Aiming high - business planning

Traditionally, the property market slows down and fewer loans are written, creating the perfect opportunity to reflect on the things that didn’t work the year before and gather some motivation to kick-start the New Year.

“Although it’s a bit of a cliché, the first few weeks of January are absolutely the best time of year to sit down and plan for the coming 12 months,” Rob Garth of Clarity Financial Group tells The Adviser.

“November and December are often frantic and full of pressure, and as a result, January is a month where you can feel like you have escaped the pressure cooker and you actually have time to step back, consider the position the business is in and examine how things are tracking.”

According to Mr Garth, who was placed fifth in The Adviser’s 2013 Young Broker of the Year ranking, it is essential brokers follow through on the goals they set in January.

“It’s crucial that any plans and ideas generated from the start of the year are actually reviewed and implemented – ideally on a monthly basis – to ensure you don’t get to the start of the next year and wonder why your best-laid plans for the previous 12 months did not eventuate,” he says.

Griffin Czipri of eChoice Home Loans believes having a clear direction for your business is paramount to the success of a broking company.

“It is always important to assess and determine the direction of your business and define new goals annually to ensure everyone is working towards a common goal,” he says.

“The New Year is a great time to do this as most people are recharged after the break. However, I believe assessing success on a monthly basis is just as important to ensuring you are on track, and can help analyse what has and hasn’t worked, allowing change to be implemented.”

Leteisha Pileggi from Mortgage Choice Cannington in Western Australia agrees. According to The Adviser’s number two-ranked Young Broker of the Year for 2013, she is constantly reviewing her business.

“I work on different things in my business every week – the business is always a work in progress and we are constantly looking at ways to operate better,” she says.

“I do, however, often sit back and take a holistic look at the business. I would do this a few times year.”

Elite Business Writer Josh Bartlett of Loan Market says he comes back from the Christmas break feeling refreshed and with a new perspective.

“It is 100 per cent important to start 2014 with a positive attitude. I use the time off as an opportunity to sit back in a calm, relaxed environment and think about the ways I want to change my business,” the 16th ranked broker tells The Adviser.

“Come January, you’re feeling even fresher, your goals are even bigger and it’s a good way to start the year.”

SETTING BIG GOALS FOR 2014

Every successful business needs to have big and small goals in place this year

According to Doug Mathlin from FrontRunner Consulting, every broker needs a plan that outlines exactly what you will do to maximise every service you offer, every month.

“You really want to make goals for everything you do. That is, home loans, leasing, risk, and so on. And then you want to outline clearly how you will drive leads and conversions,” he explains.

This is most easily managed by using a spreadsheet or scorecard-type system, he suggests.

“Set up a number of spreadsheets – one for each service or product – and track the leads, appointments, applications and settlements for each,” he says.

This serves as a great way to keep a close eye on how your goals are tracking.

“The brokers who use this system have a clearer understanding of which areas of their business they need to work on and which areas are tracking really well,” Mr Mathlin explains.

“They know how they were progressing towards each goal. They have information to change their strategy if necessary.”

Leteisha Pileggi from Mortgage Choice Cannington is a fan of setting goals and says she puts them in place at the start of every year and revises them regularly.

“I set myself targets to work towards, and I try to set them higher than I would expect to achieve,” she says.

“I’m an extremely motivated person and working towards these targets draws out my competitive nature. I also hire staff with the same mindset. This part of my business plan is shared with my staff and we look at the results together. I certainly couldn’t meet these targets without them, so it’s important they are involved in this aspect of my business plan.”

According to Ms Pileggi, setting goals in her business translates to the huge success she achieves as a mortgage broker, including coming second in The Adviser’s 2013 Young Broker of the Year ranking.

“Setting high goals keeps my staff and me on our toes at all times,” she says. “We’re not just there working on what is on our desk; we are always working towards something bigger and better.”

According to Clarity Financial Group’s Rob Garth, being part of a goal-motivated team means the entire office works harder.

“Being part of a culture that is goal orientated is fantastic,” he says. “Every one of the brokers who I work with is incredibly successful, and this success is directly attributable to their hunger to achieve the goals they set for themselves.

“Every single employee of Clarity knows each of the broker’s individual targets for the year – and we all monitor our progress towards these targets on a monthly basis as part of our staff meetings. Having all staff on board and focused on the same end goal is crucial.”

