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Finance broker Michelle Gorsevski not only founded online finance platform LendLab in 2020, she is a finalist in the Better Business Awards 2024 in the Best Finance Broker category in Victoria. In this Q&A, the director of LendLab speaks about her drive to improve her clients’ financial position, how she overcame challenges, and what good customer service means to her.
How did you start down this career path?
As I was completing my bachelors in business accounting at Melbourne University, I had been working for a finance company where I had built a passion for the industry. As soon as I graduated, I was offered a position in a popular accounting firm as a junior accountant based on my exceptional results, which I had immediately accepted, thinking that I had found my path for the future.
It did not take me long to realise that my belonging was not in accounting, it was in finance.
My passion for finance just grew stronger, I knew what I had to do, I wasted no time and went back to doing what I loved to do, finance. It has now been over 20 years and I still love what I do.
What inspires you in your role/industry? Why?
My inspiration comes from the ability to be able to put a person in a better financial position. Growing up, I had become aware that people in my life would look for a financial solution by going to their local bank with the expectation that the loyalty would flow both ways, it didn’t, these people would have had a much better solution if they had done a little resource. I am now driven to break that cycle and provide my customers the best financial solution with the potential of saving them thousands of dollars while putting them in a greater position. We are in a world of options, therefore using a broker like myself has the ability to explore this via a panel of lenders. We do the research and are up to date on all available products making borrowing exciting.
What's your approach to customer service that separates you from the rest?
Not only do I help find clients the best product with the best rate possible, I have developed a team that actually takes the time to educate and provide feedback to our clients on how to help improve their current position in order to be eligible for some even greater products and rates. Even if we are unable to assist their need upon application, we always provide a form of coaching to assist them in the future. Clients really appreciate this as trying to understand what a lender's criteria may look like is not something customers have the knowledge on. I strive to provide exceptional customer service which reflects our glowing 1200+ google reviews! I get a buzz from seeing these reviews!!
How do you innovate and stay ahead of industry trends?
I am constantly in discussions with all the lenders on our panel, learning and updating lender policies, putting all findings into training amongst our team. This is very important for our results as we strive to protect our customer credit scores. I have also put together our very own in-house development team that is heavily involved in improving our tech making the journey through an application seamless with impeccable accuracy. The development team is also constantly engaged in security improvements. We maintain relations with credit score companies to make sure we are at the forefront and ready to take on any new technology advances they have or are planning.
What is the toughest challenge you've faced in your role? How did you overcome it?
One of the toughest challenges I was faced with was not having access to certain lenders on my panel that would potentially qualify my customers for better products at cheapest rates. This was not within my control, it was due to the availability of lenders associated with my aggregator at that time. I had pleaded with that particular aggregator to look into associating certain lenders that my clints would benefit from, but I had no success. I proceeded to research which aggregator will suit my business model the best to provide my clients the best solution at the most affordable rate, once that become apparent, I proceeded with making the difficult switch, which has worked out favourably.
What are some of your goals for the next 5 years?
My goal is to grow the company by further development, education and expanding my team by using both technology and marketing. We have a great process that our current clients have already grown to love so I plan on making more customers aware of these services through the marketing plan.
I strive to help more Aussies save on interest while giving guidance on how to improve their financial goals to provide them with a better financial future.
The goal would be to make LendLab a household name with a service that can be trusted.
Learn more here: https://www.lendlab.com.au/
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