MortgageBrokerNews is continuing its series of features on the finalists for Broker of the Year in both categories -- the under 25 employees and the 25 and over. This year’s group is the most diverse, spanning the country. Winners in both categories will be named at the upcoming Canadian Mortgage Awards on May 10 at the Liberty Grand in Toronto.
MortgageBrokerNews is continuing its series of features on the finalists for Broker of the Year in both categories -- the under 25 employees and the 25 and over. This year’s group is the most diverse, spanning the country. Winners in both categories will be named at the upcoming Canadian Mortgage Awards on May 10 at the Liberty Grand in Toronto.
Finalist in the Mortgage Broker of the Year (Fewer than 25 Employees) category
Jackie Bowen, Verico Essential Mortgage Company, North Vancouver, B.C.
Jackie Bowen lives and dies by the referral; and so she’s full of the vigour of life.
“Ninety-eight per cent of my business was referral. I spent no money on advertising last year,” says Bowen, of Verico Essential Mortgage Company in North Vancouver. “Instead I focused my time and money on the main sources that had generated the majority of my business in 2011 and kept that as my main focus for my 2012 business.”
With almost 11 years in the mortgage/real estate industry combined (four of those as a broker as of this August), her office of seven employees funded $3.2 million in 2012.
“Instead of spending money on marketing myself elsewhere, I used it to thank my referral sources for their business,” she says. “I have sent out thank you cards with lotto tickets/gifts for every referral received, and I’ve done giveaways, quarterly lunch meetings. Stuff like that.”
Along with being nominated as a finalist for Best Newcomer Individual Broker at the 2012 CMAs, Bowen was recognized as a “Go-To” Mortgage Broker for Rent to Own and Credit Repair in B.C. and Alberta by her business partners and colleagues.
“I started working with a rent-to-own company in 2011 and vastly grew in 2012 to where I now work with four companies throughout B.C. and three companies in Alberta,” says Bowen.
Everywhere Bowen goes, she treats it as a business opportunity – a testament to her determination to grow the business and make Essential Mortgage a success.
“I never hesitate to ask for business. Whether I am working with a new or repeat client, talking to one of the parents at my daughter’s school, at a social function or even at a grocery store, I simply introduce myself and hand out business cards,” she says. “It takes a quick minute to do but has played a large role in the growth of my business.”
For a full list of finalists and to reserve your place at the industry’s biggest night visit www.canadianmortgageawards.com - hope you don't miss out this year!
