Login
ISCOVER
A successful broker has highlighted the significant benefits of building and maintaining solid business partnerships with other like-minded professionals.
Smartline franchisee Michal Karp has explained that one of the keys to his success has been his keenness to network and meet as many businesspeople as he can.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
“One of the big things I’ve been focusing on in the last six months or so is, like everyone should be worrying about, where the leads are going to come from and how I can firm them up and make them more consistent,” Mr Karp told The Adviser.
“Referral partners have been, in some cases, a little bit ad hoc or the consistency hasn’t necessarily been there so I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I can do to make them more consistent,” he said.
One of the strategies Mr Karp has implemented recently to enhance the consistency of his leads is entering into a formal relationship with a financial planner.
“It’s basically a joint venture arrangement where we both have financial benefit. I just think that’s one way of firming something up,” he explained.
“It’s hard because every deal is different and ideally you want the first referral you get to be fantastic, but there are so many variables that can stand in the way of that actually happening.
“There’s a little bit of chance about it too, but by the same token, you’ve got to give it 110 per cent at that time and make it as good as you possibly can and be totally flexible,” Mr Karp advised.
Mr Karp also said it’s important for brokers to be mindful of where their referral partner’s intentions and goals are in order to ensure that they fit together.
At the moment, Mr Karp said he has referral relationships with a mixture of professionals.
“Real estate agents come and go, they’re very all about the now … I’d say you would have two or three agents that would ebb and flow. Planners, probably about three,” he elaborated.
When it comes to involving money in referral relationships, Mr Karp said that so far he’s never paid for a referral.
“You’ve got to be fair from a client perspective and I don’t believe in people taking money just for nothing; there’s got to be some value in it for the client.
“As long as it’s done in a fair way that doesn’t influence the outcome for the client unfairly, I think that’s there’s probably a case for it … but unfortunately money can sully things too.”
Mr Karp told The Adviser during the Elite Broker podcast that he aims to continue growing his business and his next target is to write $60 million in loans.
Find out more about how he plans to do so:
JOIN THE DISCUSSION