INVEST IN YOURSELF

Spending money on the right things this year will see your business supercharge to success

Continued education, personal training and up-skilling are all extremely important to any successful broker, according to FrontRunner Consulting’s Doug Mathlin.

Mr Mathlin says brokers need to constantly be “sharpening the saw” to appear more influential, confident and knowledgeable in front of clients.

There is a plethora of training opportunities out there for brokers, but the key is looking for a course, seminar or conference that will fit your business, he says.

“[Brokers] should up-skill the weaknesses that are important to their business success,” Mr Mathlin says.

“We can always improve our communication, sales and service skills. Also, anyone with staff should invest in ‘people management’ skills.”

The highest ranked Elite Business Writer in Western Australia for 2013 and the second highest ranked overall this year, Rael Bricker of House+Home Loans, says investing money into training his staff is just as important as personal training.

He invests money into training his administration staff to ensure the company runs smoothly, no matter whether he is physically present or not.

“I think I’ve spent a lot of time in the last 10 years putting in the right systems and training confident staff,” he says. “I’ve been out of the office lately, but the world hasn’t collapsed because I know my team has got it covered.”

Speaking with The Adviser after his Elite Business Writers ranking was announced, he said it came down to training staff correctly to handle the responsibility of running a successful brokerage.

PICK UP THE PHONE

This year, aim to speak to 480 clients

If you do not already have a clear prospecting plan in place, right now is the best time to implement one for 2014.

According to FrontRunner Consulting’s Doug Mathlin, a broker should be calling no less than eight to 10 new clients per week.

“One of my tips for this year would be to call eight to 10 clients per week to understand how they feel about your service, which addresses client care, and to see if they are thinking about buying, selling or refinancing in 2014, which is all about client retention and sales,” he says.

Josh Bartlett of Loan Market agrees brokers need to be calling clients each week, but he says a broking company should be speaking with 30 clients per week. 

“This doesn’t need to be the broker themselves; they can delegate the responsibility to their support staff,” he explains.

“Part of my processor’s job is also customer care. They know the business, they know how to run a broking business and part of their job will be to contact clients each week.”

According to Mr Mathlin, these calls are important for a broker to stay ‘front of mind’ with their clients.

“Clients don’t expect follow-up calls and value-added services from service providers, so this is an opportunity to really impress them,” he says.

“Also, home loans are not products that people want to think about regularly – if a broker can assist them to pay it off quicker or make the most of the debt structure, clients will be pleased. Brokers are paid a trail to look after the client relationship, so they should do this as a minimum.”

INTEGRATE A NEW SERVICE

Take this opportunity to diversify your business

Integration and diversification were the buzz words of 2013, and this year experts are predicting much of the same.

Consumers are becoming hungrier for better, more diversified services, and the best brokers are following suit by adding extra services to their offerings.

FrontRunner Consulting’s Doug Mathlin is advising brokers to this year consider how you could integrate other services that your clients want into your service offerings for 2014.

“If your clients want car finance, general insurance, risk or something else, why not provide them yourself?” he asks.

“Your clients will be stickier and you’ll make your profit per client.”

But he warns this isn’t something to rush into.

“First, they should do some research with key clients. Ask clients if they would use you for the other services being considered. See how much training and preparation is required to bring on a new service,” he advises.

“Brokers should also ask other brokers who have tried to integrate new services about their experiences. If they still think there is an opportunity to offer more services to their existing clients, they should do so one product or service at a time.”

eChoice Home Loans’ Griffin Czipri says brokers need to be aware of not diluting their mortgage offering with extra services.

“Changing focus, especially to less profitable services, can be detrimental, as time will be taken up with additional paper work, new processes and industry updates,” he says.

“Having great referral partners who specialise in particular areas and will always refer the client back to you will ensure your clients’ needs are met.”

SEEK CLIENT FEEDBACK

Focus on who really matters this year

This year, Loan Market’s Josh Bartlett will be looking to implement a customer care program within his business, and he suggests every broker should do the same.

“Whenever you read about a broker who is successful, everything they talk about is around making sure you look after your customers,” Mr Bartlett explains. “So I think every broker out there coming into 2014 should organise a customer care program.

“At Loan Market, we actually now send out a survey to every single customer who has a loan with us and we get a score out of 10 from them. I think the goal from every single broker should be to survey their customers after they’ve done a loan for them.”

According to Mr Bartlett, since he started routinely surveying his clients he believes he has worked even harder for them.

