Aggregator: AFG
State: SMS Finance
Total value of residential loans FY2018/19: $164,318,570
Total number of residential loans FY2018/19: 384
Colin Mason’s motto to “do a good job” might sound simple, but he sees it as has having many facets. And with the greatest number of loans written by this year’s top 10, it is clearly working for him.
Part of Mason’s approach is to build relationships with referral partners, such as real estate agents, accountants and builders all around the Sunshine Coast, where his branch of SMS Finance is based. He has ensured that each of these partners has been kept fully up to date with all the changes over the last year
“We just really stayed abreast of what was going on in the market and communicating that to our referral sources, so they knew what was going on at the coalface,” he says.
“And trying to help them really steer their businesses through the muddy waters, because everyone was affected; it wasn’t just mortgages and brokers. A whole lot of different businesses were affected because of what was going on in the banking commission.”
In the Sunshine Coast market, Mason saw people leaving the region and heading back to the cities after their businesses failed.
But his approach to his own business has kept him going strong, and he saw 7.90% growth in loan value from the year before. He says it is important to take a “helicopter approach” and look down on the business sometimes, rather than working within it.
“If you’ve got a good business, you’re motivated and you’re working on your business, I think you’ll always be successful,” he says.
Communication and strong relationships with his customers have also been a top priority. Particularly during the royal commission, Mason made sure they understood trail commission and how the brokerage would earn it moving forward. “We made it very clear that we’re here to do a whole lot of diffferent stuff post-settlement, and that’s brought a lot of business back through the door,” he says.
Mason, alongside his business partner, continues to hire new staff when neeeded.
While he takes the lead and meets with the clients, his team handle much of the processing. This allows Mason to start conversations with the next client while his support staff ensure everything is “watertight”, and it has helped him reach those impressive volumes of loans.
