The COVID-19 pandemic has posed the biggest challenge in his career so far
COVID-19 has seen brokers across the country adapt to a whole raft of changes while helping customers access hardship packages, refinance existing loans and apply for new finance in a climate of policy flux.
Young Gun and Aussie broker Kevin Vo says the pandemic has posed the biggest challenge in his career so far. MPA spoke with Vo about how he overcame this as well as the success of his franchise over the past few years.
Becoming a broker and adapting to change
After working in banking for about 15 years, Vo decided it was time to join the world of broking. He traded in his job as a commercial banker at CBA to open up an Aussie franchise in Cabramatta with two of his colleagues.
“I thought it was time for a change and there was a market to help the customer out rather than staying with one bank,” he says.
“Broking gives you more opportunity to service the customer.
“That’s the reason why I decided to step out of my comfort zone and go into the broker world.”
The biggest challenge for him so far has been staying on top of the almost constant policy changes brought in by the lenders. This has been crucial in providing finance solutions for customers who may have been suited to a particular product or lender before the pandemic, but have since had to look at other options.
“It’s about finding ways to adapt to the changes.”
Working from home
Like most brokers, working from home is another change he has adapted to in recent times. This has proved particularly difficult for Vo – while taking time off childcare his two young children provided a noisy backdrop to work against.
“With all the noise I could not talk on the phone at all and my car was the office.”
The biggest highlight for him has been the success of his store within a relatively short time frame; the franchise receiving several Aussie awards since its launch in 2018.
“We exceeded what we wanted to achieve in a year or two. At the moment we’re in the top ten for Aussie Home loans state wide,” Vo says.
“We’ve won a few quarterly awards from head office for good outcomes, I think we’ve won the last three or four quarters in a row.”
They also won emerging retail store of the year for Aussie in 2019 and the platinum store award.
Keen to kick again
While playing soccer has been a longstanding passion for Vo, he hasn’t found much time to do this outside work and family life.
“I spend time with the kids on the weekend and try to do as much as with them as I can.”
He says he hopes to get back to playing soccer again when the time is right.
