The long game in broking

Director of Hunter Galloway, Nathan Vecchio, started broking in 2015 and using the techniques from Joshua's Top Broker Handbook, is writing big numbers, leading to Vow Financial naming him Broker Partner of the Year Rising Star in 2016.

I don't know about you, but I find it shocking that reportedly only 50% of new to industry brokers make it through the first 18 months of business.

But why is this?

I think we can agree that staying in mortgage broking for the long term requires a constant focus on the fundamentals. For me, this started with having a really clear vision of where I wanted my broking career to go, and then setting specific and measurable goals to achieve it.

I think we can all agree that initially, it’s a really exciting time becoming a broker. But for those lucky enough to have been a broker for several years now, you might be starting to reach a stage where business isn’t flowing through as easily as it once was. Before you go and spend large amounts of money on employing so called lead generation experts, or trying to make a fancy website with all the bells and whistles; I think it is important to be clear on exactly what you want your business to be, and then setting goals to achieve that vision.

What is your vision?
Having a clear vision is essential to your business. I know, having only been in broking for less than 18 months myself; there can be some really tough days. You might have had a few really difficult appointments or are struggling to motivate yourself for those last few meetings after 8pm at night. But for me, having a clear vision of why I became a broker and what I want to achieve has helped me stay focused through the good times and the bad.

A vision should be simple and identify exactly who you want to help. You should treat it like a roadmap that will motivate you on both the good and bad days, whilst guiding you through your decisions. I make sure to review my vision each day because it gives me motivation and clarity and keep me moving towards the goals that I have set.

Practical tip: Your ‘vision’ can be as simple as a few sentences written in your notebook, a couple of drawings or as elaborate as a visual image board, whatever works for you. 

Time to get goal setting
Now that you have a clear vision of where you want to go, you need to start building on it. Consider your vision as the foundation to build your goals on. It will give you a good sense of where you want to get to and then your goals will fill in the gaps to work out what you do each day.

Goal setting looks like this for me:
1. Set my vision
2. Determine my goals
3. Map out my monthly plan
4. Break it down into a weekly plan
5. Break it down to daily activities

Are you SMART with your goals?
SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound goals.

It’s easy to be like 99% of people and on 1st January write down a long, vague list of goals you want to achieve for the year. Often these include statements like ‘I want to lose weight’ or ‘I want to make more money’, but in my experience unless they are SMART goals, you simply aren’t going to achieve them.

Equally, if you aim for the wrong goals, you’re going to end up in the wrong place. So for your goals to mean anything and drive you forward, they’ve got to be SMART.

For us brokers, here is an example of how to set a SMART goal: I want to submit an additional $10M in loans in the next 12 months compared to last year.

Now let's break it down.

• Specific: $10M in additional submissions compared to last year.
• Measurable: Looking at my stats, it takes an average of three appointments per submission. It takes me around 15 phone calls to book one appointment. So, to get $1M in loans per month, I’m going to need to book six new appointments, which is going to take around 90 phone calls. I’m going to make five phone calls a day to previous clients on top of my regular business.
• Achievable and Realistic: Submitting $1M a month is realistic as it would only be a 30% increase from my previous year, which I have been able to do year on year.
• Time-bound: I will have submitted $1M in additional loans by this time next year.

Initially a vague statement, it has now transformed into a high-level, realistic analysis because we now have specific actions to take. $10M in loans becomes five phone calls a day, leading to six appointments per month and two new loans submitted each month. I’ve also added a safety net by setting a goal for an extra $1M by October – and if this goal isn’t reached, then it’s a signal to change what I am doing.

Lastly, plan each for success
Like the daily planners in the Top Broker Guide (From Zero to $60M in 12 Months) I make sure I have each and every day planned out so I am in complete control of what I do. Rather than being a slave to my inbox or letting non-productive phone calls dictate how I spend my working hours, with a clear vision and SMART goals I’m working hard to stay in it for the long game in broking.

PS: I’m going to be taking over here at Top Broker for a little bit while Joshua focuses on a few big and exciting projects we are looking forward to bring you in the next few weeks. A quick background, I started broking in 2015 and using the techniques Joshua has given in the Top Broker Handbook I have grown my business in a very short time to writing some big numbers, and was fortunate enough to be awarded Broker Partner of the Year Rising Star in 2016.