A Q&A with brokers' number one non-bank reveals what they've changed to reach the top.
Liberty Financial are the brokers' vote for the top non-bank of 2015 and national sales manager John Mohnacheff says the non-bank’s success comes down to proactively presenting itself as the viable alternative for all types of lending
MPA: What’s your initial reaction to being voted as brokers’ number one non-bank for 2015?
John Mohnacheff: Two words sprang to mind immediately – first of all ‘delighted’, followed by ‘relieved’! Delighted for the Liberty team – the state managers, the BDMs, the support team – that there is a direct correlation between effort put into the broker market and the broker market’s reaction to that effort. Relieved because it was a long journey; we went through a rather extensive process of re-engineering the way we interact with our brokers, with our clients. This a wonderful, supportive vindication that what we are doing has relevance to our customers. We’ve brought innovation and relevance to the market, and that’s clearly resonated well with our business partners, our brokers.
MPA: What exactly have you re-engineered in the way you interact with brokers?
JM: It’s a very, very crowded marketplace; every bank, every non-bank and every other little lender is throwing heaps of BDMs at the broker market, and if we were just another offering out there, we’d be drowned out by the noise. We have to engage differently with our business partners; we had to be more structured in the way we interacted. We had to stop being reactive with brokers – they rarely call you unless they have a problem. We had to be proactive and get out to the network and show them that we have products and services that are market-leading, that they can confidently offer the consumer.
And then it was a process of repeating that message nationally at every opportunity. Every BDM had a very structured contact program where we began to explain our products, services, how it fits into their business and how they can comfortably and confidently offer it to the consumer. We became very proactive in the delivery of our message.
MPA: How much further do you have to go – is Liberty still losing out on business because brokers are unaware of the brand?
JM: It’s probably fair to say there’s not a broker out there who hasn’t heard of Liberty. But that’s like saying there’s not a person out there who hasn’t heard of Toyota, but does everyone own a Toyota? The answer is no. Has everybody experienced the Liberty offering? The answer is no.
So we have a really long way to go, but what we have created is a strong degree of broker advocacy. We have a strong group of people out there who, with their peers and within their aggregator groups, say, “Liberty helped me; Liberty helped my customer; Liberty helped my business.” That resonates in the marketplace, but we still have a very long way to go until every broker has used us. That’s the challenge for us: spreading the message throughout the network, and showing and proving that Liberty is a viable and sensible alternative.
MPA: Is it important for consumers to be aware of Liberty’s brand?
JM: Yes, 100%. There is a lot of work being done in the background to make sure not only is the broker market aware of the name Liberty and what it offers, but also that the consumer becomes comfortable with the name Liberty and that we overcome a bit of a legacy we’ve got. When Liberty started, our catchphrase was ‘where to go when the banks say no’. We got, to a degree, compartmentalised as a non-conforming lender, and there is that remaining legacy in some consumers’ minds. We have to dispel that and go proactively into the broader consumer market extolling the fact that Liberty is a lender for all occasions. I’m delighted to say that sooner rather than later, you’ll see us proactively going into the consumer market and educating them that we’re a lender for all, not a custom lender. That is not a way to say we’re bypassing brokers, but it may change the situation for brokers from a push strategy into a pull strategy; the consumer says, “Hang on, why haven’t you spoken about Liberty?”
MPA: How does Liberty intend to take market share from the banks?
JM: If we’re going to compete head-to-head with the banks, our pockets aren’t deep enough, our branch representation isn’t strong enough, and so we cannot out-position the banks. However, what we can do is find the special niches where our bigger competitors can’t or don’t play. So our 95% full-cap for first home buyers – it’s just about a unique no-savings product. We’re still very strong in low-doc. In the investor market, the banks are being more controlled; it’s not their decision, and we appreciate that, but the market has given us an opportunity to push a product that was always there.
What we see now is the opportunity through our niche products to create a bond with the broker, so we do then form a stronger alliance and they begin to use us more frequently – not just for niche products, but because they think, “Wow, Liberty has great service and BDMs, why don’t I give them more business?” What we want to do is firmly entrench our value proposition in brokers so we take a little more business off everybody. Hopefully our niche products will help us prove to the broker network that we are a viable, supportive alternative.
MPA: What’s in the pipeline for brokers over the next 12 months?
JM: When you’re onto a good thing, stick to it. There will be more of the same; we will continue to examine the market, looking for a niche or something that resonates with the market. It’s about the two I mentioned earlier – relevance and innovation – and we’re doing things that make it easier for them to deal with us: a systems tweak, offering insurance through the Apply Online network, that might be simple pre-approvals for vehicle finance with your home loan. All sorts of things that make it easier for the broker to deal with us – finding more niches, using niches to leverage, and becoming more relevant to the broker and the consumer.
