Attendees get chance to learn, network and play at top courses
Mortgage brokers work long hours in their quest to build successful businesses and downtime can be hard to come by.
With that in mind broker growth strategist James McCracken (pictured above), who runs The Successful Adviser, based in Melbourne, has organised a golf summit in Thailand from August 10 to 18.
Brokers who attend The Successful Adviser Golf Summit will get the opportunity to stay in a four-star hotel in the beach resort town of Hua Hin and play golf at some of the top golf courses in Thailand, include the Black Mountain Golf Club (pictured below) and Banyan Golf Club, ranked No.1 and 2 respectively.
Another course included on the itinerary is Royal Gems Golf City – the first nine holes are replicas of some of the most famous golf holes in the world, while the back nine is a replica of the back nine of Augusta National, where the US Masters is played.
As well as playing seven golf courses during the week-long event, attendees will also be involved in daily networking and business coaching activities.
These include structured, deep dive and focus sessions, with the aim of brokers building strong relationships with each other, sharing some insights into what’s working at their brokerages and learning from each other.
McCracken said in his role helping brokers to grow their businesses, he had worked with a number of brokers over the years who enjoyed playing golf.
“We thought, wouldn’t it be nice to play a bit of golf, hang out with some brokers, work on our business and share some ideas,” said McCracken.
One of the coaches in The Successful Adviser service, Andy McGorlick, who is also a broker and keen golfer, suggested a trip to Thailand, which would provide brokers with a unique experience to play at some of the best courses in the country.
McCracken said the summit was open to any brokers, not just clients of The Successful Adviser, but places were limited and encouraged those interested to contact him as soon as possible.
“Each afternoon we’ve got structured networking and business building sessions. The intention is for brokers to speak freely – to connect, collaborate and share with peers – and discuss how to take away strategies and insights that can support each other in terms of the performance and growth of their broking practices.”
How The Successful Adviser formed to help brokers
After working in coaching and sales management roles at Sensis, which publishes the White and Yellow Pages, McCracken set up The Successful Adviser in 2012.
McCracken said when he established the business he was a generalist business coach and he joined a local Business Network International group. His first client was a broker, as were his second and third, and after a few years he decided to focus specifically on brokers, providing broker business coaching services.
“One of my mentors used to say, ‘don't try and work out your niche by sitting in front of the TV’, go out there and actually build relationships, work with people, and then you'll find that you'll gravitate towards a certain industry segment or that a niche will become more apparent,” he said.
He said The Successful Adviser specialised in working with established mortgage brokers, who had at least passed their two-year mentorship period.
“Their performance is typically [settling] $2 million or more per month and effectively they’re looking to grow their volumes and generally experience and enjoy a better quality of life,” he said.
McCracken said there were plenty of brokers in the industry who were working extremely long hours.
He gave the example of a broker in his early 20s who The Successful Adviser was assisting.
“He’s already settling about $4 million per month, which is phenomenal for someone who’s at that level – but he’s also working 70 to 80 hours per week and is extremely stressed,” said McCracken.
“He fits our ideal client profile because he wants to grow, he wants to reduce work hours, he wants to reduce his stress and make sure that he can provide a better client experience.”
Brokers who are interested in taking part in The Successful Adviser Golf Summit should email McCracken at [email protected]
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