Mortgage Choice broker Matt Cunliffe has come out of the gate strong this year, and has some big goals ahead
“I’m a man of few words, unless I’m sitting in front of a client and I’ll chew their ear off for an hour and a half.”
This modest broker is Matt Cunliffe – the young gun who, at 28 years old, is the general manager of Mortgage Choice Brisbane and has written $100,267,000 of the $142,891,000 in total settled in his branch this year so far.
The success he has achieved this year – which includes his personal best of settling $64 million in February – comes down to client relationship management, he said.
“Sixty to 65% of my business is repeat business or client referrals, and of the remaining, about 25% would be from network based referrals from business partners. A lot of my role is to generate and maintain lead sources and relationships,” he said.
“We have a lot of touch points with clients not only throughout the application process, but all through the course of the loan. There are quite a lot throughout the course of the application process, and come settlement, we touch base at two weeks after, five weeks after, three months after, six months after and 12 months after,” Cunliffe said.
“We make sure there are a number of opportunities to touch base after settlement to continue the relationship with the client – to make sure they are continually happy with the product, to offer further products or discuss other options, whether it is financial planning or any commercial ventures they are looking at.”
Cunliffe’s newest challenge is tackling commercial lending. He has written all the commercial loans settled in his branch this year.
“It is something that I have become more and more serious about over the past two years. To be able to even go after the commercial side, I needed that steady residential stream that kept the income flowing through, but more and more enquiries were going down the path of commercial.”
To other brokers wanting to tackle commercial lending, he advises to take it slow.
“I wouldn’t say go two feet first. I wouldn’t say forget residential and go straight into commercial. Residential gives a consistent and ongoing stream, whereas the commercial side can be a lot more drawn out and can take up to 18 months to get over the line. Don’t be afraid though, just be cautious.”
Cunliffe’s personal goal is to reach the golden $100 million mark for residential lending by the end of the year – which would be a 15% increase on the amount he settled last year, as well as trying to reach $120 million in commercial settlements.
This article is from Australian Broker issue #11.15. Download the issue to read more.
