00:01 - Hello and welcome to Australian Broker TV and our very special Australian Broker panel discussion where we're holding a curtain raiser for the Australian Mortgage Awards in the category of best customer service from an individual office sponsored by non-bank lender Bluestone. Today we'll be discussing why customer service is so important in broking and hearing from our nominees who are all excellent examples of getting customer service right. We are privileged to have Aaron Taylor, head of sales strategy and
00:37 - performance at Bluestone to lead off and provide his view. Hello Aaron. >> Hi Karly. While on the nominee side, we have Chris Raymond, UnConditional Finance, Maddie Walton, Money Lounge, Keely Gregory, Birdie Wealth, Xavier Quenon, Go Mortgage, Ben Hawley, Azura Financial, Leah Busby, BlackFish Finance, and Phil Rogers, Loan Market/Edge. Welcome to you all. To begin, I'm going to ask Aaron to talk about why customer service matters at his company, Bluestone, and why this prize is important. Before we move on and ask the
01:18 - first question to our lucky nominees, over to you, Aaron. >> Thanks, Kylie. In a growing world of technology, we know the importance of human contact is greater now more than ever. Brokers have continued growing their market share. And I see that this is strongest amongst those with ongoing support for their clients through a constantly changing world. A home loan is not just a transaction. It's an ongoing partnership between brokers and their clients. This award recognizes the best in the business and we're proud to
01:45 - be sponsoring the event once again this year. Good luck to all our finalists. >> Thank you, Aaron. Okay, first question to our nominees is all about service in practice. Can you share a recent example where your office's approach to customer service made a tangible difference for a client and what practices or processes underpin that consistency? Chris, let's go to you first. >> Yeah, I guess for us um especially in the current environment, you know, our customers um new and existing, they're
02:21 - the livelihood of our business. So, you know, myself, my team, we put immense sort of value on our customer service delivery. And I think that's sort of evident with our social proof and we've got sort of 400 plus five star Google reviews and stuff like that. So, you know, for us, customer service doesn't just end when a loan settles. We want to focus on that customer service and adding more value to our customers post settlement as well. So, um, recently, yeah, we've had a few different clients
02:49 - that have obviously reached out post settlement. Um, I actually had one yesterday which is a live example. She actually had a bit of an issue with her buyers agent. Um, and she wasn't able to get her property rented due to issues to that particular property. So, we sort of rang up her lender, negotiated her repayments just to be put on hold for a short period of time. Um, and we're also liaising with her buyers agent as well, which isn't necessarily a broker's job, but you know, we want to be sort of the
03:17 - trusted advisor for our clients um, in all aspects of their journey. So, um, yeah, we're obviously speaking to the buyers agent as well about what they can do to come to the party to assist our clients as well. So, that's one recent example that's come, you know, that comes to mind with us. >> Thank you, Chris. Maddie, what do you think? >> I full fully agree with everything that Chris said. I think that being a broker sometimes it's not just about doing the
03:43 - loans and the mortgage itself. It's more about supporting your customer through the entire journey. And I think that now more than ever, clients are not just expecting it, but they do feel that extra level of support and that extra mile um as that trusted adviser in the whole process and someone that they can connect to for multiple different scenarios. So, one that really comes to mind for me where I where my team and I went quite above and beyond was for a client um in this this market this year.
