Branching Out - Resimac

feature / commercial finance
the company’s general manager,
Cathy Dimarchos.
“Within Sintex, the fee
structure is transparent and
simple,” Ms Dimarchos says.
“The broker earns 0.5 per cent
plus GST from the Customer
Application Fee and a trail of
0.25 per cent.”
Mr Pillai sees the financial
benefits of commercial lending
regularly himself. “We have found
that brokers who branch out and
diversify can actually increase
their top line by 20 per cent,” he
says. “It’s quite significant.”
Commercial borrowers are
also likely to be repeat clients.
“Our statistics have proven
that with each commercial loan
written there is a home loan
20 / branching out
curve,” he says, explaining
that Liberty offers commercial
property finance, debtor finance
and commercial asset finance.
Sintex too has a range of
options. “We will consider
all non-specialised security
properties, including retail, office,
warehouses, commercial and
residential,” says Ms Dimarchos.
Mr Lambrinos, however,
believes that despite the range of
products available, brokers often
limit themselves by specialising in
only one or two.
“People haven’t done
commercial finance properly in
Australia,” he says, “yet now, there
are 14 or 15 different products out
there for business finance – and
the majority are stand-alone, so
“Our statistics have proven that with each
commercial loan written there is a home
loan written at least 48 per cent of the
time as well”
written at least 48 per cent of the
time as well,” says Ms Dimarchos.
“This not only increases the
broker’s bottom line but also
increases the longevity of their
client staying with them.”
PrODuCt raNGe
Writing a commercial loan
doesn’t have to be daunting, and
according to Mr Pillai, brokers
have many options.
“Brokers can essentially pick
the gradient of their learning
you don’t need to offer your house
or any property security.”
MOre WOrK INVOLVeD?
Mr Lambrinos concedes that
commercial lending can involve
more work than its residential
counterpart. However, he also
believes many of the banks are
failing to cater properly for
Australia’s businesses.
“The banks have shrunk their
sphere and all the smaller guys are
falling off the planet, so no one’s
servicing them,” he says. The
advantage for the broker willing
to consider this area is that it’s
much easier to get out there and
find the work.
“The other advantage is that
not every broker is going to
have all the skill sets required to
deal with commercial lending,”
he adds.
Despite the extra work
needed to close a commercial
loan, finding commercial
clients doesn’t need to be
incredibly difficult.
Brokers should start by
asking their existing residential
customers about their
businesses. “I think it is relatively
straightforward,” says Mr Pillai.
“It’s just asking a few more
questions of the people who are
already walking through your
doors every day.”
EasyBiz Finance, which
specialises in business finance,
also uses social media to
penetrate the market. “We have
a very, very strong social media
presence,” says Mr Lambrinos.
“We also do a lot of internet
marketing where we follow
people’s profiles on Facebook.
“If someone starts
complaining that they can’t
get business finance, we’re able
to track that. As long as we
can legally find out who that
person is, we make sure we
contact them.”
With 2.7 million businesses in
the country, a growing range of
products and increased support
from lenders, brokers have a
real opportunity to increase
their revenue stream through
commercial work.