Educating clients on how to turn loans into investments

Suvidh Arora, of Cinch, aims to simplify the home lending process

Educating clients on how to turn loans into investments

Financial lending tends to be a complex process, but a young company called Cinch aims to simplify it by offering bespoke solutions in response to customers’ present and future needs. Due to its innovative rather than one-size-fits-all approach, the Victoria-based brokerage received an excellence award in the 1-5 Staff category at the 2021 Australian Mortgage Awards.

Cinch’s founder and managing director, Suvidh Arora, told MPA about the company’s aim to give its clients a wider range of beneficial choices.   

Previously an investment banker, Arora formed a partnership with friends in 2018 to launch Cinch. After only two and a half years, the business has grown significantly and its team of brokers has increased from five to 10.

The key to Cinch’s success, Arora says, is that instead of being overly concerned with sales, the company educates customers on how to build their portfolio and invest in properties. Cinch’s brokers guide clients through every step of the loan application process, do the paperwork for them, and earn their trust by treating them like family.

“I keep coming back to the customer service perspective, which has really been the key ethos behind us building this brand,” Arora said. “We are very customer centric. We’re always looking to find a solution for our clients […] to ease the doubts in their minds, especially because a large chunk of our client base are first home buyers who obviously have a lot of questions and need a lot of hand-holding.”

Considering the extent of the work involved in providing such personalised and unique services, Arora said his team had been helpful in employing the efficient structure and marketing perspective he had introduced. Although the brokers take care of the operations side of the business, Arora continues to be involved in strategic management and customer relations.

“We laugh about this, but [I’m called] the chief solutions officer in the company,” he said. “Most of the clients, when they come, I do a strategy session. I build up whatever the case is for them. After that, I’m always involved in the background with structuring of the deal [and] in the day-to-day operations of getting the loan done.”

As the business continues to strengthen, Arora wants to reach out to more people and ensure that he’s accessible through a phone call when a client needs advice. This kind of service is the inspiration behind Cinch’s work every day, he said.