Building brands through CPD

Working in a rapidly changing mortgage industry requires that brokers keep ahead of the game by continually learning new skills and trends. Here is a look at how companies use their training programs to attract new brokers and build their reputations.

When you are working in a business as rapidly evolving as the mortgage industry, it is important to keep up with new trends and practices. This is why industry bodies require their members to complete a certain level of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points to continue their membership.

Many companies require their brokers to belong to a professional organisation so as to keep their practices in line with current trends and make sure their employees are aware of new ways of generating business.

However, some companies ask that their brokers go above and beyond the membership requirements of organisations such as the MFAA and FBAA, and these include the likes of Aussie Home Loans and Virgin Money.

Industry bodies provide a solid platform for a broker to develop his or her skill set but these two companies ask for a little bit more.

Industry bodies

For years the MFAA has been requiring its members to complete 25 points worth of training and development courses as a way of guaranteeing a high level of service within the industry.

"It's based on the principle that to be relevant as a professional, in any field, you need to be up to date with current trends and practices," MFAA chief executive Phil Naylor says.

Members receive points depending on the length and complexity of the class. Points can be awarded for MFAA training courses or outside courses that are accredited by the organisation.

The MFAA has about 11,600 members that are subject to the CPD requirement and each member has to describe what they have done to meet the requirement in order to continue their membership.

"We conduct random audits to ensure the integrity of the returns. Our members are required to tell us what they have done to meet the CPD requirement when they renew their membership. They can't renew their membership unless they satisfy us that they've met the CPD points obligation," Naylor says.

The MFAA holds its members to a higher level than the government dictates and also provides information to help its members enhance their business.

"Our strategic policy is to always surpass government requirements. Our standards will always be greater than what is legally required of us," Naylor says. "What we're finding from new members is that they're wanting more and more information on how to actually run their businesses. They already know how to write loans and they're now looking for ways to make their business more profitable."

Another industry body, the FBAA, has been looking at the issue of mandatory CPD points for the past couple of years to determine the best way of implementing a program that will benefit its broad membership base. "Historically we've never had one because we've been across a broader spectrum of members than other organisations," FBAA president Peter White says.

The FBAA was founded in Queensland in 1992 and was created to represent the entire finance broking industry including those who offer commercial finance, lease and motor vehicle finance, business and debtor finance. After looking at all the options, the FBAA decided in November to add a CPD program to its membership requirements to enhance the standing of its members.

"We've had to go about it in a certain fashion so as not to alienate our members," White says. "We need to ensure that professional standards are upheld."

The FBAA has about 9,500 members with about 60% of those loan writers. White says that the new program will help members maintain a high level of service to their clients.

"The people that are coming into the industry cold need to hone their skills," he says. "It's really an industry standard that needs to be maintained."

The FBAA will implement an online system for members to keep track of accrued points and ensure that they are on track to complete the necessary annual requirements.

Companies that require their employees to be members of one of these organisations can rest assured that they are continually working to hone their skills and keep up to date with a rapidly changing industry. There are other companies, however, that like their brokers to be ahead of the curve.

Aussie Home Loans

Aussie Home Loans prides itself on its image and how its brand speaks to its customers. The company has a strict training program that installs Aussie's client-centred approach to business in all its brokers.

"We have an extremely valuable brand that represents things like honesty, integrity and trust," says Aussie executive director Lynda Harris. "Therefore we need to ensure that the mortgage writers that are out there representing us are actually delivering the level of service that is meeting the expectations of the customers around the brand."

Aussie requires all of its loan writers to be members of an industry organisation and then has its own in-house training to keep costs down and provide a uniquely Aussie training experience.

"Anyone that is going to operate under the Aussie brand has to complete a two week induction that is run by us internally and with our own trainers," Harris says. "The two week induction covers everything from the Aussie information to credit requirements."

New employees of Aussie finish the initial broking 'boot camp' with a level four certification and the induction is accredited by the MFAA and all of Aussie's lenders. The brokers are then put on a six month training program designed to reinforce what was learned in the induction as well as developing other skills that help them excel as a broker.

"There's a basic, an intermediate and advanced component to [the six month program] and there's a checklist for each of those to ensure that the person has covered each of those areas," Harris says. "We find that is necessary because even though the two week induction is absolutely jam-packed, people almost get into overload. So you've really got to give them the basics in those two weeks and then work on it and develop it over the next few months to ensure their understanding of the complexities."

Aussie brokers are trained on the use of the company's propriety software program Mortgage Explorer Pro and taught time management skills as well as sales techniques. The company is constantly evaluating the effectiveness of its training program using mystery shoppers and feedback from its employees.

Increasingly, companies are finding that the best way to differentiate from the competition is to have high standards for their staff. Virgin Money also asks its brokers to go above and beyond the industry's minimum requirements.

Virgin Money

Virgin Money's head of distribution Craig Parker says its brokers sign up for the whole Virgin package of products and not just to sell home loans. That is why the company requires all its brokers to acquire a PS146 within six months of joining the Virgin team so that they are able to talk to their clients about Virgin's superannuation product as well as arrange their home loans.

"The first month is very much focused on sales and business generation, what we call empire development," Parker says. "You've come to join Virgin Money for various reasons how do we then get you to have a local footprint in your area?"

All of Virgin's team members are required to be MFAA members with level four certification. The company expects its brokers to work on their professional development to the tune of 150% of the MFAA requirements. That's 37.5 CPD credits per year.

"Every quarter we send out a report saying 'ok what have you achieved over the past three months? What reading materials have you gone through? What extra training have you done?'" Parker says. "We supply corporate PD days, professional development days, which includes product training and sales training through to business development."

Virgin structures its training around four key streams: sales, product, compliance and 'Virginisation'.

Sales training is customer focused and involves getting the brokers to understand their clients. They then teach their brokers about the entire Virgin product range, which also includes products that the company offers from outside vendors. The third stream ensures that Virgin's employees keep the company compliant, while 'Virginisation' relates to maintaining the quality of the Virgin brand.

"Everyone knows the Virgin group brand, everyone knows what the Virgin brand stands for, they know that we are the customer advocate, they know that we'll stand by the customer and take on the big boys, at the same time we have a lot of fun, we enjoy ourselves," Parker says. "I think us taking a strong stance around further education, lets you know you're representing a pretty cool brand but at the same time you are also very credible in the market. You are, as we like to say, better than a broker."

Brand management

Maintaining a minimum level of professional development across the industry is vital to uphold the integrity of mortgage brokers throughout Australia. However, more and more companies are using strict standards to ensure that their brand resonates with potential employees and clients.

The establishment of industry bodies like the MFAA and FBAA has brought credibility to a profession that was battling bad publicity and have helped create a level of trust between Australians and their brokers.

With competition ever increasing, companies are now pushing the levels of professional development and training higher and higher, which is without a doubt a benefit to brokers, consumers and the industry as a whole.