Other advisers are allies, not competition - broker

Interacting with other successful brokers and gathering ideas will help your business, according to a top adviser

Other advisers are allies, not competition - broker

NZ Adviser talks to Waikato-based mortgage adviser Brett Wood from Loan Market about developments within the adviser industry, the challenges and rewards of the job and his most memorable client experiences.

Wood was named a Top Adviser in our second annual Top Advisers Rankings 2018.

How do you think the mortgage broking industry has changed over the last two years?
There’s been a remarkable increase in the admin involved for both new applications and management of existing clients. A high quality support team is critical to be able to deal with the extra workload and meet clients’ service expectations.

Bank lending criteria has also tightened, and that’s seen the non-bank lenders become more relevant. We’ve been doing a lot more non-bank lending recently and I see this growing significantly. It’s also made things confusing and frustrating for clients, which in turn has made us more relevant.

Clients have become more tech savvy and are expectant that their adviser is too.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?
When I see what a long-term client has achieved over the years thanks in part to the input that the team and I have had.

What has been the secret to your professional success? 
Identifying the types of clients I want to deal with and building circles of trust with other professionals who work with similar clients.

What is the key to overcoming the challenges you face as a mortgage broker? 
Seeing other advisers as allies rather than competition. My immediate challenge is to further refine our processes so that we can deal effectively with the ever increasing workload.  I’ve got an awesome team and I’m going around the country visiting my peers to see how they’re running their businesses and getting great ideas. There are a lot of switched on people in this industry and most are happy to help.

What is your best strategy for generating leads? 
Aside from client referrals, showing influencers how you can solve theirs and their clients’ problems.

What was your most memorable client experience this past year? 
Some existing clients were due to settle on their new home and a week out, the unconditional sale of their existing house fell over. We provided plans A, B & C and it settled, and a week after moving in, the clients had a new baby.

What do you think of the impending changes in the regulatory landscape? How will this shape the future of the industry? 
I think in general it will be a good thing and clients will ultimately benefit from it. We’re embracing it, but I do hope that it’s done properly this time. I think advisers will have to choose their aggregators wisely and vice versa, and some of both will be left out in the cold. Ultimately, good adviser businesses and good aggregators should firm up their places in the market.

Outside of being a broker, what are your favourite hobbies? 
Surfing and travelling with wife Megan and the kids, Ava and Emmett.

If you were the Prime Minister for a day, what would you do? 
Start trying to figure out how to get families out of garages, cars and tents and into warm dry homes.

If you could offer one piece of advice to someone starting a career as a mortgage broker, what would that be? 
Don’t complain about the market until you have 100% market share.

 

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