04:12 - Um they needed a bridging loan. they were selling their current home. Um but they were struggling to sell and they found their dream home. Um they had a lot of family issues that arose and some issues with the title and um KBS put on the title and that was post formal approval which we weren't aware of. They didn't know much about the whole process. became a bit of a fun situation for everybody involved having to do a bit of detective work detective work on my side and all in all their
04:42 - settlement was about to fall through for their purchase because the bridging loan couldn't be finished. I was able to go above and beyond with the conveyancer at the time get all of the titles sorted. They had to get um the consent orders from two of the cavia tours on the title. We had to get all of that printed, posted, escalated with the titles office with the government. All of these things that I handled that definitely are not part of my process or anything that we do. But because there
05:10 - was two bridging loans for the sale and purchases for the vendors and the buyers, and everything would have fallen through without that, I was able to get everything sorted and finalized on the day of settlement with about 20 minutes to spare. And I saved them about well 10% of their purchase price, which is $2.1 million. So very tangible difference to them. They have been very grateful for me and yeah it will be forever a most memorable moment. It was very stressful for me at the time but just goes to show that going above and
05:41 - beyond and not just saying sorry this is this is not to do with me um that can really just make such a huge difference in people's lives. >> That sounds like an awesome outcome. Maddie, congratulations to you and key it would be great to hear from you next. >> Yes. Um so Birdie wealth is a part of the birdie group. So we actually offer uh birdie conveyancing, birdie property which is property management only and birdie law. So I think for us about creating an avenue for our clients that
06:14 - um we are giving them different pathways or different services to help with their property journey. But um one thing for sure is having that um has allowed our clients to reach out a lot easier. They can um have that conveyancing on hand but it also means that we are directly communicating with them too. We also very similar to Chris of saying that the loan does not end once it has been settled. So we actually have here at Birdie Wealth a refinancing and repricing challenge that we do every 6 months which means that the whole team
06:53 - goes in and reprices the whole loan book. So they go through every client and check where the rate is, make sure they're competitive, but through that what we're actually doing is reaching out to our clients and giving them um updates every six months of what's actually happening in the market. Is there any tools out there that can be helping them? Is there anything that they should be aware of? There's videos. We've tried to make sure all of our email um templates are a little bit more
07:23 - savvy and different every single time. But by doing this, what we're finding is that we are being proactive with our clients and always being ahead with the strategy. um because things are changing as like why the need that we went into diversification of our clients are becoming more sophisticated as well. So having the wills and estates being available but also being proactive allows us to make sure that we're on top of anything that comes up >> for us like um and this award fits very
07:56 - well because service is a pillar of our proposition. Um Aaron put it very well before. We're not transactional. Our clients are not alone. Get on board at power family. So the best example I can always um share is when someone comes with preconceived ideas about what they can or can't do um just because of what they've heard or what another broker or bank or friend at a barbecue said. And we we're able to turn that around in a real life lemon's terms proposition for them to move them
08:28 - forward. not just now but forever uh in a day. So that's the passion we like to bring and the clarity to our customers. >> Ben, what do you think? >> Yeah, I think echoing what Xavier said, you know, customer service is at the center um of everything we do and I think in broking these days um you know there there's so many rates advertised and whatnot. Customer service is the key way that brokerages can differentiate themselves. So, you know, there's lots of examples
08:57 - of um specific things clients come with issues and whatnot and solving them. I think that's sort of part of what we're expected to do each day. I sort of view that, you know, delivering exceptional customer service as um, you know, those constant 1 percenters, you know, just that that you consistent communication, always giving the right advice, clients knowing exactly where they're at all times, being responsive, fast turnaround, setting expectations, just that constant 1% um, uh, delivery like
09:26 - from end to end process is I think what makes the biggest difference. >> Thank you, Ben. Leah, it would be great to hear from you next. Thanks, Kylie. So, yes, customer service is the heart of our business here at Blackfish. And uh I think the big thing for brokerage is, you know, we're always focusing on improving our systems and paying for software and wanting the really fast turnaround times. But the big thing that we really focus on is making sure that we're adaptable to suit
09:52 - the actual customers needs and the way that they work. So, a recent example for us here is we are investing a lot of money in onboarding clients faster and with systems. But we recently had a client, he's in his late 40s, he was a tradey. He said, "I cannot use that technology." So my team immediately said, "You can come into our office here at Glennel. We'll upload all the documents with you and make it happen." Now, for him, the entire process was like that. The way that we communicated,
