George Collings is a successful broker who loves his job, but there's one area in which he considers himself a complete failure...
George Collings was a mediator in the Family Court before he became a broker. He now loves the profession so much that he considers his work-life balance a total failure and wants to keep broking for as long as he can.
George Collings has been broking for at least 15 years now, but he hasn’t always been in the mortgage game. In fact, he didn’t have a banking background before heading down the mortgage broking route.
“My position before that was as a mediator in the Family Court, and I had a background in human services. I used to give lectures on separation as part of the job within the Family Court,” he explains.
“One member of the audience one day was a financial planner who asked me a few questions, and over time I got to know him. Then later he offered me a chance to come and work with him.”
When his new business partner got married and moved overseas, the pair sold the business and Collings decided to go it alone – partnering with likeminded individuals to form a new company, Charles Knight. And four years down the line there’s no turning back.
While Collings admits that he works long hours, he enjoys having more control over his life as a mortgage broker than he had while working for the Family Court.
“At the Family Court the hours were long and it was high pressure. And I was looking for the opportunity as I became more mature to be able to have more control over my own hours,” he explains.
“I’m still working long hours, but at least I can say yes or no and I can take holidays at times when I decide rather than be dictated to by external factors. So it’s more about that. And I also had an interest in investment, and I always had an interest in property too, so it was a natural sort of progression.”
Guilty as charged
When it comes to work-life balance, Collings says that he’s quite guilty of focusing more on work than his social life and not seeing friends for up to 12 months at a time.
“I mainly only keep in contact with my friends because they contact me, so I wouldn’t say I’m a great example of work-life balance at all. I am a failure in that regard, totally,” he says.
But all that focus on work has allowed Collings to streamline his lead generation process. He explains that Charles Knight has key performance indicators and has put together a form that brokers use after each interview to ask customers for referrals.
“So there’s an expectation that for every new customer we generate about three other referrals from that customer,” he says.
“Apart from that, the other thing is we have a lead generation team. We don’t put any money into advertising as such, but we do put a lot of money into lead generation through phone marketing. And we do put a lot of money into presenting to other customers, like accountants and financial planners with whom we think we can develop a strategic relationship.”
He adds that it’s important not to rely on any one source for lead generation or new customers.
“But you need to have a range of options and a range of methodologies, not all of which will work at the same time. But hopefully that’s something which can be done,” he says.
When it comes to common issues that he encounters with clients, Collings explains that being a property investor specialist comes with its own set of challenges.
“Most of the investor clients we have would be earning in the higher income bracket. They are mostly professional and they are time poor. And many of them have moved into senior positions and haven’t really – whilst they may have kept up with their professional associations and qualifications and expertise – quite had the time to keep abreast of the latest developments in terms of implications for financial change and legislation; therefore they are not always doing what they could be doing or should be doing. There is a fair degree of lack of information,” he explains.
Cautious words
Being an investor specialist, Collings has been keeping a keen eye on the SMSF market, but has his misgivings about the way in which some SMSF trustees go about incorporating property into their portfolio.
“There are a lot of comments being made now about people investing into certain properties and self-managed super funds, and you wonder whether the recommendations were made by the associates with the people they are working with because of commissions or because they can see genuine investment opportunity and investment growth – and I think that’s always an issue too,” he says.
“I see so many units in Australia go into self-managed super funds and you have to say to yourself, ‘Well, are any of these going to achieve in the next 10 years any capital growth, given the fact that in Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane there is change in the legislation with local government to height restrictions?’ ”
He gives the example of a recent trip to Como in South Yarra, where he saw a number of tall apartment blocks under construction.
“You can say, whatever they paid for those units, in 10 years’ time if you look at the inflation rate of around the mid-two’s, you’re not going to see any capital growth in those properties, I wouldn’t think,” he says. “A lot of those will go into self-managed super funds.”
Just keep working
When asked about his future plans, Collings says that, being in the enviable situation of enjoying his work, he intends to keep working as long as possible.
“I think a lot of people look forward to working less, but I would certainly look forward to doing what I’m doing now for a lot longer because I enjoy what I do,” he says. “I don’t feel exhausted by the work. I find the work interesting. I find the changes that are happening within the Australian financial industry and the world in general quite fascinating.”
Speaking about the exciting changes that the industry is experiencing, Collings harks back to the introduction of electronic loan processing – and how far the industry has come in the age of smart phones and tablets.
“I travelled overseas recently and all I took was my iPad. Once upon a time that would have been unheard of. I would say there would be further changes in technology in the next five years that may not be considered now,” he says.
Collings sees keeping up with new technology, and anticipating new technology as two of the main challenges that brokers will need to meet in terms of how they store data, how they access records, and how to run a cost-effective business.
“People are impatient about waiting a long time for results. Once they were quite happy if a cheque arrived in the mail in three or four days; now in half an hour to an hour they want funds transferred,” he says.
Credit crunch
Changes to the credit assessment system, too, will impact brokers, Collings believes.
“That’s going to require some education of customers as to financial conduct – not just in terms of home loans but in terms of a whole range of financial instruments. Whereas credit scoring was seen to be very different with a new paradigm coming in, late payments and a whole lot of factors are going to impact on credit assessment,” he says.
“So that is something we have to come to grips with very quickly and educate our clients about. And it’s not just about having information yourself; it’s how you communicate that to your client base and also to others. And it’s not just for each individual office or small business, but how the lenders do. That’s going to be a challenge coming up in the next six months.”
In addition, he sees the country’s ageing population as an industry issue, with succession planning being vital.
“I guess in the industry, as a lot of people look to move out of the industry, which will be happening in the next five years, I don’t think small businesses in this country are very good at succession planning and I think succession planning is key in terms of retention of skill,” he says. “I think there will be a merge of a lot of small businesses. I think they will be absorbed into larger business, so I think that will be an issue.”
