Mortgage & Finance Director for Coronis, Tyson James, recently launched the business’s new mentoring program receiving hundreds of applications per month – from graduates and technical professionals, to new and experienced mortgage brokers. James shares insights about the program’s strong demand and success.
Mortgage & Finance Director, Tyson James, and a team of senior brokers at Coronis saw a gap in the market. Industry disruption in 2020 displaced many qualified and technical professionals. Agile businesses actively targeted those in these groups looking to transition into a new industry.
Coronis was one such business, creating a structured mentor program designed to upskill new brokers and provide them with the support and frameworks to write $20+mil in their first year.
“It’s been an excellent recruitment strategy for our team,” said James. “We have 16 mentees in the onboarding process, with 17 more to enter the program next month after completing their certifications. Our goal is to onboard 100 mentees into the program by December. The Real Estate Academy of Australia saw record enrolments in finance certificates, so we knew there was a lot of interest there, especially in those interested in making career changers.”
With a background in financial services, James began his career in real estate sales. This combination of skills and experience gives him a better understanding of how the two areas combine and unique insights into how real estate agents and brokers can work better together.
A tough path to success
Being a mortgage broker is no walk in the park. It can be similar to running a small business and there are many moving pieces.
Brokers must have competence in lead generation and marketing to find, nurture and convert new business; they must have strong research and technical capabilities to investigate and understand various home loan products; they must also be comfortable with day-to-day operational and administrative work, such as account keeping, making payments and following up with clients, prospects and banks.
The profession as a whole experiences significant churn, with many new brokers leaving after only one or two years; one of the primary challenges being lack of ability to generate a sufficient income. Like many organisations, Coronis faced retention challenges. James identified key education, training and support were missing for new brokers to scale up their careers. This was the impetus for the mentorship program.
The new model & mentorship program
There’s a common misconception that mortgage brokers’ focus primarily on helping clients with home loans. But there are critical stages even earlier in the process where people need support; for example, when potential buyers are trying to determine how much deposit they need to secure a property, or potential sellers are deciding if it’s the right time to put their property on the market.
“Our real estate agents nurture hundreds of people who are thinking about selling their homes. Our agents can refer them to our brokers who support them in making the best financial decision for their situation. These independent conversations help them determine what they can afford, decide if downgrading or upgrading is the right decision, or understand the activities involved in buying and selling a property.”
Coronis’s new model of pairing brokers with agents and supporting clients earlier in the real estate process makes their process more effective in a number of ways, by:
- reducing pressure and freeing up new brokers’ time from lead generation
- producing stronger team collaboration
- providing a better and more attractive support framework for clients and prospects (allowing the business to grow its market share).
The process allows both brokers and agents to accelerate their career, while delivering a great service.
In adapting their service delivery model, Coronis recognised they needed more brokers to keep up with demand. James and the senior brokers at Coronis established a two-year mentorship program to give their new brokers the support they need to succeed.
“Just because you have your license, it doesn’t make you a racecar driver. When our agents and brokers obtain their qualifications, we provide a pathway of mentorship and support. We want to make the cost and difficulty of entering the industry as low as possible. Mentoring is helpful in both career coaching and general life support. It’s tough. You need someone in your corner picking you back up, helping you be effective in all elements of the role, including lead generation and marketing. It helps them get the ball over the line to score a try and succeed in what can be a tough industry.”
Coronis receive hundreds of applications for each cohort of mentoring. This year, Coronis introduced two new mentors to keep up with demand. Their new brokers are eager to reap the benefits of personal, one-to-one mentoring.
“Just because you have your license, it doesn’t make you a racecar driver. When our agents and brokers obtain their qualifications, we provide a pathway of mentorship and support. We want to make the cost and difficulty of entering the industry as low as possible.”
“Having three experienced mentors means we can cater to different people and their preferred learning style. For example, one of our mentors is very technical and process-driven. One of our mentors is very relationships-focused.”
James describes himself as bridging these quadrants as a mentor. He also travels interstate to New South Wales and Victoria to find the business’s next generation of mentors. Having these different personalities and mentorship styles allows Coronis to pair new brokers with their ideal match.
Thinking outside the box to source great talent
Wide-spread disruption last year inspired many people to transition into new industries. Coronis recognised this shift and decided to think outside the box to identify new candidate personas.
“Pilots, bankers and engineers looking to make a career change have strong technical and communication skills. Likewise, university students with strong research capabilities have analytical skills. People working in retail and customer service have people and relationship skills. All these transferable skills help people succeed in these roles.”
Coronis hiring managers have established an efficient shortlisting process to assess candidates for both hard and soft skills, from preliminary screenings calls, to personality assessments and longer one-to-one sessions. The process is designed to educate successful candidates about the industry and role. Additionally, Coronis has established a relationship with Real Estate Acadamy Australia (REAA) to connect with and recruit passionate new graduates.
The program’s success is evident not only in the volume of applications each cohort attracts, but by the impressive NPS and reviews from clients about their mentees.
“One of our clients had experienced some challenging times and believed they’d never be able to secure a home loan. One of our brokers worked extremely hard to help them achieve this. To see the client present an NPS of 10, a 5-star rave review, and write our broker a personal email was proof that the program works. It’s been a wild success.”
James looks forward to growing the program, reaching new people in the industry and building a team of established brokers through the right tools, processes and coaching. He is passionate and motivated to pass on his knowledge to empower people to succeed in their careers.
“There’s growing demand for mortgage brokers. When customers go to their bank, they don’t receive the same support as they would here, especially as the lending landscape becomes more competitive and challenging. We give people a professional in their corner to advise them, support them and illuminate what can be a confusing process. Seeing the next generation of mortgage brokers grow and achieve success is exciting. I’ve envisioned this mentorship program for many years. Seeing it become a reality and take off in such a huge way has been extremely rewarding.”