10:16 - we adjusted it to suit him to make sure he understood what was happening. He was in the middle of a separation, so really high stress. And at the end, the result was a super happy client who'd said no by two extra, you know, two different lenders and two different brokers. Um, and the way that we changed our system, it actually got feedback in the same way. So, the customer came in with a two-page written hand note rather than a Google review and uh, he wrote us a big letter about how appreciative he was for
10:41 - us adapting for him, the amount of support we gave him, the way that we really communicated the way that he needed to understand it. So, I think the big focus is with customers. You have to do what customers want, right? Not just what works best for your system and your team. So, that was a really good success for us last month. >> Thank you, Leah. Phil, what are your thoughts? >> Great. Agreeing with the gent where they're talking about that point of difference was really geared around
11:06 - customer service. You know, it is at the heart of what we provide and I think speed to response has been a really big one. Speed equals trust in the in the space that we live in and we're in such a digital space to Leah's point around making it easier to do business with us. we, you know, in an Uber experience type world that we live in, that speed to response has been really important and setting really strong expectations. So the clients really aware of the journey and what the next stages are. Um, it's
11:34 - funny when we return a call, sometimes people say thank you now and it's like, wow, is the bar that low where someone says thanks when it's returning a call? But I think, you know, we can really stand out by setting those expectations. um having a really strong speed of response and that sets us up for a great customer experience. >> Fantastic examples everyone. Thank you for sharing. Okay, for question two, we're chatting all things team capability and communication. How does your office keep clients
12:05 - informed and supported throughout the loan process? And what role does staff training or product knowledge play in that experience? Chris, let's go to you first. >> Yeah, for us, um, you know, consistency and customer service really comes down to our culture. Um, I think in particular for our newer members at Unconditional Finance and, you know, those of a younger demographic, we really want to sort of um, highlight the value that customer service puts on our business. You know, both from a, you
12:37 - know, an experience point of view, both from a revenue point of view as well. Um, we've really sort of doubled down on our customer service. um in particular our post customer service the last sort of two or so years where we now get 70% of our business from existing clients or existing clients relationships as well. So um you know I think communication it's one of the biggest parts of the client experience. You know we do have a lot of sort of AI and automation set up with our CRM system as
13:02 - well but I'm very old-fashioned. Don't hide behind a computer. Don't hide behind a phone is what I sort of drill into my team. you know, you can often solve a problem with a one minute phone call rather than an email or back and forth as well. So, we just try and highlight that. Um, you know, I guess the new newer generation, they're brought up with tech. Um, and tech does play a part, but I'm still old-fashioned. You know, I think communication um verbally, whether it's
13:28 - via Zoom meeting or via a phone call, is what we sort of drill into our um and train into our customer team as well. >> Old school for the win, Chris. >> I'm old school. Yes, >> Maddie. What do you think? >> I am although younger, I am still feel like being old school and being very proactive, not reactive in your approach to customer service and communication is really important. I do have AI and automations embedded in my back end of my process, but pretty much all of my
13:59 - client communication is coming from me directly. I am a smaller team. I am a solo broker with support um staff. So uh I feel that where my priority lies in my business is in client communication and that customer service piece. Um so a lot of the backend stuff is all automated and sorted so I can spend more time being front facing with my clients. So how that I guess correlates to being informed throughout the process again being proactive not reactive is really important to me. Um making sure they're
14:30 - informed and I'm in touch with them at least three to four times a week sometimes daily communications. I find that as long as I haven't gotten a hey or where are we up to in the process or what's next if I haven't gotten that through the entire process I've won and that's I feel like how most of us usually aim to approach a customer experience. So same thing also post settlement is really important to me making sure people are informed throughout the entire process. We also
14:58 - have six monthly reviews. I also do a quarterly webinar with a trusted professional in the industry for my post settlement clients. So they will be able to one time we'll have a real estate agent, a buyers agent, an accountant, a financial planner. They get an email out that says we're going to be, you know, having a evening webinar on this date for this quarter with this trusted professional. If you would like to ask any questions or be a part, please feel free to join. I find that that keeps
15:26 - everybody quite invested and just interested in what's going on in the market and the process. So I found that's been a really good uptake as well. So just making sure that people are informed of everything and that our customer service doesn't end after settlement I think is so important especially even 2 years 3 years down the track people still want to be involved. They want to be part of it. Um they still are always looking around at different things and keeping them in your circle makes sure that they
15:52 - stay with you. they refer to you and being a small business my clients are like my family and the referrals back to me mean the world and so um yeah that word of mouth is really important in in terms of building the business as well so yeah that's how I guess I keep them informed and everything through the process >> beautifully said Maddie key what are your thoughts >> I would say our thoughts quite similar to Chris and Maddie as well um Nathan is very big on just pick up the phone.
