'Everyone needs to embrace change or else they'll be left behind'
MPA recently caught up with Ross Hardcastle, Queensland state director at Loan Market, to discuss his role at the brokerage. Hardcastle goes into depth about how he supports Loan Market business owners and the importance of knowing your ‘yes’.
- Full name: Ross Hardcastle
- Job title: State director, Queensland
- Company: Loan Market
- Number of years in the industry: 19
- Location: Brisbane, Queensland
When and how did you join the finance industry?
Initially my background was in real estate. My parents owned an independent real estate agency and I worked across all areas – accounts, digital marketing, property management and sales.
My first corporate role was with PRDnationwide before the business was acquired by Colliers International.
I then had an opportunity in 2007 to go into Mortgage Choice head office. I’d worked closely with business owners while at PRDnationwide and being part of the wider property buying ecosystem, I thought mortgage broking was a natural transition.
I had two different stints at Mortgage Choice: I was a state manager, firstly for Vic/Tas, then Qld. In 2015 I was appointed to the role of national head growth and development (recruitment and training) and ultimately owned a franchise for four years, which I sold in 2023.
What does your current role involve?
My role is to ensure all business owners achieve their financial needs and wants. That includes making sure they’re utilising all the support and systems that Loan Market offers to help them save time, keep them safe, find and keep clients, diversify into new revenue streams and grow their business.
Not every business is the same and we work differently with every agreement holder to help them realise their personal goals. We have some businesses in Queensland that comprise a single broker with an offshore support, right through to brokerages that are lodging well over $1bn in residential, asset finance and commercial deals every year. You can’t provide a cookie-cutter approach to service when you have such a breadth of different businesses.
We help business owners analyse their operations to understand where improvements can be made – often through full day Kaizen sessions – which roles are needed to scale-up and even help them find the right talent.
How do you assist brokers to grow their business?
Loan Market offers high-touch support to business owners in several ways:
- Business Builder sessions: These are regular catch-ups with business owners to focus on compliance measures, lead generation, digital marketing results, loan application processes and any bottlenecks, team management and more. The Business Builder program is instrumental in helping Loan Market businesses enhance their performance and grow at scale. There’s a high level of accountability from both the businesses and the state support team. We don’t have a ‘one-size fits all’ approach – it’s all about understanding what each business wants to achieve and Loan Market devising a plan to achieve that through process mapping and Kaizen workshops.
- Kaizen workshops and process mapping sessions: We help teams refine their processes to not only become more efficient and strip-out double-handling and other wasted activities, but to also home-in on what activities are really going to add value to the experience of their customers. The end goal is to enable our businesses to process more loans in less time, cementing Loan Market brokers as the most productive in the industry.
- Profit Pulse: We look at the financial controls of the business. If you’re settling large volumes of loans yet the actual profit margin is quite slim, then the business is not being rewarded for the long hours that everyone is putting in. We explore the financial controls of every business to see where the money is being spent and what return that expenditure is delivering.
- Helping business owners diversify: We have very strong commercial and asset finance offerings within Loan Market. We train brokers to write commercial and asset finance loans themselves or connect them with others in the network who are leaders in these specialisations, allowing them to tap into the expertise of their network peers while maintaining the client relationship themselves.
- Small group sessions: Loan Market is a community and our business owners lean on each other. We bring together like-minded business owners for small group sessions where they can share their journeys together.
- Digital marketing solutions: Loan Market brokers have access to automated marketing solutions that cut through the noise, driving more leads to their business. The digital solutions save them time while building their profiles in their local markets.
- Brokerversity: Our digital learning and development platform is a game-changer in training the brokers of tomorrow and upskilling experienced individuals who want to stay ahead of the game. It allows individuals to learn at their own pace and provides users with the most engaging content in the industry.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I like the longevity of the relationship you forge with agreement holders and how you’re continually adding value over time.
I’ve seen people start off with small businesses and go on to grow large businesses. I’ve seen people execute their perfect succession plan and exit the industry on their own terms.
It’s an amazing feeling to know that you’ve had an impact not only on their businesses, but in their lives.
What’s the most important advice you can offer to a new-to-industry broker?
If you’re thinking about getting into the industry, you have to understand your “why” – because, while it can be rewarding, it can be very tough and the hours are long. Everyone has slightly different reasons which will affect their business model therefore pathway into the industry.
I help agreement holders distill why they are in business. When you’re in the business day-in, day-out, it’s easy to lose sight of your “why”. But it’s important not to let that slip from the radar, because it’s the reason we all get out of bed in the morning.
Is the “why” creating a legacy for the children, setting themselves up for a dream retirement, or simply having a sustainable business that allows them to do what they love? It’s important to challenge people on their reasons for being in business so that their efforts are for the right reasons.
If a banker wants to transition to broking because they’re sick of being stuck on a floor in an office tower, doing the same tasks everyday, then that’s not a good enough “why” to make the move.
How important is broker feedback in ensuring you provide the best service?
Brokers are never short on giving feedback – ha ha.
But, in reality, if a business owner doesn’t truly understand their current and required future financial situation, then I can’t help tailor plans to support them.
I’d like to think that people will call me because I’ll answer the phone or call them back. There are probably some people in similar roles who groan when the phone rings – if that’s how you feel about feedback, you shouldn’t be in this type of role.
At Loan Market, we encourage feedback and curiosity. One of the things that encouraged me to join Loan Market was the fact that (chairman) Sam (White) is so passionate about innovation and tech. He has a mindset that innovation and tech complement the broker offering.
Whenever we have a new tech addition, we host comprehensive pilot programs so that we understand the improvements application on the ground. This ensures that what we introduce is purpose-built and going to be embraced.
What makes a great BDM or state manager?
Someone who genuinely cares about agreement holders. Like I mentioned before, you need to pick up the phone – people are only calling you for a reason. If you’re running a business that’s in growth mode, you don’t have time in the middle of the day to just pick up the phone and have a chat with the state manager about nothing.
Communication with your agreement holders is critical.
If there’s one thing you could change about the industry, what would it be?
Sometimes it feels like it would be nice for everything to stand still for a while, so we can take a breather.
Since the Hayne Royal Commission, the industry has been a constant state of change and it’s not going to slow-up.
Everyone needs to embrace change or else they’ll be left behind.
Describe your ideal weekend.
Probably out on the water somewhere. Here in southeast Queensland we’re really spoiled for waterways, with Moreton Bay acting as our backyard.
With a nice blue sky and only light wind, there’s not many better places.