George Collings has been broking for at least 15 years now, but he hasn’t always been in the mortgage game. In fact, he didn’t have a banking background before heading down the mortgage broking route.
“My position before that was as a mediator in the Family Court, and I had a background in human services. I used to give lectures on separation as part of the job within the Family Court,” he explains.
“One member of the audience one day was a financial planner who asked me a few questions, and over time I got to know him. Then later he offered me a chance to come and work with him.”
When his new business partner got married and moved overseas, the pair sold the business and Collings decided to go it alone – partnering with likeminded individuals to form a new company, Charles Knight. And four years down the line there’s no turning back.
While Collings admits that he works long hours, he enjoys having more control over his life as a mortgage broker than he had while working for the Family Court.
“At the Family Court the hours were long and it was high pressure. And I was looking for the opportunity as I became more mature to be able to have more control over my own hours,” he explains.
“I’m still working long hours, but at least I can say yes or no and I can take holidays at times when I decide rather than be dictated to by external factors. So it’s more about that. And I also had an interest in investment, and I always had an interest in property too, so it was a natural sort of progression.”
Guilty as charged
When it comes to work-life balance, Collings says that he’s quite guilty of focusing more on work than his social life and not seeing friends for up to 12 months at a time.
“I mainly only keep in contact with my friends because they contact me, so I wouldn’t say I’m a great example of work-life balance at all. I am a failure in that regard, totally,” he says.
But all that focus on work has allowed Collings to streamline his lead generation process. He explains that Charles Knight has key performance indicators and has put together a form that brokers use after each interview to ask customers for referrals.
“So there’s an expectation that for every new customer we generate about three other referrals from that customer,” he says.
“Apart from that, the other thing is we have a lead generation team. We don’t put any money into advertising as such, but we do put a lot of money into lead generation through phone marketing. And we do put a lot of money into presenting to other customers, like accountants and financial planners with whom we think we can develop a strategic relationship.”
He adds that it’s important not to rely on any one source for lead generation or new customers.
“But you need to have a range of options and a range of methodologies, not all of which will work at the same time. But hopefully that’s something which can be done,” he says.
When it comes to common issues that he encounters with clients, Collings explains that being a property investor specialist comes with its own set of challenges.
“Most of the investor clients we have would be earning in the higher income bracket. They are mostly professional and they are time poor. And many of them have moved into senior positions and haven’t really – whilst they may have kept up with their professional associations and qualifications and expertise – quite had the time to keep abreast of the latest developments in terms of implications for financial change and legislation; therefore they are not always doing what they could be doing or should be doing. There is a fair degree of lack of information,” he explains.
Cautious words
Being an investor specialist, Collings has been keeping a keen eye on the SMSF market, but has his misgivings about the way in which some SMSF trustees go about incorporating property into their portfolio.
“There are a lot of comments being made now about people investing into certain properties and self-managed super funds, and you wonder whether the recommendations were made by the associates with the people they are working with because of commissions or because they can see genuine investment opportunity and investment growth – and I think that’s always an issue too,” he says.
“I see so many units in Australia go into self-managed super funds and you have to say to yourself, ‘Well, are any of these going to achieve in the next 10 years any capital growth, given the fact that in Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane there is change in the legislation with local government to height restrictions?’ ”
He gives the example of a recent trip to Como in South Yarra, where he saw a number of tall apartment blocks under construction.
“You can say, whatever they paid for those units, in 10 years’ time if you look at the inflation rate of around the mid-two’s, you’re not going to see any capital growth in those properties, I wouldn’t think,” he says. “A lot of those will go into self-managed super funds.”
Just keep working
When asked about his future plans, Collings says that, being in the enviable situation of enjoying his work, he intends to keep working as long as possible.
“I think a lot of people look forward to working less, but I would certainly look forward to doing what I’m doing now for a lot longer because I enjoy what I do,” he says. “I don’t feel exhausted by the work. I find the work interesting. I find the changes that are happening within the Australian financial industry and the world in general quite fascinating.”
Speaking about the exciting changes that the industry is experiencing, Collings harks back to the introduction of electronic loan processing – and how far the industry has come in the age of smart phones and tablets.
“I travelled overseas recently and all I took was my iPad. Once upon a time that would have been unheard of. I would say there would be further changes in technology in the next five years that may not be considered now,” he says.
Collings sees keeping up with new technology, and anticipating new technology as two of the main challenges that brokers will need to meet in terms of how they store data, how they access records, and how to run a cost-effective business.
“People are impatient about waiting a long time for results. Once they were quite happy if a cheque arrived in the mail in three or four days; now in half an hour to an hour they want funds transferred,” he says.
Credit crunch
Changes to the credit assessment system, too, will impact brokers, Collings believes.
“That’s going to require some education of customers as to financial conduct – not just in terms of home loans but in terms of a whole range of financial instruments. Whereas credit scoring was seen to be very different with a new paradigm coming in, late payments and a whole lot of factors are going to impact on credit assessment,” he says.
“So that is something we have to come to grips with very quickly and educate our clients about. And it’s not just about having information yourself; it’s how you communicate that to your client base and also to others. And it’s not just for each individual office or small business, but how the lenders do. That’s going to be a challenge coming up in the next six months.”
In addition, he sees the country’s ageing population as an industry issue, with succession planning being vital.
“I guess in the industry, as a lot of people look to move out of the industry, which will be happening in the next five years, I don’t think small businesses in this country are very good at succession planning and I think succession planning is key in terms of retention of skill,” he says. “I think there will be a merge of a lot of small businesses. I think they will be absorbed into larger business, so I think that will be an issue.”