16:22 - It's a lot quicker than going back and forth. But I think for us as a team, we're a larger team when we have uh nine brokers now. Uh but we run in what's called pods. So it is with a broker, a power broker, and then an admin assistant. And then from there, the whole aim is that this pod experience is allowing uh clients to be getting that service. So I we're big believers in you know process is powerful and I think having structure behind it allows for us to be execute
17:00 - better customer service but we have a 48hour touch uh rule. So it's like making sure that we're in contact with our clients within every 48 hours. Um, and so I think that has worked really well, especially in this pod structure that our clients always have somebody who knows the file and knows where things are at and having that communication uh, works really well. What else can I would say? I think very similar to like Chris and Maddie, but thinking tech should be supporting and buying time for our team. Um, not taking
17:34 - over that experience. people are wanting to have a closer connection, especially with their brokers, this trusted advisor. We see that you don't know everything. Like maybe because you're in the industry and you know something doesn't mean that your clients know that too. So that breakdown of information comes in all sort forms. We are very big on social media and marketing and making sure that we have some sort of infotainment. always trying to give that education to our clients and empower
18:07 - them because it's a big decision and um to feel supported is very important um as well. >> Thank you everyone. And for our third and final question today, we're discussing client relationships and reputation. How do you build long-term trust with clients and referral partners? and what feedback or outcomes best reflect your office's reputation for service. Xavier, let's go to you first. >> Thanks, Kylie. Well, we've been doing this now for 20 years, and I guess we've
18:43 - perfected over time um trying to keep our morals and compass straight, delivering real service um day-to-day. Um you know, five star isn't what we give someone at Selman, for instance, as a client gift. Five star is felt throughout the whole experience. So over the years we've overcome the changes in the industry. Um we've adapted, we've grown as uh brokers, but that was always for a sole purpose, which is to deliver to our customers the same five-star experience that we delivered 5 years ago and 10
19:18 - years ago and 15 years ago. It's about being an ally in their financial situation and their quest in life to you know buy houses and achieve goals and we want to be there for them um all throughout the journey not only just for them but for their family and their friends as well. And so I think uh keeping in real, being true and not overpromising or underdelivering, being a true ally in their quest and for them to be felt as part of our family at Go Mortgage. >> Thanks, Xavier. Ben, what do you think?
19:56 - >> Yes. So at Azura, one of the um the things we're constantly uh talking about is that, you know, with our clients, you you'd never give them advice that you wouldn't take yourself. Um, and I think if you constantly sort of uphold that advice, you know, that's a it's a pillar in in developing um really solid long-term relationships and and building long-term trust with your clients. So, uh, you know, and I think here for us, we've got sort of nearly 1300 five-star
20:25 - Google reviews. Um, and obviously our largest, um, our largest referral source is our existing clients. So I think that's sort of testament to the that sort of level of service that we continually strive to deliver. >> Thanks Dan. Leah, it would be great to hear from you. >> Thanks Kylie. Yes. So customer service is the pillar of all of our businesses. So for us it's about education and communication. So we really pride ourselves on how honest our communication is, how direct, and how
20:54 - fast it is. So with our referral partners, again, our biggest referral source is our clients. So um without those happy clients, it just is a testament of why we have been successful for the last 20 years, but also our referral partners, they know that we'll educate them, we'll communicate with their clients, they can trust the process and the system, and that they'll truly get looked after. And our big motto here is look after every client like they're your best friend. So what
21:18 - service would you want? What education would you want? What advice would you want? And we really manage that throughout the process. And that's why people keep coming back to us and trust us with their finance. Thanks, Leah and Phil. What are your thoughts? >> Yeah, one of the things we're most proud about, I guess, when we think about our ongoing relationship with our clients is the post settlement process. You know, we do everything we can to provide amazing service and experience during
21:44 - the journey. But it's that customers for life philosophy that really sees us, you know, 71% of what we wrote last year was existing or referral from existing. And similar to the guys, it is our biggest source of referral. Um, and to be honest, it's probably where we love the most, like as a team, being able to be we're 16 years in now, writing 16-year letters uh out to clients is a is a really amazing experience. And I think for us, having that since really pretty much since day one, having that post
22:13 - settlement customer for life annual check-in process involved has been something that has seen clients coming back time and time again, but also referring friends and family. >> Thanks. Thanks so much, Phil. Well, it's certainly going to be a very hard job for the judges. Thank you for the brilliant insights, everyone. Before we close out, it would be great to hear from Aaron one more time with respect to what he's most looking forward to at the AMAs. >> Kylie, I always look forward to these
22:45 - events and especially coming to this one once again this year, being in a room with the best of the best and coming together to celebrate wins together is so important. Uh it's great hearing how everyone is approaching this ever evolving industry and the challenges that just seem to keep getting thrown at us all. Uh good luck to all the finalists tonight and I look forward to seeing you there. >> Well said Aaron. And so that concludes this Australian broker panel featuring Bluestone and the AMA nominees for best
23:12 - customer service from an individual office. Thanks to Chris Raymond's UnConditional Finance, Maddie Walton, Money Lounge, Keely Gregory, Birdie Wealth, Xavier Quenon, Go Mortgage, Ben Hawley, Azura Financial, Leah Busby, BlackFish Finance, and Phil Rogers Loan Market/Edge. And of course, a huge thank you to you all for watching Australian Broker TV. >> [music]
