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An experienced mortgage professional has extended her brokerage’s training program to provide ongoing support and guidance for those new to the industry.
Nancy Youssef founded the now MFAA-approved Classic Mentoring program four years ago and has since mentored close to 85 brokers, providing them with a structured learning pathway and ongoing support.
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“It’s important especially in the first 12 months. We say it’s two years because the first 12-18 months are the most difficult,” Ms Youssef told The Adviser.
“[Those months] are difficult for various reasons. They’re difficult because a lot of them are going from salary to commission only. It’s difficult because there’s so much to learn and absorb, and especially without having that go-to person that they can contact.”
Ms Youssef said brokers who take part in the program are able to receive help with their questions and have access to a structured learning plan in which they create 30, 60 and 90-day goals to give them direction for the future.
“The other thing that’s really important is addressing the attrition rate,” she said.
“It’s very easy in those first 12 months to feel like ‘this industry is so difficult, it’s not for me, I’m going to leave’.
“Whereas when they’ve got support, it’s valuable to them that they have not just myself but an entire team that they can call on to be provided with support.”
Ms Youssef explained that new brokers can call their support team with a scenario, get help with packaging a complex deal, and get support when feeling demotivated.
“They come in and we do a motivational talk around their own personal development, not just professional,” Ms Youssef said.
Classic Mentoring recently launched ‘Classic Essentials’ and ‘Classic Accelerator’, lighter versions of the original ‘Ultimate’ program which allow brokers to choose to undertake specific aspects of the training relevant to them.
“We’re appealing to different levels of the market. It’s also for existing brokers... people who have already got a business and know how to attract leads, and all they want to do is learn how to write loans, or ex-bank staff who know how to do lending but not how to run a business,” Ms Youssef said.
[Related: Industry body calls to foster new brokers]
