Clear mission motivates this broker to go to work everyday

There are plenty of secret ingredients to become successful in business. But if Confidence Finance director and 2018 MPA Top 100 Brokers finalist Redom Syed was to bring it down to just one, it would be clarity of a mission.

“We have a clear plan to educate as many investors as possible on how finance works and how it can be used to grow a portfolio,” Syed told MPA. “Being clear with what we are looking to do allows me to go to work every day with the aim to move forward with our plan.”

Syed manages the company’s sales pipeline by spending most of his time at the front end, providing clients with advice; he then allows his team to take over once the loan is being processed.

According to Syed, a clear plan is only as good as those who see it through. “Surround yourself with a talented team and be as authentic as possible,” he said. “In the long run, I believe the best people respond to authenticity in leadership more than short-term incentives.”

Repetition helps
Apart from a support team that “makes his life easy”, a consistent process allows Syed to write large volumes and make customers more engaged throughout the loan journey. “Repetition helps improve efficiency and quality,” he said. “Lending has become far more difficult over the past 24 months, with loan applications taking longer to process and more difficult to approve. It’s become more important to have processes in place to deal with slower approvals.”

With customers expecting immediate answers to their queries, Syed launched MoneyBrains, an online calculator that provides users instant insights about their financial position. By answering twenty simple questions, borrowers can get an approximation of how much they can borrow from various lenders or what their risk levels are.

Syed’s team usually use MoneyBrains as conversation starting points; it helps them to get to know clients at a high level before digging deeper.  

Front-foot leadership
While Syed’s team would look to help anyone who comes through their door, they generally don’t consider clients seeking refunds or rebates as part of their market. His team, however, will still look to educate such clients on how lenders would consider their situation and how they can move towards their goals.

“I believe in front-foot leadership. We’ve always adopted a value principle of putting the customers’ interests first,” Syed said. 

“Our clients are the biggest advocates of our work and they end up being the best advocates for the industry.”