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An award-winning loan writer and a successful business development manager offer new brokers some key advice on the realities of the broking industry.
Speaking to The Adviser, MFAA business development manager Zarko Jokic advised new brokers to “plan to be rejected sometimes, plan to be frustrated, plan to work longer than you’ve ever worked before”.
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Nicole Cannon of Pink Finance echoed this sentiment on The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast, adding that broking is a “really hard gig”.
“It’s a great gig, I love it, but it’s bloody hard work,” she said. “Dealing with banks, negotiating with the banks, dealing with client expectations, real estate expectations… there are so many different pieces of the puzzle.”
To prepare for the tougher aspects of the industry, the MFAA’s Mr Jokic recommends that new brokers complete a SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis on themselves when starting out.
“Be really genuine about what you’re good at and what you’re not, have that clear start thinking on paper. It’s an important skill. If you can think on paper you can beat most of the marketplace because you can clarify your ideas and you can start to get vision around that.
“Then, once you know what you’re good at, work out, what are the tangibles that will show you’re successful? If it’s a dollar figure, work out how many settlements is that, how many transactions do I need, how many approvals, applications, interviews and leads do I need?
“Then work out where you’re going to get your leads from. If you do all that, and you still say ‘This is for me,’ then you’ll make it. It’s all about planning.”
He also urged new brokers not to be hesitant about asking for help when needed.
“I think that’s probably an element that we don’t do well in our industry. We almost let pride get in the way of progress. So, if you get to a point that you know that maybe an element of your business isn’t going as well as it should, get help.
“Contact your aggregator or BDM… all those people want to see you succeed and they have resources to help you.”
Pink Finance’s Ms Cannon tells new brokers to be persistent and remember that “no is not always no” when it comes to loan applications.
“Back yourself and if you really believe in a loan and if you really believe that it’s worth fighting for, well do it. There are plenty of times where I’ve had things overruled,” she said.
Amid all the challenges of the industry, the MFAA’s Mr Jokic emphasised that new brokers should also “plan to be rewarded” by their role.
“This is a great industry, because you genuinely change people’s lives,” he concluded.
[Related: The biggest challenges facing new brokers]
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