Client demands on finance and property businesses have reached levels unmatched by any other industry in Australia. Pitcher Partners’ Business Radar, which surveyed 316 middle-market owners and leaders nationally, found the sector under more pressure than any other to deliver faster, technology-enabled service.
Virtually all finance and property businesses – nine in 10 – said clients were pressing them for quicker responses to enquiries. The broader business average sat at 75%.
For mortgage brokers, the findings land at a sharp point: clients are arriving at conversations pre-researched, already comparing lenders, and with less tolerance for delays than ever before.
The pressure for speed extended beyond enquiry handling. Eighty-six per cent of businesses in the sector said clients were demanding faster, more dependable delivery – a higher share than any other industry in the survey.
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and automation was equally pronounced. Four in five respondents (81%) said clients considered technology-enabled service a baseline requirement. Both readings were the highest recorded across all sectors.
Quality expectations told a different story. Only 68% of finance and property businesses reported client pressure around quality. This is below the 73 per cent national average and the sole measure where the sector fell short of the broader result.
Gavin Debono, a partner at Pitcher Partners Melbourne, said clients are entering conversations with more preparation than before.
‘Customers are arriving better researched, better prepared and often with a benchmark already in mind,’ Debono said. ‘That changes the dynamic – businesses need to be ready to explain value, not just quote a price.’
That pressure is acutely felt in broking. Clients who have already run their own rate comparisons online are less patient with delays and more likely to disengage if the service experience falls short.
The intensity of client pressure tracks closely with firm size.
Among businesses with more than 250 employees, 73% reported a rise in customer expectations compared with 57% of those under 100 staff. Mid-sized firms (100–250 employees) came in at 71%.
The gap widens on specific dimensions. Larger firms were far more likely to face pressure on quality (81% versus 64% for smaller businesses) and on technology-enabled service (79% versus 62%).
Joshua Haque, a director at Pitcher Partners Perth, said the pattern reflects different client relationships by size.
‘If you’re a large corporate brand, consumers expect sophisticated digital interfaces and seamless AI integration from day one,’ Haque said. ‘But smaller, relationship-based businesses are largely shielded from that intense pressure.’
‘In highly relationship-driven sectors, customers still place greater value on trust, expertise and personal service than digital sophistication.’
That is worth noting for brokers. As technology reshapes the mortgage profession, personal service continues to carry weight — especially at smaller brokerages.
For mortgage brokers, the challenge is compounded by regulation. Obligations under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (NCCP Act) require brokers to document, verify and justify every recommendation. This adds process weight precisely where clients are demanding less friction.
The Business Radar report identified this tension. Responding faster and more digitally while staying inside compliance and risk frameworks demands more than most industries are built to handle.
Cost pressure sits underneath all of it. Nearly half of all businesses nationally (45%) named pricing, margins and profitability as their greatest source of strain — the top result across every sector.
Supply chain behaviour is shifting too. A majority (54%) said they had changed how they engage their own suppliers and partners, suggesting firms are looking inward for relief.
Haque said the challenge ultimately requires an integrated response. ‘Leaders need to connect service promises with pricing, technology, people, suppliers and governance,’ he said.
For brokers managing rising customer expectations alongside compliance obligations, purpose-built tools are emerging as one response. AI-powered tools for mortgage brokers are designed to take administrative load off without adding regulatory risk.
The findings also point to an opening. Smaller, relationship-driven brokerages are still shielded from the most intense technology pressure — and trust, expertise and personal service remain what clients in this sector value most. That is a competitive position worth protecting.
