The branded broker

Ross Le Quesne, manager of Aussie’s Parramatta franchise, cut his teeth as a mobile lender with Wizard Home Loans, where he discovered the benefits of operating under a company brand.

He also spent some time at Wizard’s head office, where he helped train and develop other mobile lenders, before branching out with his own franchise in Parramatta.

Working in a corporate environment gave Le Quesne an understanding and appreciation of the branded mortgage business.

After the sale of Wizard in 2009, he was faced with a decision: join Aussie or go solo. “We weighed up our options but in the end, Aussie seemed the right fit,” he says.

The Parramatta office settled $160 million in the 2009/2010 financial year, making it Aussie’s top national franchise. Personally, Le Quesne’s biggest deal to date is a $3.4 million mortgage on two properties in Mosman, Sydney.

Joining Aussie seems to have paid off.

BRANDED PRODUCTS

When the former Wizard store became an Aussie franchise, the change wasn’t confined to a paint job.

“We noticed that the quality of walk-ins was higher with Aussie than it had been with Wizard,” Le Quesne says. “Aussie advertises itself as a mortgage broker.

“The quality of people coming through the door tends to be higher because they are coming to you for a solution and they understand how mortgage broking works.”

A lot has also changed industry-wide since Le Quesne became a mortgage broker 10 years ago.

The industry has grown considerably, despite continuing cuts to broker commissions. Brokers are being driven to diversify their business in order to survive and Le Quesne is no different.

At Aussie, a suite of branded products is part of the business offering, making that increasingly important cross-sell just a bit easier.

“It’s all about how you put it to the client really,” Le Quesne says. “If you incorporate into the home loan products like loan protection insurance or credit cards, then it’s just like an add-on and becomes a lot easier to provide.”

While the continued success of Aussie’s Parramatta office is largely down to mortgage sales, Le Quesne recognises that diversification is the way of the future.

“It’s an important part of the business,” he says. “With the margins we’re making with regard to commissions – which have been reduced significantly in the last couple of years – it’s important to make up the difference in income.”

Le Quesne’s experience as a training and development manager for Wizard has also helped him realise the importance of product knowledge.

“Brokers really need to understand their products,” he says. “Our job as a mortgage broker is to match people with the most appropriate product, and without product knowledge you can’t do that.”

Servicing his clients’ needs is the first priority; retaining them comes a close second. Nevertheless, working under the Aussie banner has put Le Quesne and the Parramatta team in a good position when it comes to client retention.

BRANDED COMMUNICATIONS

The Aussie brand is more than just a banner in the mortgage industry – it’s a household name. Across Australia, people are familiar with Aussie.

A sustained marketing campaign spanning several years – including the television ads featuring founder John Symond – has contributed to the brand’s profile enormously.

Having a trusted name like Aussie on emails and letterheads adds enormous value to touch points, says Le Quesne.

“Keeping in regular contact with our clients is very important,” he says. “We write to our clients and send out a monthly branded email and branded newsletter to keep in touch.”

Receiving branded touch points on a regular basis reminds the client that their needs are being taken care of.

It also promotes referrals through increased brand recognition.

In the case of Aussie, the more the brand is distributed to clients, the more likely they are to refer business back to it.

About 50 per cent of Le Quesne’s business comes from referrals, and after eight years in Parramatta, he has managed to build up a reliable network of local professionals – a valuable asset for the franchise.

Many local businesses refer clients to Aussie’s Parramatta office. Accountants, estate agents, buyers’ agents and family law firms have been referring business to the franchise for years, confident that the team at Aussie will deliver.

“I don’t believe in spending lots of money on advertising,” Le Quesne says. “I think in this day and age all business comes through referrals.”

Being an Aussie franchise manager means meeting the expectations of your referrers by providing a professional service, he says: “You’ve got to do what you say you’re going to do.

“A lot of people let down their referrers because they don’t do a good job. We always try to over-service the leads we get from referrers.”

A TEAM PLAYER

Le Quesne says the secret of his success is all down to his team of experienced brokers.

“A lot of our staff have been with us for many years,” he says. “Alison, our office manager, has been with us for eight years and she was a branch manager at CBA for 15 years before that.”

Armed with a solid network of referral partners and a foundation of reliable support staff, Le Quesne forecasts growth for the future.

Infrastructure developments in Sydney’s west have also created room for the business to expand its reach. “We think there’s a lot of opportunity in the market at the moment, especially in our area in Parramatta,” Le Quesne says.

“We want to build a referral-based business from our existing client base and establish new relationships.”