“It’s funny, if you know you’re going to survey them it’s amazing how hard you work for every single client. You want a 10/10, to be honest. Once settlement happens, my client gets a survey two days later so it’s fresh in their mind. So if you don’t get a 10/10 it makes you think ‘What could I have done differently?’ So that should be the goal for every broker – to get a 10/10 for customer service,” he advises.

There are many customer satisfaction surveys available, but several international companies such as Nokia, Sony, Westpac, Vodafone, eBay and Apple are now increasingly using popular loyalty survey the Net Promoter System (NPS), which essentially surveys clients for their loyalty. The survey asks the ‘ultimate question’: What is the likelihood you would recommend company X to a friend or colleague?

According to a spokesperson at the NPS, a high score in this question usually refers to business success.

“High scores on this question correlated strongly with repurchases, referrals and other actions that contribute to a company’s growth,” the spokesperson says.

“In 11 of the 14 industry case studies the team compiled, no other question was as powerful in predicting behaviour. In two of the remaining three cases, other questions won out, but the likelihood-to-recommend question was so close to the top that it could serve as a proxy for the leaders.”

WORK POSITIVELY

Positivity at work spreads productivity

January is a great time to make changes to your business, and according to Josh Bartlett of Loan Market, he is going to launch into the New Year with the intention of reinventing the office culture in his Victoria-based business.

“My goal next year is to hire more people,” he says “I want to reshape my office culture. I don’t want to run a nine to five business anymore. I want to start running some flexibility within the business, which will just make the people inside the business have a little bit more freedom in their job.”

According to Mr Bartlett, that flexibility can take many shapes.

“So instead of coming in at nine and finishing at five, an employee can come in at six and finish at three, or maybe they can leave early on a Friday every couple of weeks, and then everyone can have a little bit more of a life,” he explains.

But this isn’t just a New Year resolution; this is something Mr Bartlett intends to implement into the business so it becomes second nature to his office.

“This job takes over your life – we work from seven in the morning until 10 at night, and the stress that a broker and their team carries is a concern,” he says.

“You might not have longevity in your business.”

Mr Bartlett says he got the idea to offer a more flexible working environment from a successful real estate agency.

“I’ve seen a few real estate agencies implement the idea in their offices and I thought it really shows you care for your staff and their wellbeing,” he says. “It also might mean a possible employee looks at our offices and says, ‘I want to work there’.”

TAKE A BREAK

Set your holiday plans for the year now to maximise your performance

There is no denying the mortgage broking industry is a highly stressful and time sensitive sector, and thus the burnout rate amongst brokers is extremely high.

Two of 2013’s best brokers, Mortgage Choice’s Leteisha Pileggi and Clarity Financial Group’s Rob Garth, admit they will plan their holidays for the rest of the year now.

“In January, as part of my planning for the coming year, I will sit down with my personal assistant and a year calendar and work out the times that I will be on leave,” Mr Garth explains.

“My goal is to have between eight to 10 weeks off per year, ideally in chunks of at least two weeks at a time to ensure I can fully switch off. By sitting down and doing this in conjunction with my PA, we can ensure our leave never coincides or overlaps, and it also ensures she takes her full annual leave entitlement for the year – which means she is always operating at her ideal level, which is of course crucial to my success!”

According to Mr Garth, any cost annual leave has on the business is easily earned back with productive workers.

“I see leave as an investment – not a cost. Work-life balance is absolutely crucial to my success,” he says.

“Being stressed out, working 80 hours a week and having no holidays for a year is a sign of burnout and poor time management!”

Similarly, Ms Pileggi sees it as an investment into her business.

“I expect there to be a high cost initially, but any initial monetary cost to the business will be made up by the benefit to me personally,” she says.

“I don’t believe it will take long before the initial cost translates to higher profit and less stress for me, which is the main aim.”

Mr Garth believes his leave time translates directly into business.

“Everything is clear and so much easier to cope with after time away – motivation returns, energy levels return, perspective is clearer. I am a better manager and a better broker when I have regular time away from the stresses of the industry,” he explains.

Ms Pileggi says not taking annual leave can be very costly to a business.

“I had some time off this year and I came back feeling refreshed,” she says. “If I burn out and loose the motivation that drives me, it will filter down to all aspects of the business.”

BUILD ROUTINE INTO YOUR WORK

Find success this year by working to a plan

Finding a routine in your working life can lead to business success – it becomes easier to hit deadlines and follow up with clients.

