Former flight attendant, broker relishes new role
BDM in the Spotlight and State Manager in the Spotlight are a regular series, giving brokers insight into the lives of some of the country’s leading relationship managers.
MPA spoke to outsource Financial relationship manager - NSW/ACT Donn Tariga about how he works with brokers and supports their needs, the key factors that make a broker successful and what he loves about his role.
As a former broker and international flight attendant, Tariga understands the mortgage industry and the important of customer service and says his job is more than just ‘BDM support’.
Tariga says he loves the team culture at outsource Financial, and enjoys learning something new every day from the brokers he meets, especially when it comes to understanding their business journey and the life-changing impact they have on their clients.
Name: Donn Tariga
Title: Relationship manager – NSW/ACT
Years in the industry: 3
Company: outsource Financial
Location: Sydney
Your first role out of university: International flight attendant with Qantas
Briefly describe your role and how you support brokers?
As a Relationship Manager (RM) at outsource Financial, my role is to support our brokers in all aspects of their business and help foster their relationship with our lender partners. We are hands on with our members and are absolutely passionate about empowering them to achieve more.
I aim to change the typically notorious narrative of ‘BDM support’. With my background as an international flight attendant and then as a broker, I have a uniquely well-rounded understanding of, and appreciation for, ‘customer centricity’… the good, the bad and the ugly.
No one knows your business better than you do, and as I am still new to the role, I have made my brokers aware that I’m here to offer support in the capacity and pace they are comfortable with.
Whether that be offering an outside perspective, workshopping deals, identifying process gaps, or simply just being a listening ear… my brokers know they can ‘pick their own adventure’, with the support they get from me. After all, they're the client.
What is your favourite part of the job?
I get to learn something new every day from the different people I get to meet in this job. This is what excites me the most. I get to learn about someone's world, understand their business and follow their journey.
I get to be part of the synergy that happens between broker and lender, when helping a client. I believe every single broker and BDM in this industry is making a difference in someone's life, every day. Whether it’s big or small, it’s very impactful and, in most cases, life changing.
Oh, wait … there’s another favourite part. It’s pretty rare to find a company culture like outsource’s. At work, we are one team, one unit – this resonates all the way to the top. We are all rooting for each other to succeed and feel professionally fulfilled, which is a really special culture to be part of. It’s pretty great feeling excited to go to work.
What sets successful brokers apart?
Consistency in all aspect of their business. Having good processes in place is a perfect example. It doesn’t matter if that broker is having a stressful day or a good day, you know that every file they are working on is going to go through the same process.
It's the key to making life easier for them and allowing more time to focus on other aspects of their business. Consistency’s the key component for brokers to master their craft.
Something else that sets successful brokers apart is having a solution-oriented mindset. A big part of achieving this is clearly understanding what your niche/specialisation is, so you know explicitly when to push for the extra mile and when to step back, re-strategise and re-route. Identifying this early in any situation is a time-saver and evident from successful brokers.
One thing that you’d like brokers you work with to know?
We all have the opportunity to make someone's day, in work or in our personal life. Simply by treating another person how you would like to be treated.
There are times when you will have to deliver bad news to your customer – just deliver it the way you would like it delivered to you, irrespective of how you think they’ll react, and devoid of any apprehension or negative feelings you may be harbouring.
Remember, it's not about what you can't do for them, but what you can do for them. So, get the bad news out of the way and refocus on finding the solution.
What opportunities do you see for brokers this year?
A lot of mortgage holders are forecast to come off their fixed term loans, and it’s important that these customers remain in the broker's portfolio. Now more than ever, making a relationship call could be the difference between a customer staying, or going elsewhere.
There are significant opportunities in these relationship calls. Not only will it ensure the broker is front of mind when it comes to the customer’s finance needs, but more so, it can expand the brokers share of that customer’s holistic financial needs, beyond owner occupied loans.
If brokers block out time to call their existing book, the benefits are two-fold – you’ll be strengthening client relations and actioning a key part of your retention strategy. Just ensure you have the capacity to actually help if the client needs your services.
Describe your ideal weekend?
I’d love to sleep in, but my body clock on the other hand doesn't. My ideal weekend is to go for a nice, long walk and possibly discover a new place to sit and enjoy coffee. It’s joyous to have an impromptu catch-up with mates, such as a long lunch. I prefer to walk – I drive all week, so it’s nice getting out, stretching my legs, and breathing in fresh air.
BDM in the Spotlight features a range of BDMs and relationship managers within the industry. Among those most recently featured were Resimac business development manager Ciaran Brady and outsource Financial relationship manager - WA Sarrah Fariha.
