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A broker who has written $50million worth of loans in his first year is praising a tool which is making his processes more efficient.
Melbourne-based Bernard Desmond has customers in a 250km radius, ranging from Geelong to Philip Island, and the Mornington Peninsula.
He said one of the biggest issues for brokers was collecting documents, with chasing customers and then potentially sending them back if not right.
Desmond, who has developed his business Feedback Finance, a Loan Market franchise, began testing a new app called Ezidox. Produced by Lakeba, it allows customers to upload documents quickly and easily.
The app lists the documents that need to be uploaded and both sides can see a progress bar of what has been completed. The broker can then set deadlines and reminders, so the app notifies the customer with what to do next, rather than the broker following up.
Desmond said, “One of the biggest pain points in mortgage broking, which customers hate, is giving documents and brokers going back and forth asking for paperwork. The classic example would be bank statements.
“I was having that challenge, I was chasing documents, following up with customers, bank statements were getting missed out, documents were not clear, but this app solves all of that.
“You’re putting the ownership of collecting the documents in the hands of the customer again and giving them that ability so they don’t have to go to a printer or get a pdf.
“Most pay slips are electronic these days, very few you’ll come across where pay slips are not electronic. You can download the pay slip from your payroll and just attach it. If I’ve asked for six months bank statements, they click on that link and it will tell you to choose your bank. Then it will bring it up as a simple one page window and you just have to tick the accounts.
“I’m becoming more efficient in getting time back to my business and doing the tasks that generate more income for me rather than following up with the customer I’ve already chased once.”
He also said the app is perfect for getting his brand out there and as a “one man band”, this was vital.
He added, “The app is heavily branded, it’s got my face, it’s got all the awards that I’ve won and that just builds trust with the customer.
“It’s all personalised. That was really crucial to me, I didn’t want ezidox, I wanted to showcase my face. It’s extraordinary, the customer logs in and says well, this guy must be someone.
“It can’t get any smaller than this, but when my customer looks at it, they don’t think that. They think this guy must be somebody big.
“Most of my business comes from referrals, but you do get those customers that want that social proof and to know they’re dealing with the best in the business.
“This is the problem with our industry, brokers are waiting for others to do it for them. They’re saying, my aggregator’s software is not enough, or it’s not great, they’re not doing this, some other aggregators have got this great thing happening. Just make it happen. It’s your business. No one’s going to do it for you.”
Ezidox allows customers to upload text, images or pdfs and the template forms built in the app, such as for PYAG or tax documents, are designed to make the process even faster at the broker end, as the forms are all pre-populated from the initial login by the customer.
