Better brokers

Having operated as a broker herself for five years in Western Australia, she opened her own office in January 2010 and began mentoring a few months after.

At the time, she didn’t believe the Certificate IV was enough and therefore she wanted to “make brokers better”. The Certificate IV simply would not develop the number of skills needed to be successful, she says.

“When I first meet people that I look to mentor, I look for personality,” she says. “I look for some drive and some ambition. I make sure that they understand that it is ideally a sales role.

“I put it all out on the table about what to expect and from there it’s all about seeing if the personalities match. Will they be driven? Will they be personable? Will they give clients a good experience? Are they cut out to be in this industry to start with?”

A good mentor

So, what makes a good mentor? By all accounts, Ms Irwin herself has it down to a fine art.

“When I started my mentorship, I was looking for someone who would give me valuable insights, teach me lending policies, show me how to evaluate clients, and present and structure deals,” says Shawn, one of Ms Irwin’s mentees.

“Alyson exceeded my expectations and after my two-year mentorship I now have the confidence and ability to handle any type of deal.”

Ms Irwin says the key to her success as a mentor is “patience” – but that’s not all that’s required.

“I think you need to have a good sense of commitment to the person that you plan to mentor,” she says. “You need to have really good communication skills. You need open lines of communication all the time. You need to have a good and strong work ethic.

“You also need to have the right facilities available, including an office. You need to be able to communicate procedures, policies and structures effectively.”

There are plenty of brokers out in the market who fit the bill, she says, but many of them don’t realise what’s involved.

“The biggest mistake that brokers make when they start mentoring is not dedicating enough time to their new brokers,” Ms Irwin explains.

“Before she joined me, one of my mentees sat in an office for a year and learnt nothing. She only settled $1 million in loans and was pretty much just left to her own devices.”

Being a talented broker yourself, therefore, doesn’t necessarily make you a good mentor.

“You have to take your time with your mentees,” she says. “You have to encourage them and teach them ways to generate more business. You can’t just expect it all to happen for them.”

Indeed, Ms Irwin says mentors have a huge role to play in ensuring new recruits see out the tough early stages of broking and stick with the industry.

“People looking for a mentor need to look for a good value proposition and very strong leadership,” she says. “The main thing is they’ve got to see value in what you, as a mentor, give them and what they learn from you.

“If you’re not a good mentor, they won’t see the value and they will leave the industry. I think the difference between a good broker and somebody who is non-committal is the fact that they have the right structure and support behind them.”

The balancing act between helping new brokers to grow and thrive and nurturing your own business is also tricky she says.

“It can impact your own business, so when you’re putting a lot of time into a new broker, of course you want to see results from them.”

Support and the right systems are therefore critical both to the success of the new broker and the viability of the mentor’s business.

“I have great support in my business,” Ms Irwin says. “I have my PA and I have a good team environment. We all back each other up, so I’m pretty well covered.”

Benefiting your business

By now, it should be clear that becoming a mentor is a huge commitment so what, you might ask, could be in it for you?

Ms Irwin emphasises that while it isn’t for everyone, there can be great rewards for business owners who take the plunge.

“There is a great reward in seeing good quality brokers finish a mentorship, be able to structure deals – and know how to structure them correctly – and find what’s best for the client, based on what you’ve taught them,” she says.

It’s also a great way to grow a broking business and gain a competitive edge.

In June, the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) warned that there is a growing shortage of young people entering the mortgage and finance broking profession.

The proportion of MFAA members aged under 30 has dropped from 11 per cent to six per cent in just the past two years.

In addition, only 19 per cent of new members are under 30.

If you are able to source new talent and develop a new broker’s professional skills from the outset, your business will ultimately benefit. Those whom you train from the earliest stages of their career won’t come into your business with poor, counterproductive habits.

But with so few young new-to-industry recruits out there, how does Ms Irwin find people to mentor?

“It’s a bit of a mixed bag really,” she says.

One way is to tap into Loan Market’s resources, she says, with some mentees recruited on the back of ads the company has placed online and in newspapers.

Primarily, though, it’s word of mouth. “It’s pretty much having your ear to the ground and looking for the right people,” she says, adding that someone who is constantly on the lookout – and knows what to look for – is bound to find talent they can bring on board.

“I’m always looking for recruits to expand my office, whether they’re experienced people looking for a change or someone in need of a mentorship,” she says. “If I end up benefiting the industry in the process by finding new talent and teaching them to be top operators, then that’s great.”