AFG have created a new broker-specific role in their leadership to deal with the way that the aggregator interacts with the broker channel.
Joseph Khal will become the new Head of Broker Experience, a brand new position, and sat down with Australian Broker for his first interview in post to outline what the new role will entail.
“I’m very excited to be given the reins to charge up this new division,” said Khal. “When we think about some of the stuff that we have already brought in: while we only just announced this, I’ve been in the role for a few weeks.”
“The role of the broker has changed significantly in the last two or three years, let alone the last five year. They’re becoming more of a specialist as branches close in all areas. Brokers are now the go-to, and while it was a slow-paced movement, it’s been escalated in the last 12 months with Covid and the new tech that we were forced to adopt.”
“My job is to think about how we can enhance that broker and customer experience today and tomorrow, and how do we continue to get better? Whether it be processes, workflow management and products or helping our brokers with staffing, as businesses explode and scale up.”
“Brokers don’t have the time to work on their business, because they’re so involved in the business themselves, so how do we help them navigate through that? How do we give them the tools and how do we give them the procedures, whether in HR, hiring and training?”
“There’s plenty happening, and my role is to have the broker and the customer at the forefront of everything we do at AFG, ultimately creating the best broker and customer experience we can give.”
Khal brings a wealth of experience within the channel, having previously sat in AFG Home Loans and prior to that, as a BDM at CBA. Having batted on both sides, Khal can bring that lender experience to assist brokers.
“The best part of getting out bring a BDM at both AFG and CBA is that I’ve been working with brokers for the last ten years,” said Khal. “I know and understand what brokers’ needs are, and what their customer needs are.”
“The demands of what a customer needs these days has changed significantly to four or five years ago. Pressure in the market, pressure over speed, pressure over approvals. It’s taking that understanding of their needs, now and moving forwards, and using the relationships that I have built to move forwards and continue to get better at everything we do.”
“It all relates back to that customer experience. The ultimate goal is broker first. At AFG, everything we do is broker first, and the broker works pretty damn hard for their customer. How do we take that, run with it and make that the forefront of everything, so that we can give it to our brokers at their fingertips.”
