactively calling clients and referral partners every day ensures business comes in, stays in and limits it to flowing out the back door.

No one is ever left wondering till tomorrow. An unstoppable broker makes sure that as part of their routine that every phone call, email, text message, LinkedIn message, Facebook comment, instant message (you get the picture), is responded to on the same day, no excuses given.

There is always room to grow and the successful brokers make sure they don't miss out on any business opportunities. Brokers have a wide skill set, a deep knowledge of finance and professional contacts all over the country, all which they can tap into and enable them expand their business to where the market is heading and importantly, what consumers are seeking.

Clients are wanting a relationship with a financial expert not just a broker who can do home loans. They want real human assistance to help them in making their dream a reality through what is a serious transaction and definitely when the financial aspect of their life hits a few walls. They might also require guidance with business loans, asset or personal finance, help with their kids situations, budgeting and even guidance with setting up for retirement.

Brokers may not be able to fulfil all of their client’s needs directly but great brokers are aligned with the right professionals where a matching service proposition sees the client looked after and all parties communicated during the process. This not only sees the trust level increase in a broker’s relationship with their clients, which then transforms a broker into a loyal client's trusted advisor.

Social media can play a huge part, in not only helping grow a business and building a reputable brand, but can increase a successful broker's reach to help educate an audience through content marketing and video streaming. Without me writing another 1,000 words on social media strategies, I did feel I had to mention "Social Education" 

Being able to provide people with good information consistently (not just about loans), which is your own source of truth and comes from your own expertise, sees the successful brokers start to become unstoppable, as they now are providing value as an industry leader and moves them more into the realm of an influencer.

An unstoppable broker not only has the right skills to ensure all of the above points are covered but they do it with the highest sense of passion, commitment, drive, purpose and most of all consistency. 

They ensure their brand is impenetrable!

So are you an unstoppable broker?

Regards

Dino Pacella

Multi Award Winning Business Development Manager

Founder of National Finance Brokers Day

Disclaimer:

This content has been prepared for general information purposes only, all views expressed are my own and is not (and cannot be construed or relied upon as) personal advice, as it does not take into account your personal, financial situation or market conditions.