In a small town, where you have your office makes all the difference, argues central Queensland broker Gail Roots.
In a small town, where you have your office makes all the difference, argues central Queensland broker Gail Roots.
In an age of online application forms and cloud-based systems, the role of a bricks-and-mortar brokerage can easily be forgotten. In places like Mackay, a struggling mining town, people still want to see who they’re dealing with – their broker and their bank. Gail Roots, principal of Home Loan Specialists’ Mackay office, told MPA’s Kevin Eddy what brokers like her need to keep in mind.
Getting the right clients
Being based in central Mackay is important to Roots. Her office is located just by the town’s council offices and convention centre. Most importantly, it’s situated just off the main drag. “You don’t get a lot of walk-in business, but what you do get is good business”. She avoids the ‘tyre-kickers’; those high-street clients who bounce between multiple brokers and banks. Instead “the business I get through my door is usually ready to go.”
Choosing the right lenders
“80% of my business is people asking for somewhere with a local branch”, Roots explains. Thus she tends to do most business with lenders who maintain a Mackay branch, even when others offer competitive rates. This reflected of Mackay’s tight-knit community, she argues; “everyone here knows each other to a degree, so it’s probably a cultural thing. Clients want to be able to talk to someone face-to-face if there’s a problem, rather than talking to a voice on the end of the phone.
Surviving the hard times
Mackay might seem another world for brokers operating in glitzy CBDs, but Roots’ approach may soon apply to all brokers. The market in Mackay is correcting itself, after a mining boom sent house prices and wages sky-high, only for these to drop again. In hard times, trail commission has become crucial to Roots, as has maintaining existing client relationships. That includes the usual newsletters and congratulatory cards, but also going that extra mile, such as dealing with clients on Sundays.
Read the full interview with Gail Roots in issue 14.10, on desks mid-September. Have you taken MPA’s poll yet? We’re looking at attitudes to brokers giving property investment advice – closes 10 September.
In an age of online application forms and cloud-based systems, the role of a bricks-and-mortar brokerage can easily be forgotten. In places like Mackay, a struggling mining town, people still want to see who they’re dealing with – their broker and their bank. Gail Roots, principal of Home Loan Specialists’ Mackay office, told MPA’s Kevin Eddy what brokers like her need to keep in mind.
Getting the right clients
Being based in central Mackay is important to Roots. Her office is located just by the town’s council offices and convention centre. Most importantly, it’s situated just off the main drag. “You don’t get a lot of walk-in business, but what you do get is good business”. She avoids the ‘tyre-kickers’; those high-street clients who bounce between multiple brokers and banks. Instead “the business I get through my door is usually ready to go.”
Choosing the right lenders
“80% of my business is people asking for somewhere with a local branch”, Roots explains. Thus she tends to do most business with lenders who maintain a Mackay branch, even when others offer competitive rates. This reflected of Mackay’s tight-knit community, she argues; “everyone here knows each other to a degree, so it’s probably a cultural thing. Clients want to be able to talk to someone face-to-face if there’s a problem, rather than talking to a voice on the end of the phone.
Surviving the hard times
Mackay might seem another world for brokers operating in glitzy CBDs, but Roots’ approach may soon apply to all brokers. The market in Mackay is correcting itself, after a mining boom sent house prices and wages sky-high, only for these to drop again. In hard times, trail commission has become crucial to Roots, as has maintaining existing client relationships. That includes the usual newsletters and congratulatory cards, but also going that extra mile, such as dealing with clients on Sundays.
Read the full interview with Gail Roots in issue 14.10, on desks mid-September. Have you taken MPA’s poll yet? We’re looking at attitudes to brokers giving property investment advice – closes 10 September.
