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MAP Home Loans broker Craig Vaughan shares the three steps he follows to acquire new clients and how he learnt from his mistakes.
Queensland-based mortgage broker and MAP Home Loans director Craig Vaughan follows three key steps in recruiting a new client, but his processes were cemented after a period of trial and error.
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Mr Vaughan, who is also the product manager of mortgage broker software BrokerEngine, told Elite Broker that his sales process involves securing cold internet client leads and converting them to a deal.
The first step involves finding the cold leads and conducting a series of calls with the potential client in order to persuade them to agree to a loan strategy presentation meeting.
“You can’t try and convert that cold lead on one call. You’ve got to do a series. I call it a series of small ‘yeses’,” Mr Vaughan told The Adviser.
“What I mean by that is your objective for your first call is obviously to qualify them and make sure they’re a good fit for you.”
According to Mr Vaughan, the first “yes” he as a broker seeks to secure from a client is for them to agree to a loan strategy presentation.
His second step is to post a “shock and awe” pack to his potential clients, which includes a copy of his book, The Smart Borrower’s Roadmap, and he does this before his presentation to his clients.
“What that does for the client is it shows you’re a real person. They’ve got something tangible from you,” Mr Vaughan said.
“It also shows that you follow a process.”
Mr Vaughan pointed out that sending a “shock and awe” pack might pose a challenge for a new broker who has just entered the sector, as their packs might lack the shock and awe factor.
He suggested, however, that even those brokers can post a card or a note saying they are looking forward to their client meeting.
The third step Mr Vaughan follows is to deliver his strategies in his presentation in real time so that he can address questions and objections from the client immediately.
Mr Vaughan’s brokerage uses a particular template to format his strategy presentation, but said brokerages can create their own templates.
He believes that if he as a broker opts to formulate a home loan strategy after concluding the meeting and just emails the strategy to the client, and the client is unhappy with aspects of it, the broker might risk losing a client.
For example, if the client wanted a fixed rate and it is not included in the strategy, the client might google fixed rates, by which time the broker has lost the client.
Mr Vaughan discovered this from personal experience when he initially would just email strategies to clients, and saw that the conversion rate was only 50 per cent.
“As soon as I started doing it in real time, people were e-signing the loan strategy before we got off the call,” he said.
“Deliver [strategies] in real time so you can answer the clients’ objections in real time.”
Outsourcing to Loanworks
Mr Vaughan has five brokers scattered across his brokerages in Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as a team of five brokers outsourced to Loanworks in Manila.
He was Loanworks’ first broker in 2013, and began outsourcing to Loanworks in Manila since then.
Mr Vaughan said his way of working complements well with the working mentality of the brokers in Manila.
“I’ve got really a mind for processes and systems, and trying to find the one best way,” he said.
“What I like about the staff in Manila is they just love a process, [and] they want to follow a process. They want to know what the process is, and they want to follow it.”
Tips for new brokers
Mr Vaughan recommended that new brokers should seek to partner with a busy brokerage as they have plenty of leads and large databases.
“If you’re a new broker, don’t make my mistake,” he said.
“Go with a group that has lots of leads, and maybe take a cut on the commission. It will be worth it.”
Mr Vaughan also suggested that brokers should use the current quiet period in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to set up their systems and processes.
He said brokers should think about how this can enable them to write five or 10 deals when they start trickling through the door once the pandemic has passed.
Finally, Mr Vaughan proposed brokers could use the time to upskill by joining a coaching or mentor group, or implementing new elements in their process, such as a newsletter.
“Upskill so you don’t waste this time. [Then] you’re ready to go as soon as the business starts coming in the door again,” he concluded.
To hear more about Craig Vaughan’s journey from a lawyer to a mortgage broker who now owns two businesses, click here.
[Related: How this broker maintains work/life balance while managing two businesses]
