Based out of North Melbourne, The Financiers Group demonstrates the benefits of having a team of brokers who provide exceptional customer service
Based out of North Melbourne, The Financiers Group demonstrates the benefits of having a team of brokers who provide exceptional customer service. MPA talks to co-founder Chris Huynh
THE DRIVE for excellence in the world of broking is an admirable pursuit, but where does it begin? For Chris Huynh, the answer is relatively simple: excellence begins with customer service. It was the desire to achieve this high level of service that led him and his business partner, Xianjun (Joe) Zhou, to start The Financiers Group (TFG) in 2015.
“The Financiers Group was founded on the principle of delivering – and continuously developing – an elite level of customer service to its clients,” says Huynh.
“As naive as it sounds, our initial business model was to ‘Help as many clients as we can, and do it well’.”
Huynh and Zhou both originally came from a banking background, having worked as relationship managers at one of Australia’s most prominent banks. This instilled in them an appreciation of the importance of customer service but also left them dissatisfied, and aware that more could be done for their customers. Huynh explains that banks usually only apply their highest level of customer service to their top-tier clients. TFG sought to subvert this standard, bringing this high level of customer care to the masses in the process. This approach has helped the business flourish from its North Melbourne base.
“We’ve invested heavily in ways to refine our internal processes and ensure we remain agile” Chris Huynh, The Financiers Group
As 2020 kicks off, the TFG team comprises brokers who bring their own independent flair to the business.
“Our organisation is made up of several brokers who have diverse experience and strengths, and who move in different social and professional circles,” says Huynh.
“What our brokers share is a commitment to developing their knowledge base and expertise so they can assist clients irrespective of their demographic.”
As a result, TFG can assist a broad customer base, from first home buyers to medical professionals, investors, property developers, business owners, high-net-worth clients and a variety of complex financial structures.
Market in motion
Five years on since TFG began operations, its vision of customer service remains in place.
Yet the practical execution of this approach must necessarily shift over time as the industry itself evolves.
“We’ve seen significant changes across the industry since we started – products, lending policies, regulation, increased scrutiny,” says Huynh. “For the most part we feel these changes have made the industry better, but they have meant that we’ve needed to make changes to the way we do things day-to day. We’ve invested heavily in ways to refine our internal processes and ensure we remain agile.”
Agility, after all, is the willingness to adapt in an ever-changing market. One example Huynh gives is loan applications. Due to the variety of changes across the industry, and the additional scrutiny placed on TFG by lenders, applications were taking much longer to file.
“We needed to assess our processes carefully,” he says. “We needed to document and understand exactly what we were doing, how we were doing it, and – if required – where we could improve. Having a clearly defined process was a stepping stone to enable us to be in a position to adapt to anything the industry threw our way.”
Huynh is full of optimism for the future and believes it is firms like TFG that will adapt best to future changes ahead.
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The changes we’ve already seen in the industry have forced broking firms to adapt in order to keep up,” says Huynh. “Ultimately, making those changes paves the way for an overall increase in quality across the industry.”
Focusing on the future
Looking forward, Huynh believes that further innovation and reinvention are on the cards for TFG. A broker’s work, after all, is not just about “completing” a loan but putting a client in the best possible financial position – both now and as the industry shifts. That’s a task that never truly ends.
“We’ve always aimed to reinvent ourselves and improve the business, but until now this has been something that’s mainly been applied to our internal processes,” says Huynh. “That’s set a good foundation for us, but we have goals beyond that, too.”
Accordingly, the next 12–18 months will be about looking for innovative ways to build the business, while staying true to the core values that built the brand in the first place. The first cab off the ranks is establishing an effective digital presence that helps bring TFG’s message to an even wider audience across Australia, though there are sure to be other surprises along the way.
“Exciting times are ahead,” says Huynh.
