Aussie’s top WA writer explains how to save time and kick-start writing big numbers early on
MPA Young Gun for 2015 and Aussie Morley broker Gary Allen was recently named Aussie’s top retail broker for Western Australia and placed sixth nationally in the Aussie network.
Starting out with no previous financial services experience, Allen lodged $5.2million in one month in his first year at Aussie Morley, which was established by multi-award winning franchise principals Aaron Grofski and Quentin Grofski ten years ago.
Aussie Morley was named the WA Store of the Year over three consecutive years from 2012-2014 and ranked among Aussie’s top three stores nationally in 2012-13.
2013, the year Allen took up broking after moving to Australia from the UK, saw him settle in excess of $21 million and go on to hit $47million last financial year.
This year he is aiming for $60million and although his track record is shows an upward trajectory, he says it wasn’t an easy road in the beginning.
“It’s a stressful learning curve,” says Allen. “The more hours you put in the beginning, the quicker you learn and the quicker you get over that hump.”
His first few months as a broker saw him doing twelve hour days and doing everything he could to learn as quickly as possible, learning from his peers, learning policies, researching, asking many questions and never letting an opportunity pass by.
“I just made sure that every person I did get put in touch with, I gave them time – I never pre-qualify leads so even if they have no money I’ll still go out and see them and spend the time with them – you might not get a deal now but you’ll get it in 6, 12 or 18 months or they might refer you to someone else,” he says.
“So just make the most of every single person you do meet and help as many people as you can.”
He says having two fantastic mentors in the Grofski principals was invaluable and now the majority of his leads originate from referrals by existing clients.
“If you always do the right thing by the customer and they know you’re doing that, that’s when they refer,” says Allen.
“As long as everything you do is focused around what’s best for the customer I think you’ll keep getting repeat business.”
He says the branch doesn’t spend a great deal of time contacting people for lead generation as existing customers tend to come back to them by themselves, the majority of which are first home buyers of all ages from the well-established suburb just 20 minutes out of the Perth CBD.
“If you’re not (customer focused), you won’t last five minutes in this business because it is all about referrals. The only way you can do it is to focus on the customer.”
“I always ask for a referral but you’ve got to be referable. Be thorough and keep the customer up-to-date as it goes along, just so they’re well informed – even if there are problems, as long as they know of them and that you’re working hard to get them sorted out, they won’t be worried or anxious throughout the process.”
But often he doesn’t need to ask as the client is one step ahead and has referred him on already.
He says he was drawn to mortgage broking because of the enjoyment in helping people save money plus a keen interest in property.
“I’ve got a couple of investment properties myself and I’ve always used a broker for that and that’s probably where I thought perhaps I want to do that myself. I’m pretty passionate about property and investing and putting my money to good use as well as saving it.”
But the best part is the interesting people he gets to meet each day and the different challenges a broker constantly faces.
“The industry is constantly changing, especially recently, so it keeps you on your toes.”
Read more about Aussie Morley here.
Starting out with no previous financial services experience, Allen lodged $5.2million in one month in his first year at Aussie Morley, which was established by multi-award winning franchise principals Aaron Grofski and Quentin Grofski ten years ago.
Aussie Morley was named the WA Store of the Year over three consecutive years from 2012-2014 and ranked among Aussie’s top three stores nationally in 2012-13.
2013, the year Allen took up broking after moving to Australia from the UK, saw him settle in excess of $21 million and go on to hit $47million last financial year.
This year he is aiming for $60million and although his track record is shows an upward trajectory, he says it wasn’t an easy road in the beginning.
“It’s a stressful learning curve,” says Allen. “The more hours you put in the beginning, the quicker you learn and the quicker you get over that hump.”
His first few months as a broker saw him doing twelve hour days and doing everything he could to learn as quickly as possible, learning from his peers, learning policies, researching, asking many questions and never letting an opportunity pass by.
“I just made sure that every person I did get put in touch with, I gave them time – I never pre-qualify leads so even if they have no money I’ll still go out and see them and spend the time with them – you might not get a deal now but you’ll get it in 6, 12 or 18 months or they might refer you to someone else,” he says.
“So just make the most of every single person you do meet and help as many people as you can.”
He says having two fantastic mentors in the Grofski principals was invaluable and now the majority of his leads originate from referrals by existing clients.
“If you always do the right thing by the customer and they know you’re doing that, that’s when they refer,” says Allen.
“As long as everything you do is focused around what’s best for the customer I think you’ll keep getting repeat business.”
He says the branch doesn’t spend a great deal of time contacting people for lead generation as existing customers tend to come back to them by themselves, the majority of which are first home buyers of all ages from the well-established suburb just 20 minutes out of the Perth CBD.
“If you’re not (customer focused), you won’t last five minutes in this business because it is all about referrals. The only way you can do it is to focus on the customer.”
“I always ask for a referral but you’ve got to be referable. Be thorough and keep the customer up-to-date as it goes along, just so they’re well informed – even if there are problems, as long as they know of them and that you’re working hard to get them sorted out, they won’t be worried or anxious throughout the process.”
But often he doesn’t need to ask as the client is one step ahead and has referred him on already.
He says he was drawn to mortgage broking because of the enjoyment in helping people save money plus a keen interest in property.
“I’ve got a couple of investment properties myself and I’ve always used a broker for that and that’s probably where I thought perhaps I want to do that myself. I’m pretty passionate about property and investing and putting my money to good use as well as saving it.”
But the best part is the interesting people he gets to meet each day and the different challenges a broker constantly faces.
“The industry is constantly changing, especially recently, so it keeps you on your toes.”
Read more about Aussie Morley here.
