Best Business Development Managers in Australia | 5-Star BDMs

It might appear simple, but it’s Australia’s brokers biggest priority when dealing with BDMs.

O’Brien says, “Unless I’m on another call, I always take a call coming in; I try to avoid it going to the message box. I’m very organised in the way I structure my day; I do emails in blocks. The thing for me is that when there’s no response, that’s when people tend to get agitated. Being in a management role is about being available for people when they need you.”

However, the caveat is that responsiveness has to be appropriate. O’Brien doesn’t rush when he needs more time.

“Not that I want all the problems to land on my desk every day, but if they do come through, it may be a problem that I’ve already fixed before. So, I know the answer or how to go about it,” he says. “Sometimes there’s complex scenarios that could be completely out of the box, so you’ve got to take a breath or put a bit of strategy around them. I’ll tell them, ‘Give me 24 hours, and I’ll take it away.’ Not everything has to be done in the heat of the moment.”
 

Manaras is another who always seems to be reachable. Often, during online team meetings, if a broker calls, she’ll quickly reply by text, reminding them to send an email.

She says, “If it’s quick, I’ll answer. If I need to speak to them about it, I’ll message them to tell them, ‘I’ll call you back.’ I’ve trained a lot of my brokers to know that if you can’t get me on the phone, pop me an email because a lot of them just want an answer as quickly as possible.

“If I don’t call back, they know I must be sick or something like that. We pride ourselves on getting back to our people as quickly as possible, giving them the answers they want so we can move on to the next thing for them.”
 

Simplicity is often the most effective means of doing something.

Manaras says, “My customer service is my brokers, and behind the broker is the client.”

This appreciation has been harnessed by her 30-odd year career in customer facing roles.

“Getting a good result for my broker gives them repeat business, but I also hit my targets,” says Manaras. “The idea of service is really important to me because not only will it give me repeat business, but I also have brokers referring other brokers. At the end of the day, as BDMs, we’ve got to understand the client wants everything yesterday.”

Similarly, O’Brien never loses sight of the basics.

He says, “We’re in a people business; it’s all about being client- or broker-facing. I enjoy helping brokers; that’s where I get my satisfaction from.”

A significant part of his customer service efforts is spent on onboarding new brokers into Specialist Finance Group’s ways of doing things. 

“It’s an old saying, ‘When you stop learning, you get left behind’ so I make a conscious effort to continually learn”
Marcus O’BrienSpecialist Finance Group

“It’s the old 80/20 rule, more time and effort are required when they join, whether it’s accreditation, software training, compliance training, commission or lending assistance. There’s a lot more time invested in the initial recruiting and meetings to build that rapport,” O’Brien says.

An attribute that has enabled O’Brien to be recognised as a 5-Star BDM is a lack of ego.

He says, “The brokers are self-employed business owners in their own right even though they’re under an aggregator, so my role is to provide support and direct them to the right person or department. Sometimes they just want to use me as a sounding board; I’m there for whatever role they need.”
 

Everyone has their own style of making contact. For O’Brien, it’s about being on the front foot.

“Sitting at a computer and doing emails all day is not my number one forte, whereas using my knowledge and having a conversation with brokers, either over the phone or face to face is what I prioritise,” he says. “I find that over the years we’ve had proven success when I engage with people and we can actually be in the same room or across the desk, as you can actually build rapport. I just think it’s more of a personal touch, and that’s genuine for me, so I prefer it, but I’m also a realist and know that in this day and age I have to do what I call blended delivery.”

As a result of Sydney’s notorious traffic, Manaras does local meetings to prevent her brokers from spending hours in a jam to meet her.

She says, “We get them together; we can get up to 20 brokers, and we go through all of our information, and if anyone wants to stay back and discuss a few things, then I do that.”

Even with her group meetings, Manaras is still content to offer one on one if needed.

“We keep that for when someone needs help with a deal, they don’t know how to submit it or they want us to meet the team,” she says.
 

Having a particularly in-depth understanding of the ins and outs of Auswide Bank’s products enables Manaras to be responsive, offer great service and lessen the need for extra communication with brokers.

She says, “We’ve got two products. There’s a basic where the rate is cheaper, no offset and the other is a package, and sometimes we’ll have special offers.”

