‘Lazy’ brokers can’t complain about the industry bodies if they’re not prepared to get involved with them, say the FBAA and MFAA.
‘Lazy’ brokers can’t complain about the industry bodies if they’re not prepared to get involved with them, say the FBAA and MFAA.
Both the main industry bodies are crying out for more engagement and feedback from their members, and all they’re getting is criticism, says FBAA president Peter White.
“It’s easy to sit back and criticise, but unless you’re participating and helping, put up or shut up. I’m not being nasty but it’s very easy to point the finger and the reality is we’ve only got a certain amount of heads and hands to do things, but the more we have, the more we can do and the quicker we can do it.”
The wider broker population are brilliant, says White, but a few “lazy” brokers continue to critique the bodies while refusing to put in the effort to make a change.
“We want more councillors in certain states, but trying to get people involved, you feel like you’re asking to cut their head off, but then they’re happy to say you’re not doing a good enough job. If you think we’re not, get on board, be part of the solution.That’s what I’d love to see.”
White understands that brokers “have a lot on their plates”, but being a part of an industry body doesn’t necessarily take a lot of commitment.
“It’s not a huge amount of time. There are no real barriers to helping out. There’s one meeting every couple of months for council, maybe up to three events a year… It’s not a huge thing to ask. Especially if you think you have a voice that needs to be heard.”
MFAA president Phil Naylor agrees, and says the organisation is always looking for “new blood and
fresh ideas” at state council and board level.
The MFAA also encourages feedback through its weekly newsletters and LinkedIn forums.
“I understand and respect the fact that being, in the main, one person businesses, it’s not always easy for brokers to get involved in councils, forums etc.That is why we provide the options of online
involvement through our LinkedIn forums.”
VALUE PROPOSITION
But ex-FBAA president Graham Reibelt argues that, while getting members involved in any association is difficult, neither industry body offers a strong enough value proposition to its members to encourage engagement.
If aggregators and lenders were to remove requirements for brokers to be a part of an industry body, the organisations would be forced to increase their desirability to brokers, says Reibelt.
“I think you’ll find that most members are only members because they have to be, but if membership was voluntary I think it would force the organisations to really lift their game and offer a true value proposition to a broad membership base.”
Reibelt also says the difficulty in getting brokers involved in the industry body has meant that many decision-makers in the MFAA are not in the broking business, making it difficult for brokers to relate.
Naylor, however, refutes this claim.
“Constitutionally, at least 70% of the members of each state council must be a broker and all states currently exceed that ratio. The MFAA’s board of 12 comprises five brokers, two mortgage managers, one lender, one aggregator, one lawyer and one independent director. In accordance with good corporate governance procedures the board is well balanced with several different and diverse skill sets.”
Reibelt says on-going education is a key factor in providing a strong value proposition to brokers, and the MFAA’s diploma initiative has been a step towards this, but still does not go far enough.
“I was a member of the MFAA when our membership was three digits and all we got was a quarterly newsletter, and a warm and fuzzy feeling, was the reason you belonged.
“I think those days hopefully have gone, but I think a lot of people still just spend their $500 a year because they have no choice and otherwise their lender won’t deal with them.”
But White argues that entirely voluntary membership would not change anything in the way the organisation runs.
“It’s not going to put more pressure on us to lift our game; we’re constantly looking at ourselves to lift our game in the normal course of our business.”
A VOLUNTARY BODY
Naylor says that while a “couple of broking groups” have MFAA membership as a requirement, the organisation is by and large a voluntary industry body and is run as such.
“No one’s membership is taken for granted. The value proposition that MFAA has of increasing and maintaining high professional standards, lobbying on behalf of members and consumer and media awareness, has shown to be an attractive proposition to the majority of our members.”
While the MFAA’s most recent member engagement survey showed just over half of members were “completely” or “somewhat” satisfied with the industry body, Naylor says feedback received at regular forums and PD days has always been very positive.
White feels that the FBAA has been proactive with regards to feedback, but admits that he doesn’t “have the intellectual property on know-it-all”, which is why he encourages brokers to “be a part of the solution, rather than posting anonymous negative comments on blog sites or off the back of editorials”.
“My advice to everyone is to get involved at committee level, or if you’re really passionate about doing some good for the industry, do what I did. We don’t care who it is, but get involved with someone so you can have your voice heard in a more succinct and a more profound fashion.”
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