It's been a very exciting 24 hours.

First, I would like to express my excitement for the newly announced merger of our Aggregator, National Brokers Group with two other aggregators, The Brokerage, and The Mortgage Professionals.  It has been a long process since it's inception last year but finally it has settled and we are now associated with one of the largest Aggregators in Australia.  I have yet to meet the new CEO Jeff Zulman, but I have heard great feedback about him and I'm delighted that National Brokers Group CEO, Steve Lambert has moved into the role of Chief Operating Officer of the new company.  Steve has been with NBG (formerly FASA) for a long time and his association with us goes back to the days when he was our BDM and also the Special Projects Officer for NBG.  

The name of the newly formed group is Vow Financial.  Given the complexities of the merger it will take some time to bring it all together, so in the meantime it is business as usual.  Over time we will definitely see some changes and so for our existing members it is a great time to send me through your suggestions for possible improvements so that we can provide this input to the group.

On another note.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a piano recital by David Brodsky, the event which was sponsored by one of our brokers, Ian Cook.  The night was a great success and for the modest investment to sponsor the night, Ian obtained some great exposure and has already seen two new home loan leads as a result of it.

In March, Ian is holding the official launch of his mortgage broking business and I'm really excited to be invited to be there for him on that night.  It is fantastic to see someone really take hold of their business and to look for opportunities to put it out there.  Activity breeds success.

No I'm not kidding.  Free marketing is here and you can use it.

Brokers are always concerned about home loan lead generation, but sometimes they miss opportunities which are right in front of their eyes.

There are many forms of free marketing, you just need to take the time to research them.  One of the best ways of finding out about marketing opportunities is to talk with other brokers about how they run their businesses.  Yes, networking within the industry (while something like sleeping with the enemy) is a gold mine of information.

I'll be discussing some of the free marketing opportunities in our Forum later today.

On another note, I would like to take the opportunity to welcome Oscar Pascual in the Northern Territory, and Mark Healey in Queensland to our team.  Welcome aboard!

We have been mentoring brokers for a few years now and we've seen people enter the industry from a wide variety of backgrounds.  We have seen many enter the industry part-time, with others leaping in feet first.

Here are a few observations which I have made over this time.

1. For those thinking to enter the industry full-time, please ensure that you have the financial resources to see out 1 full year with little or no income.  This doesn't meant that you won't make money in the first year.  BUT, it does give you a safeguard and allows you to proceed without the stress or pressure of having to replace your income immediately.  Remember that this business is built over time and the major benefits come from having built a solid client base and a long term trailing income. 

2. For those who are entering part-time, set yourselves goals and targets to where you can leave your current employment and start full-time in this field.  While we are mentoring you, we will help you to meet these goals.  But without those goals, we've seen many brokers who exist in a limbo between their day job and their broking business.  Yes, working in your business to get loans approved is important, but you need to spend time working ON your business, in order to get it to a position where you can take it to the next level.

3. The most successful brokers we have mentored are those who are open to new ideas and are willing to put themselves Out There.  The role of the mentor is to help you to find ways to grow your mortgage broking business, but all of our coaching and suggestions are useless unless they are acted upon.  Take yourself out of your comfort zone and find new opportunities.  Socialise, network and meet people - this is how you grow your business - with people.

4. CUSTOMER SERVICE.  Your clients should come first every time.  Look after them, keep in contact with them and don't wait for them to call you.  Create a successful partnership with them and they will stay with you and they will then recommend you to others.

On the last note, I'll be updating our forum tomorrow with some insights from some Customer based research myself and several others undertook recently and it has some amazing insights. 

That's all from me today - my customers await.

Lead generation is one of the most important aspects of your broking business.  As a broker mentor, I am constantly asked the question.  Lead generation is always top of mind. Most brokers are continuously searching for the silver bullet in how to generate more leads. 

The problem is, many of them leave the basics out.

Take the time to talk to your friends, colleagues and family about their experiences.  If they have used a broker before, how did they find that broker.

One of the most common responses you will find is, by word of mouth.  Consider yourself in that situation, if you don't know any brokers personally, then you would probably prefer to deal with someone who comes recommended by a friend.

So, as a new broker, how do you get word of mouth home loan referrals?

Well, here's the cliff-hanger - I'll be covering this subject in our Forum area later today. 

In the meantime, I'm off to see some clients referred to me by one of my wife's friends.

Happy New Year to you all.

We really celebrated the new year in this year.  2009 was to say the least, a very interesting year.  There were certainly more than a fair share of challenges for us brokers and across the board, our team experienced the highs and the lows.

From Vision's perspective, we've come through to the other side of 2009 in better shape than when we started.  During the course of the year we connected with many more interesting and helpful individuals and organisations, building a stronger network for our future.  Yes, it was much harder to get deals across the line, but, I feel that many of us have become better brokers for the experience.

We ended the year on a high note, with a $9.5m commercial deal settling on the 23rd of December.  Well done to all involved in getting that across the line in the Christmas rush.

I'm not officially back on board yet, but considering how many others are back in the traces, I thought it would be appropriate to get the new years message out there.  I'll be back at work next Monday.

This year, we are really focused on helping our members to achieve their goals.  We'll be working closely with all of the individuals to help them to enjoy the success and the lifestyles that can be achieved through growing a solid broking business.

I'm looking forward to catching up with you all soon. 

Michael