In Aussie Warwick's ninth diary entry, they explain their decision to open on weekends, and why it's winning them business
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
As small business owners we regularly review how we can provide more opportunity for potential customers to walk through our doors and use our services.
We made a decision to open for business on weekends. Having a young family our time with our children is precious, so the decision was not taken lightly, but we hope it will reap us rewards in the future as we see growth and profitability. It’s a small difference in the overall scheme of things but it’s important to establish an advantage over our competitors.
Consider how many choices a client has when looking for rates, home loans, opinions and better deals. There are thousands of options, including the choice of bank versus broker, and online versus face-to-face. Convenience is the big selling point to many of our clients who can’t meet during regular business hours. The advantage of providing appointments after 5pm or on a Saturday morning cannot be underestimated in the mind of the client and it’s an extra opportunity for us to grow our business.
So we opened the Saturday doors for the first time AND my biggest fear came true. No-one came! What an anticlimax!!
We used the time to catch up from the week’s busy activities, get applications submitted cleanly, documents uploaded correctly and follow ups diarised for the following weeks. However we weren’t deterred. By showing consistency and opening the store every weekend we will demonstrate our extended hours and generate greater awareness.
Success! Last Saturday we received enquiries over the phone, and those enquiries materialised into leads, and now into applications.
One in particular struck me as being a success. A young lady, a first home buyer, called wanting a second opinion. As a first home buyer in her early 20’s living at home with her Mum, she had already contacted an online service which selected the ‘best rates’ for her. Or so she thought. She narrowed the choices to two major banks, had her heart set on one, but reluctantly gave into good old Mum who gave a nod in my direction. In this particular case, the young lady was looking to purchase a home with less than the minimum deposit, no concept of LMI, no idea about FHOG and was about to make a commitment to a terrible rate and potentially face a declined application.
By listening to and empathising with her situation (and providing factual information) we gained a mutual understanding that the right course of action would be to sit down (with Mum) in my office to discuss her requirements and arrive at an honest, agreeable and most importantly an obligation free second opinion. No more than 24 hours later at 4.30pm on the Monday the client (and Mum) had established a new relationship with their very own broker. A contract of sale lay on my desk and an application was completed. Trust and credibility had been earned by spending the time with each to ensure all parties fully understood the path on which we would now be travelling together.
The key point from this is not the fact that we won the business. The key lesson for me is that despite a lack of business walking through the door each Saturday, we have simply been available. We have still provided support and guidance to a young client who was clearly on the wrong path at a critical time in her decision making process. Our service was available when others were not. Convenience is key and had we been closed we would not have won that business.
The other key point for me is that there is a lot of competition in this industry, most great, but some as the client found out, not so great.
Our goal was to stand out amongst our competitors, and by providing a point of difference to our market in this instance we have won a firm advocate. Hopefully this client will spread the word amongst her colleagues; the only concern is that they will all want an appointment at 6.30pm on a Friday night!!
Read more about Aussie's Warwick's story
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:
Diary of a new brokerage #8: Welcoming diversity in your client base
Diary of a new brokerage #7: Running a brokerage with your spouse
Diary of a new brokerage #6 Link, like and tweet me... please!
As small business owners we regularly review how we can provide more opportunity for potential customers to walk through our doors and use our services.
We made a decision to open for business on weekends. Having a young family our time with our children is precious, so the decision was not taken lightly, but we hope it will reap us rewards in the future as we see growth and profitability. It’s a small difference in the overall scheme of things but it’s important to establish an advantage over our competitors.
Consider how many choices a client has when looking for rates, home loans, opinions and better deals. There are thousands of options, including the choice of bank versus broker, and online versus face-to-face. Convenience is the big selling point to many of our clients who can’t meet during regular business hours. The advantage of providing appointments after 5pm or on a Saturday morning cannot be underestimated in the mind of the client and it’s an extra opportunity for us to grow our business.
So we opened the Saturday doors for the first time AND my biggest fear came true. No-one came! What an anticlimax!!
We used the time to catch up from the week’s busy activities, get applications submitted cleanly, documents uploaded correctly and follow ups diarised for the following weeks. However we weren’t deterred. By showing consistency and opening the store every weekend we will demonstrate our extended hours and generate greater awareness.
Success! Last Saturday we received enquiries over the phone, and those enquiries materialised into leads, and now into applications.
One in particular struck me as being a success. A young lady, a first home buyer, called wanting a second opinion. As a first home buyer in her early 20’s living at home with her Mum, she had already contacted an online service which selected the ‘best rates’ for her. Or so she thought. She narrowed the choices to two major banks, had her heart set on one, but reluctantly gave into good old Mum who gave a nod in my direction. In this particular case, the young lady was looking to purchase a home with less than the minimum deposit, no concept of LMI, no idea about FHOG and was about to make a commitment to a terrible rate and potentially face a declined application.
By listening to and empathising with her situation (and providing factual information) we gained a mutual understanding that the right course of action would be to sit down (with Mum) in my office to discuss her requirements and arrive at an honest, agreeable and most importantly an obligation free second opinion. No more than 24 hours later at 4.30pm on the Monday the client (and Mum) had established a new relationship with their very own broker. A contract of sale lay on my desk and an application was completed. Trust and credibility had been earned by spending the time with each to ensure all parties fully understood the path on which we would now be travelling together.
The key point from this is not the fact that we won the business. The key lesson for me is that despite a lack of business walking through the door each Saturday, we have simply been available. We have still provided support and guidance to a young client who was clearly on the wrong path at a critical time in her decision making process. Our service was available when others were not. Convenience is key and had we been closed we would not have won that business.
The other key point for me is that there is a lot of competition in this industry, most great, but some as the client found out, not so great.
Our goal was to stand out amongst our competitors, and by providing a point of difference to our market in this instance we have won a firm advocate. Hopefully this client will spread the word amongst her colleagues; the only concern is that they will all want an appointment at 6.30pm on a Friday night!!
Read more about Aussie's Warwick's story
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:
Diary of a new brokerage #8: Welcoming diversity in your client base
Diary of a new brokerage #7: Running a brokerage with your spouse
Diary of a new brokerage #6 Link, like and tweet me... please!