MPA: What’s your initial reaction to being voted as brokers’ number one non-bank for 2015?
John Mohnacheff: Two words sprang to mind immediately – first of all ‘delighted’, followed by ‘relieved’! Delighted for the Liberty team – the state managers, the BDMs, the support team – that there is a direct correlation between effort put into the broker market and the broker market’s reaction to that effort. Relieved because it was a long journey; we went through a rather extensive process of re-engineering the way we interact with our brokers, with our clients. This a wonderful, supportive vindication that what we are doing has relevance to our customers. We’ve brought innovation and relevance to the market, and that’s clearly resonated well with our business partners, our brokers.
MPA: What exactly have you re-engineered in the way you interact with brokers?
JM: It’s a very, very crowded marketplace; every bank, every non-bank and every other little lender is throwing heaps of BDMs at the broker market, and if we were just another offering out there, we’d be drowned out by the noise. We have to engage differently with our business partners; we had to be more structured in the way we interacted. We had to stop being reactive with brokers – they rarely call you unless they have a problem. We had to be proactive and get out to the network and show them that we have products and services that are market-leading, that they can confidently offer the consumer.
And then it was a process of repeating that message nationally at every opportunity. Every BDM had a very structured contact program where we began to explain our products, services, how it fits into their business and how they can comfortably and confidently offer it to the consumer. We became very proactive in the delivery of our message.
MPA: How much further do you have to go – is Liberty still losing out on business because brokers are unaware of the brand?
JM: It’s probably fair to say there’s not a broker out there who hasn’t heard of Liberty. But that’s like saying there’s not a person out there who hasn’t heard of Toyota, but does everyone own a Toyota? The answer is no. Has everybody experienced the Liberty offering? The answer is no.
So we have a really long way to go, but what we have created is a strong degree of broker advocacy. We have a strong group of people out there who, with their peers and within their aggregator groups, say, “Liberty helped me; Liberty helped my customer; Liberty helped my business.” That resonates in the marketplace, but we still have a very long way to go until every broker has used us. That’s the challenge for us: spreading the message throughout the network, and showing and proving that Liberty is a viable and sensible alternative.
MPA: Is it important for consumers to be aware of Liberty’s brand?
JM: Yes, 100%. There is a lot of work being done in the background to make sure not only is the broker market aware of the name Liberty and what it offers, but also that the consumer becomes comfortable with the name Liberty and that we overcome a bit of a legacy we’ve got. When Liberty started, our catchphrase was ‘where to go when the banks say no’. We got, to a degree, compartmentalised as a non-conforming lender, and there is that remaining legacy in some consumers’ minds. We have to dispel that and go proactively into the broader consumer market extolling the fact that Liberty is a lender for all occasions. I’m delighted to say that sooner rather than later, you’ll see us proactively going into the consumer market and educating them that we’re a lender for all, not a custom lender. That is not a way to say we’re bypassing brokers, but it may change the situation for brokers from a push strategy into a pull strategy; the consumer says, “Hang on, why haven’t you spoken about Liberty?”
MPA: How does Liberty intend to take market share from the banks?
JM: If we’re going to compete head-to-head with the banks, our pockets aren’t deep enough, our branch representation isn’t strong enough, and so we cannot out-position the banks. However, what we can do is find the special niches where our bigger competitors can’t or don’t play. So our 95% full-cap for first home buyers – it’s just about a unique no-savings product. We’re still very strong in low-doc. In the investor market, the banks are being more controlled; it’s not their decision, and we appreciate that, but the market has given us an opportunity to push a product that was always there.
What we see now is the opportunity through our niche products to create a bond with the broker, so we do then form a stronger alliance and they begin to use us more frequently – not just for niche products, but because they think, “Wow, Liberty has great service and BDMs, why don’t I give them more business?” What we want to do is firmly entrench our value proposition in brokers so we take a little more business off everybody. Hopefully our niche products will help us prove to the broker network that we are a viable, supportive alternative.
MPA: What’s in the pipeline for brokers over the next 12 months?
JM: When you’re onto a good thing, stick to it. There will be more of the same; we will continue to examine the market, looking for a niche or something that resonates with the market. It’s about the two I mentioned earlier – relevance and innovation – and we’re doing things that make it easier for them to deal with us: a systems tweak, offering insurance through the Apply Online network, that might be simple pre-approvals for vehicle finance with your home loan. All sorts of things that make it easier for the broker to deal with us – finding more niches, using niches to leverage, and becoming more relevant to the broker and the consumer.
