It allows him to declutter his work brain and focus on clients
For Mathew Crossley, senior finance specialist at Coronis Finance, the key to consistently settle high loan volumes every year is having a replicable CRM process in place and refining it to make his team as efficient as possible.
"The CBA Kaizen Training I did four years ago open my eyes to this thought process, as well as by looking at large companies like McDonald's that serve the same meal in a thousand different locations. It is purely a system and process reality," Crossley, a 2017 MPA Top 100 Brokers finalist, told MPA.
“Once I had a volume mindset and process to enable this, I was able to chase business and referrals, knowing I could facilitate a great outcome every time. This enabled me to declutter my work brain and focus on the client, as well as to switch off outside of work.”
By being a part of a real estate group, Coronis Finance sees a bit of everything in the market, but its primary focus is first home buyers.
“They value your help and expertise. Helping first home buyers with their life’s biggest decision creates clients for life,” he said.
As Crossley’s business grows, 60% of its referrals are coming from past clients and 40% from real estate agents. Upon document signing, Crossley always tell his clients that he is also happy to assist any of their family or friends with their loan needs.
"The ability to provide a great experience comes back to the process we built, and more importantly, to the level and method of communication we provide," Crossley said. "Rarely we get a client phone us for an update. We proactively communicate to them turnaround times and how the process works. I also always sign the loan documents with clients to cement the relationship and answer any further questions."
His team built a process in their Connective CRM Mercury that allows them to efficiently go through the 26 stages of the loan journey — from initial enquiry and gestation all the way to after-settlement care.
For the past five years, they have been using tools like BankStatements.com.au to collect information promptly and running credit checks on every client in order to address any issues upfront. Crossley believes anything that can reduce “the painful part of the loan process is worth investing in to improve productivity.”
Down the line, Crossley is looking at developing and training his back-office team so he can continue to meet his yearly volumes and still get to spend enough time with his family.
"I really just want to continue helping clients. I still get a great deal of satisfaction from getting a client into a new home or savings them some money, especially when they have been told ‘no’ by their bank or another broker told them it can't be done," he said.
Crossley mainly spends his weekends watching sports with his two boys, with his eldest making waves in the cricket field. In the past two years, he has been giving more focus on his physical wellbeing by playing soccer and training at the gym at least thrice a week.
