How brokers can prove they’re worth their price tag in a digital era

This ruling concluded that finance brokers must be fully transparent with consumers with respect to the amount of commission they are receiving and how it is calculated.

So, in light of this development — how do brokers confidently demonstrate they’re worth their price tag?

Evolving borrower need

This starts with a look at what borrowers might need in this evolving digital era — and what that means for brokers. I believe that brokers’ help will always be needed — it’s more about how they can offer it in the most meaningful way.

For example, one of the ways brokers can stand out is by becoming a trusted advisor — building close relationships with their clients and taking on the role the bank manager fulfilled in bygone days. Their interactions with clients should always be about more than just finding a financial solution — it's also about being there to help them navigate through any challenges they are experiencing in their businesses. That could mean going above and beyond where appropriate, for example helping them to source a reputable accountant, a lawyer, or even a HR professional — all services a small business might not have access to.

Larger firms will likely have the support infrastructure they need, but smaller business owners may not — nor have the previous skills and experience — making navigating the commercial finance landscape more difficult.

Providing this type of support is a natural next step for brokers. As they develop their own networks and partnerships in their localities, it’s about digging deep and thinking about how they can leverage these opportunities to develop their brand and offer clients additional support and good will.

Brokers who do this will emerge as the most successful in the future commercial finance landscape.

Focus on digital

It’s hard to escape the pace of change when it comes to digital innovation. In the commercial market, this includes things coming down the track like sourcing systems to help brokers pinpoint appropriate financing options for their clients, which will allow them greater efficiency, and to identify the best product options for them.

However, the rise in technology is also a great opportunity for brokers — especially when considering how they can become that trusted advisor. This is because it can help to remove manual tasks, allowing them more time to spend on the value-added work of getting to know the customer and their individual business needs. That said, while digital innovation has helped to create choice, with this comes threat, as borrowers may be overwhelmed with options in terms of who best to turn for advice in the broker world — making it even more important for brokers to stand out.

Technology can also be instrumental in improving customer retention — keeping in touch with borrowers throughout the life of their product and at key milestones in case they need assistance or advice — not just being visible at product maturity, and so increasing customer loyalty.

As a lender, we work alongside our brokers to identify initial funding solutions for borrowers and complementing what brokers bring to the table. Part of this also means being available to react if an event happens during the term of the loan, working in partnership with our brokers to offer borrowers the support they can rely on with their changing needs, and further deepening trust.

The future

I believe that the role of the commercial finance broker is even more important than ever — in particular, in helping navigate customers through the next phase of digital adoption as well as using technology to really develop and enhance the role they themselves play.

This means utilising digital enhancements to create the capacity to spend more time understanding a customer’s business, removing menial manual tasks to create space for the things that matter most.

The core of this is truly striving to understand what a business requires and consciously deciding to make that time to act as a trusted advisor for their customers. This approach is sure to increase customer loyalty and ultimately, to generate long-term, sustainable relationships.