Practice Management

Whether you are a solo operator specialising in residential lending or you are running a large-scale and diversified financial services business - the I-Financial Group aims to assist you with your Practice Management.  We do this by:

• Working with you to understand your current opportunities and challenges.

• Assisting you to identify the future direction of your business and the opportunities and threats that lie ahead. 

• Bringing you the "best of breed" across lending products, personal risk insurances, general insurance, leasing & commercial finance, self-managed superannuation advice and lending, financial planning, and property advice & sales.

• Allowing you the freedom of action to use only those components of our diverse financial services offering that suit your Practice as you want to develop it.

• Providing you with practical tools that you can easily apply within your Practice to systematise additional financial service offerings to your Clients.

Specialise or Refer

One of the first decisions you will make in developing your Practice is in which areas you intend to specialise and in which areas it makes more sense to refer or 'outsource' your business.

There is a pervasive suggestion that the Broker of the future will somehow manage to be expert at residential lending, property advice, insurance sales, financial planning, commercial lending and plant & equipment finance - just to name a few. 

There is no doubt that there are training organisations who have a vested interest in encouraging the individual Broker to undertake more and more courses.  We are not opposed to Continuing Professional Development - in fact we support it and insist on it - but the notion that any one person can be expert across all lending categories, let alone the broader financial services and Advice spectrum, is ludicrous.

Neither the Broker nor their Client will be best served by minimal knowledge across disparate specialisations.  So what's the answer?

Option 1

Develop a broad Financial Services Practice and have separate individuals fulfilling the various specialisations.  Whether this is achieved through developing your existing Practice, consolidation, mergers or strategic alliances - we undoubtedly have product and services offerings, and Practice Management Advice, that could prove invaluable to you.

Option 2

Stick to what you are good at and refer or outsource the rest.  Now the only question is how do you set up empowering referral systems that are in the best interests of you and your Clients.  This is where the I-Financial Group will be a significant asset to you.

For more information, or just a confidential chat, please Contact one of our Relationship Managers or our point of contact in the area that is of most interest to you.  For our Contact list please CLICK HERE.

In the meantime you should consider the alternatives being offered.

Referring to the Banks

It is no secret that the major Banks have dramatically reduced the commissions that they are paying to Brokers.

Many of them have then been 'kind' enough to suggest that the way for you to regain some of that commission is to refer other business to them.  Let's examine that:

• You now get to work harder and do more to get the same remuneration you used to get!

• You get to entangle your client at the Bank's level rather than at yours.  The Banks know what you should know - if they have two or more financial products with the Client - then they "own" them.

• You increase your compliance concerns and Professional Indemnity liabilities by getting involved (often unwittingly) in Advice for which you may not be licensed, insured or accredited.

Referring to Other Product Providers or External Businesses

This may be a perfect fit for your business model and may allow you to establish reciprocal referral opportunities with other entrepreneurs in your geographic area.  It is not our intention to suggest that you shouldn't look for these synergies.  Merely that you should be entering into these relationships as a carefully considered component of your Business Development Plan rather than feeling that it has been forced upon you.

Things you may want to consider are:

• Is the ethic and philosophy of the business you are referring to a 'natural fit' for your business.

• Will the referral relationship add capital value to your business.

• Are remuneration arrangements or 'knock for knock' agreements equitable.

• Who 'owns' the clients.

• Is it appropriate to put your Clients in front of an external 'salesperson' as part of your processes.

If you have already established empowering reciprocal referral relationships - remember that our products and services can be selected individually to complement what you are already doing and fill any gaps in your product or service offerings.

What's the Alternative

The I-Financial Group will teach you how to embed simple "spot & refer" processes into your Practice.  Our systems:

• Retain Client ownership at your level.  We never market to your Clients unless it is as part of a pre-arranged campaign that we are running in conjunction with your Practice and at your request.

• Allow you to earn some of the highest referral commissions in the industry from "best of breed" products and services.

• Remove your compliance concerns as our licensed &/or accredited fulfilment Teams do all of the work.

• Are "high tech" and allow you to be "high touch".  In other words, through the smart use of technology and systems we allow you to retain the relationship with your Client.  Except for some components of our Property Sales fulfilment there is no need for us to meet with your Clients face-to-face.

In addition we offer the opportunity for our 'business partners' to "up-skill" in the following areas and thus reap the lion's share of the available commission:

• Leasing - where we train and accredit you to take the Application.  We provide the 'back office' and documentation service for you.  Your Clients  gain the benefit of the superior pricing that our volumes allow.  For more information please CLICK HERE

• Personal Risk Insurances - where we will facilitate your training and education and appoint you as a licensed General Adviser in accordance with ASIC requirements.  For more information please CLICK HERE