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The principal of Birdie Wealth sat down with Elite Broker to explain how being process-driven can help a brokerage achieve consistency.
The NSW-based brokerage, which won three awards at the 2020 Australian Broking Awards (ABA), has attributed some of its success to formulating a process that anyone can follow and replicate.
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Birdie Wealth principal Nathan Smith said this process is clear throughout the client’s journey.
“We’ve got it written down and anyone who joins Birdie is given a copy of that process of exactly what happens to each client, from the very first phone call through to settlement [and] post-settlement,” Mr Smith told the Elite Broker podcast.
“There are steps at each stage and each step needs to be followed. It’s very much a process-driven piece.”
At the end of the first meeting with a client, a voice memo is recorded, which is then transcribed.
Birdie Wealth’s mortgage loan processor, Rebecca McIlwain, who was crowned Loan Administrator of the Year at the ABAs, is introduced to the client immediately after the first meeting. She receives a copy of the transcription to understand the client’s needs.
From there, both Mr Smith and Ms McIlwain will work together to research the best options, including lenders that might suit the clients.
“Bec will get the remainder of the documentation together and will make sure that it’s cross-checked with what was discussed in the conversation and start to package together that piece from there,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith suggests that all brokers should transfer the process that may be in their minds on to paper in a way that is replicable.
“You may have done it for five years, 10 years, [but] if it’s all stuck in your head and it’s not a process somebody can follow, that’s where we see a downfall in the consistency in their work and it comes down to the fact that they haven’t been given a process to follow,” Mr Smith said.
“Start with a draft and just talk through what you’re doing at each stage. Get that down onto paper and then improve it over a period of time.”
Ms McIlwain told Elite Broker that the brokerage uses an online diary called Streak to ensure that everybody can keep track of the progress inside a client’s file. Team members will be assigned with different tasks and activities for each client.
All correspondence with and file notes of a client will be entered into Streak, which is diarised and updated every day to ensure everyone is kept in the loop.
“Everyone can simply access it and know exactly where each file is up to,” Ms McIlwain said.
“We work in a paperless office, so it’s not like we have notes in the old diary that each day we write down the client’s name and what’s needed to be done.”
Additionally, according to Ms McIlwain, the online diary system has been an asset during the coronavirus pandemic, when staff members have been working remotely, because everyone can access Streak from anywhere.
“It’s right there in front of us. If someone unfortunately is off ill or something like that, we all have access. Everyone can pick up where the other people have left off,” she said.
To listen to the full podcast with Birdie Wealth’s Nathan Smith and Rebecca McIlwain, click here:
[Related: Creating a winning partnership]
