A sundowner with a twist

Aussie Warwick's latest broker diary details how they are building relationships with local businesses

Phil Barton and Natalie Duong began Aussie Warwick last year. Over 12 exclusive diary entries they talk about the personal and professional challenges of running a new brokerage.

We had a great review this month from an anonymous mystery shopper; quite unexpected however very welcome. It was a slickly produced review almost in the form of an infomercial about Aussie Warwick on YouTube. 

Ironically we stumbled across the video whilst looking for inspiration for marketing to our referral partners, and discovered that providing the best service possible should be the foundation. Having watched it only a few dozen times, this gave us the confidence to host our very own Sundowner for our local business group, the Malaga and Districts Business Association, to promote what we do.

We held the event at Aussie Warwick, kicking off at 5.30pm for just a couple of hours. It was a great turnout of about 25 business owners including a few of our referral partners. The location and size of the store was conducive to creating a warm and inviting atmosphere without being too overbearing or busy. New acquaintances were made with good conversation and a keener interest in our business was developed. 

After refreshments and of course the famous Aussie Warwick cupcakes, the night concluded with business cards being placed into a raffle draw for the obligatory spot prize. We retained these to follow up with a thank you for attending and hopefully a reminder about the services we can offer in the future.
The primary goal of the Sundowner was to promote Aussie Warwick’s 1st anniversary, with a secondary purpose to acknowledge our desire to become more involved within the business community, so it was a useful introduction for Natalie and I to the wider membership of the group.

We wanted to add value to the night by also inviting some non-members from our circle of influence whom we thought would benefit from an informal networking event while also providing an opportunity for the association to recruit new members. It also helps us to maintain relationships with existing business partners and facilitate stronger bonds with them, and we invited our financial planner and settlement agent to attend and speak in brief about their services. 

To take this further, we have signed up as Gold Sponsors of the association and have also committed to be the sponsor of its 2015 Excellence Award Business of the Year.  This is a great honour and we are very much looking forward to presenting the award to the successful business. By forging connections with this type of partner we can also look at business that achieve success and learn from their example. We have also been nominated in the category of Best New Business (2 years or less), which we’re very proud of.

This week we are off to the 2015 Aussie Conference in Melbourne. It is an event to which all Aussie brokers from around the country are encouraged to attend. It is certainly the biggest date in the Aussie Calendar and one which celebrates the success and hard work of those who achieve. It is also an opportunity for professional development through exposure to our peer groups. Also on the agenda are appearances from prominent business people who will provide an insight into what it takes to succeed. 

I certainly look forward to bringing you a few snippets in the next diary entry.
 
Phil and Natalie will be detailing their experiences every other Friday on MPA Online and in Australian Broker magazine two weeks following. You can find Aussie Warwick's website here.

Previous diary entries: 
Become a community champion
Welcoming diversity in your client base
Deciding to sacrifice Saturdays