This Queensland broker says existing clients are his “word of mouth marketing team”
Following the announcement of this year’s Top 74 to 50 brokers, MPA sat down with number 58 - broker and director of Emerge Finance Adam Bradley - to find out how he got started in the industry and why customer relationships have been crucial this year.
Read more: MPA’s Top 100 Brokers: 74 - 50 revealed
MPA: Can you share some insights from the last 12 months as a broker?
Adam Bradley: It’s been a really busy 12 months and we have been able to double the size of our business. I think there has been a lot of uncertainty in the market and economy and this has created an opportunity to connect with new clients and re-engage with existing ones in order to walk them through the lending process. We have been able to add a lot of value for our clients while becoming their trusted adviser and guiding them through the ever-changing lending landscape.
MPA: Can you tell me a bit about your business?
Adam Bradley: I started the business six years ago while I was still working as a full-time civil engineer. Nine months into the business I quit my engineering job and became a full-time mortgage broker (not having had any previous lending or finance experience). We now have one full time loan processor and an offshore virtual assistant, and I am really proud of our team for being able to assist so many clients and grow our settlement volumes while still maintaining the same level of friendliness and personalised service.
Read next: MPA’s Top 100 Brokers: 100 - 75 revealed
MPA: How important have customer relationships been this year?
Adam Bradley: We have been focusing a lot on our existing client base and trying to help them through some of these tough times. We have increased the frequency of our pricing requests for existing clients, and made ourselves more available to walk them through the process of deferrals, pricing, product reviews and lending changes. We look to our existing client base as our word of mouth marketing team, so we worked on our communication and rapport with these clients and have, in turn, seen a huge response in new referrals and new business. We love what we do and we hope this translates across the conversations and in the friendships we build with our clients.
MPA: What tips would you share with new to industry brokers?
Adam Bradley: Get out there and start talking to people and building referral partnerships. You can be the best broker in Australia but if you don’t have any clients to talk to then your business won’t grow. Also, ring four to five successful brokers in your area, shout them a coffee and pick their brains about their businesses and processes. This is exactly what I did when I started. It gave me a great grounding from which to grow my business and gave me the advice I needed to keep going. Growing a mortgage business is 90% mindset and 10% credit knowledge, so get out there and give it a go.