However, your routine should be consistent not just with work but with sleep patterns, the times you eat your three square meals each day, and even your exercise patterns.

The more routine you have, the more successfully you will be able to reach your goals, says eChoice Home Loans’ Griffin Czipri.

“I have developed a routine to ensure I stay focused,” he explains. “I start the day energised and avoid becoming content with my current situation.

“For example, I go to the gym every morning, which energises me and clears my head for the day. I also meet with referral partners on a regular basis and ensure I play sport regularly and take annual holidays routinely.”

But according to Mr Czipri, getting into a routine doesn’t come without major challenges.

“The major challenge is fitting this into a weekly schedule and managing workflow whilst on holidays,” he says.
He also says the hard work it takes to achieve a routine is outweighed by the positive.

“If managed correctly, this can lead to great success as it allows you to stay motivated. Personal success becomes a routine, as you continually look for ways to improve.”

GET FIT 

Getting into shape does more for your business than you might first think

We all know there are many benefits to exercising, including reduced stress levels, a boost in ‘happy’ chemicals, improved self-confidence, prevention of cognitive decline and a sharper memory – but it can also kick-start your motivation in the office.

Research has proven that employees who take time out of their day to do regular training have more energy than their inactive colleagues, with doctors proving your body’s circadian rhythms work best in the middle of the day, so the ideal time to do a workout is midday.

“Having a successful business and earning big bucks requires hard work, stamina and perseverance,” Doug Mathlin of FrontRunner Consulting says.

“Being physically fit will help you put in the hours required.”

Twenty-first ranked Young Broker of the Year 2013 Griffin Czipri of eChoice Home Loans agrees. He says physical exercise is what allowed him to keep up the energy to write 118 settlements in the 2012/2013 financial year, at just 23 years of age.

“I definitely agree that exercise is really important. I go to the gym every morning before work five days a week,” he says.

“This provides me with the energy to stay alert all day, to stay focused, and it clears away any stress. This has proven to be successful for me to date.”

According to Mr Mathlin, it is also smart to get a health check at the beginning of the year to ensure you start the year with a clean bill of health.

“We will all get some kind of illness during the year, but a health check by a doctor can help prevent major illnesses. A lifestyle change may be necessary for some,” he says. “For most brokers, if you are sick – so is your business.”

FIND A MENTOR

Some of the best brokers rely on business coaches and mentors for guidance and support.

Josh Bartlett, The Adviser’s youngest Elite Business Writer for 2013, believes the best money he has ever spent on his business was on his business coach.

“I think it’s important for brokers to find someone – whether it’s a business coach or another broker who’s a mentor – who can help you be accountable for your goals,” he says.

“As brokers, we work on our own so it’s very hard to be accountable to anyone if something goes wrong in the business. There are a lot of brokers who just work individually – possibly even from out of their home – and it’s not typically a job that involves a lot of staff in an office. So unless you are really strict on yourself, it is hard to have that accountability for your goals.”

According to Mr Bartlett, he sees his business coach once a quarter to go over the goals he has set the quarter prior.

“My coach is a business man too, so he can see things that I really can’t see because I am in my business every day. Essentially, you are paying them to give a professional, outside opinion,” he says.

And Mr Bartlett believes it is worth every penny.

“I would definitely encourage other brokers to enlist the help of a business coach,” he says.

“When I first met my business coach, he made me realise processing wasn’t my strong suit and instead, made me realise what I was really good at. He helped me hire the right kind of staff, and as a consequence, I began writing more business.”

Meanwhile, Mortgage Choice’s Leteisha Pileggi, the highest ranking female Young Broker of the Year 2013, says she uses the support of her network to keep her accountable.

“I can see a lot of benefits of having a business coach, but it’s not for me right now. I hold myself very accountable and if I fall off, I have a network of people at Mortgage Choice getting me back on track,” she explains.

“We continually revise the business plans with Mortgage Choice, and there is always another franchisee offering support or advice whenever needed.

“I think because I’m still new to the business and very excited about how it is progressing, I can hold off on this for now. However, it is something I would look at if the growth plateaued or I felt I wasn’t setting myself challenges anymore.”

According to FrontRunner Consulting business coach Doug Mathlin, his job is to offer a different perspective.

“A coach will assist you to make better decisions about your business,” he explains. “They will have different perspectives about what’s important in the business. They will also identify ‘habits’ the broker has that are not ‘income producing’. A coach will also hold the broker accountable for changes to business practices.”