Manaras can list fees and structures at the click of a finger, but it goes beyond this by preparing material brokers can share with clients. 

“I’m very passionate about my network; I don’t like them having a sour taste and having to explain to their customers why a deal didn’t go through”
Vicki ManarasAuswide Bank

“We package things up for them to send them to their customers. Even though they do their research, they still come to me anyway because they like the way I package it for their client,” she says.

But it’s Manaras’ attention to detail that truly makes her a 5-Star BDM. She workshops every deal and documents all the communication, so the bank’s analysts can see her involvement and how everything connects together.

She says, “The brokers don’t have to repeat themselves. There’s no point in submitting the deal and hoping for the best. I prefer not to waste their time. I’ve taught them to have a chat with me, and if I feel it’s a deal, then we go to the next step and cover every base. I think that’s why I’ve been so successful.”

Being a sponge has served O’Brien well, and he admits to still learning, despite having almost four decades of experience in the financial industry. He is another who has product knowledge at his fingertips.

“Where does my knowledge come from? I feel that if you listen, learn and engage, then your activity generates education,” he says. “We run professional development days, so I’m always learning things like, ‘What's the latest guidelines? What’s the latest knowledge? What’s the latest tip or trick? What’s the latest licensing requirement?’”

O’Brien: “Be adaptable to change, embrace technology and use your systems and processes to automate any tasks that don’t need to be done manually. If you have a certain weakness, there are other people or services available as support. Brokers need to be reminded to stick to what their skill set is.”

Manaras: “The moment you get a customer, treat them with respect. And just like brokers call me and want a response, I tell them to do the same with their clients. Let them know not to panic and that we have all got the same outcome on our minds.”

Best Business Development Managers in Australia | 5-Star BDMs

• 
  Marcus O’Brien
  Specialist Finance Group
   
  
• 
  Mark Konecny
  Auswide Bank
   
  
• 
  Vicki Manaras
  Auswide Bank
   
  
• 
  Tristian Cunningham
  Beyond Bank Australia
   
  

• Aaron Barry-Davies
  Finsure
• Aine Dargan
  Bankwest
• Alan Comer
  Westpac
• Ali Hassan
  ANZ
• Andrew Oey
  MA Money
• Andrey Tabachnikov
  Westpac
• Anil Keskin
  St.George Bank
• Aysun Portoglou
  ubank
• Bettina Lumsden
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Brijesh Mehta
  Well Nigh
• Chloe Savanah
  Pepper
• Craig Nicholas
  Resimac
• Daisy Yu
  Finsure
• David Tickle
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Daz Smith
  Suncorp
• Elyvin Maharaj
  Macquarie Bank
• Emmanuel Makroglou
  ANZ
• Emoke Palos
  Resi
• Felicity Wu
  Finsure
• George Markos
  ANZ
• Giselle Stellenberg
  HSBC
• Giuseppe Picello
  Suncorp
• Greg Durie
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Helen Bozikis
  Bankwest
• Herry Tjandrasusilo
  Bank Australia
• Jason McDonald
  ANZ
• Jay Allen
  Brighten
• Jerome Porcia
  Resi Home Loans
• Jimmy Hou
  Brighten
• Jodie Hanson
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Josh Bittencourt
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Julia Cosentino
  Bankwest
• Kathryn Mortimer
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Katie McNamara
  La Trobe Financial
• Kay Yang
  Brighten
• Kylie McCue
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Linda Fraser
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Maddie Matthews
  Fintelligence
• Malcolm Elias
  Macquarie Bank
• Melanie de Jager
  MA Money
• Michael Petidis
  ANZ
• Nancy Chu
  ANZ
• Natasha Paszyn
  Plenti
• Nicholas Brookes
  ING Australia
• Omar Ibrahim
  St.George Bank
• Peter Jong
  Finsure
• Roohi Kumar
  St.George Bank
• Sam Tang
  Westpac
• Samantha Kyriakidis
  Pepper Money ANZ
• Sevim Isikli
  Finsure
• Simon Naidu
  Great Southern Bank
• Sornkin Sairlao
  ANZ
• Tes Anderson
  Bankwest
• Van Vu
  Finsure
• Wendy Goulevitch
  Brighten
• Zane Young
  ubank