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One of Australia’s biggest brokerages has warned that brokers who don’t have their back-office operations in order risk missing out on a lucrative boom period.
Speaking with The Adviser, Mark De Martino, director of sales at LoanMarket, said unprepared brokers will be overwhelmed in the coming months.
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“My advice to brokers in 2014 is to get themselves 'game ready',” he said. “Whether we have a six-month boom, a 12-month boom or a five-year boom, it’s clear that the market is moving significantly in our favour and we’ve got a tailwind.”
Mr De Martino believes client relationships and contact will remain key; however, there is one area that he believes many have overlooked.
“Even more important is looking at what sort of blockages in your business need to be eradicated in order to take advantage of this market.”
According to Mr De Martino, the majority of broker stress will fall back on back-office operations – and now is the time to fix any issues which may arise.
“Are you going to get caught up next year with too much business coming through the door and yourself being stuck because you have to run that back office and do all the paperwork yourself?
“Are you going to be game ready with a PA, whether it be outsourced or internally? Are you ready to take advantage of the flows that will be coming through your door?”
With a greater reliance on back-office personnel, Mr De Martino’s warnings echo those made by director of Intellitrain Paul Eldridge in late October.
“It’s less value for brokers to be entering data and chasing files – so think about the role you want in your business first before hiring,” he said.
“The role is probably not another mortgage broker; the role is probably a back-office assistant.
“That way you can advertise on Seek for a back-office person, or an admin/PA person, instead of looking for a purely mortgage-focused professional,” Mr Eldridge said.
