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ISCOVER
Promoted by AFG
Anyone who’s in the business of giving professional financial advice knows the importance of diversification. Exposure to other sectors reduces your risk and, most importantly, provides other avenues for income and growth. But as a residential broker, how often do you take that advice yourself?
2018 is the perfect opportunity to add some business and commercial banking to your offering – for a whole host of reasons.
At AFG we’ve believe the commercial lending landscape is underserved; with industry data suggesting brokers have anywhere from 5-20% market share as opposed to the 53%+ brokers enjoy in the residential lending space.
What’s more, we’ve also identified that most brokers aren’t leveraging the sub $1m space because of the lack of efficiencies in traditional sub $1m commercial transactions.
It’s not hard to see that there’s a lot of opportunity here, especially when you consider the needs of small to medium businesses.
Understandably, many residential brokers might shy away from tackling the commercial sector given the greater complexities and expertise required. But if the last 20 years have taught us anything, it’s that customers prefer going to one person for their financing. So it’s worthwhile considering how many of your residential clients are also small business owners; our data illustrating that around 20% of the home loans on our brokers’ books are reliant on a small business to service them.
It’s safe to say that in 2018 commercial finance is shaping up as the new battleground. AFG has developed the tools you need to add another string to your bow and help you win your share of the market.
We’ve spent the last year developing AFG Business - a game-changing platform specifically designed for Australia. The analytics and financial services technology means you can provide small business owners with a broad range of options that align their needs with lenders’ appetites. The result is a much faster and more efficient way to find and secure the right product. And all it takes is one easy application process to submit to any of our suitable panel lenders.
For commercial brokers this means they can generate new income from the sub $1m market. For others it’s an opportunity to play in this space for the first time and diversify in what is a relatively slow housing market in a number of pockets around the country.
Of course, it’s not as easy as saying that you’re simply just going to start commercial. That’s why the support the platform offers is as important as the functionality. Training materials, marketing collateral and sales tools are all built in.
The first step is to talk to us about how we can best help you leverage the platform, we’ll then provide you the training and accreditation to gain an understanding of the commercial environment, the language and products, and also to familiarise yourself with the AFG Business platform. It leads you through the complexities and constant changes that are part and parcel of commercial lending. In the end you’ll feel more than confident talking commercial with your clients. Plus we have a dedicated commercial BDM team and help desk with fully trained AFG staff ready to help you out at any stage along the way.
As we move into a new year, it’s important to understand where the market is going. With many brokers offering a holistic service there’s every chance the commercial broker you refer a client to can also offer them residential financial services. It’s never been so vital to retain current clients and attract new ones by diversifying and enhancing your services, and AFG Business is just what you need to enjoy a prosperous 2018.
