Justin Doobov was 3rd last year. His brokerage, Intelligent Finance, is a one-broker band, and that’s just the way he likes it
Many of Australia’s Top 100 brokers run their own brokerages; it reflects their success and experience in the industry. But to write huge numbers, while remaining the only broker in the office, is a tougher proposition; how can you satisfy the smaller clients of yesteryear whilst chasing much bigger fish?
Justin Doobov seems to have mastered this balancing act. Last year Doobov processed 235 loans totalling $154,011,428. That averages at two $400,000 loans every three days, throughout the year. This year he’s been even more prodigious, he told MPA: “we’ve written more volume…just been more focused on getting loans settled faster.”
Support staff
Crucially, Doobov has developed Intelligent Finance into a highly efficient operation, where his four support staff do a lot more than simply answering phones. Call them up and “one my guys will take the details down to know what you want to do, because if you’re just trying to change the repayment account, someone else in the office can assist. If you’re trying to switch the loan or fix a portion of it then they’ll get the details down and book a time for me to speak.” But even then Doobov’s staff will action, process, and get approval for the loan.
Improving processing
“We have systematised things” Doobov explains “my guys have experience doing transactions similar to anything you can imagine happening and the guys will be able to do the administration work.” This hasn’t been a simple process, but has required years of experimentation, he added: “we’re constantly tweaking those processes to make us even more efficient and processing more loans. It’s constant refinement of what we do, and learning from any mistakes that occur; we make that change, test it, and then we’re back in the game.”
Not advertising
Another time and money-saver Doobov values is not advertising. “We offer what we think is the best service in the industry, and we’ve proven that by not having to spend any money to date on advertising…a lot our clients, for one reason or another, are speaking to our office regularly because they’re thinking about getting a top-up on their loan; thinking about buying another property, or their property has gone up in value.” With business coming to them, Doobov and his staff don’t need to spend time strategising “because we’re busy every day with the phone always ringing, we haven’t needed to grow a certain area the business has just grown organically.”
With a buoyant property market, Doobov is confident, and incredibly busy. Would he consider taking on another broker to lighten the load? “Absolutely if we found the right ones, but the way we process loans, it works out more profitable with the model I’ve currently got, to do it this way.”
Reckon you can beat Justin Doobov? Nominate yourself for the Top 100 brokers now – applications close on the 19 September.
