When brokers choose for themselves, patterns tell the story

Tango Financial was built on a simple idea. Brokers do their best work when they are trusted to run their business their way. The company has held that line since 2017, growing into one of the largest brokerages in Canada with more than six hundred agents and over five billion dollars in annual funded volume. Throughout that rise, Tango has avoided steering its brokers toward any single process, brand, or technology. Freedom has never been the marketing message. It has been the operating model.

That is why one statistic keeps resurfacing inside the organization. Even with complete autonomy, more than sixty percent of Tango brokers voluntarily choose Finmo as their primary platform. No directive from head office. No incentives tied to adoption. Just broker preference, measured over years and across dozens of teams. For a company that built itself around choice, that pattern matters.

“It is what brokers choose because it works,” says Jason Henneberry, Co-Founder and COO. His view is straightforward. At scale, repeated choices point to something structural, not passing convenience.

Growth that exposed the real pressure points

When Tango launched, the founders were reacting to a specific kind of strain. Brokerages were growing, but the costs of running them were rising even faster. Compliance was becoming heavier, lender relationships were harder to maintain, and technology investments were uneven across individual offices. A shared platform could lighten that load, but not at the cost of flattening the independence that kept brokers competitive.

As the brokerage grew, the realities of scale began to surface in more practical ways. New agents needed guidance without overwhelming the internal team. Experienced brokers wanted room to preserve the processes they trusted, even as the organization added more structure around them. And the brokerage as a whole needed a reliable way to keep client experiences consistent, even when individual agents worked differently.

Over time, it became clear that the brokers who settled in fastest tended to be those who adopted Finmo early in their onboarding. It was not about the software itself. It was about the predictability it brought to the first weeks on the job. Finmo handled setup, training, and early support directly, which meant Tango’s internal staff could stay focused on strategy instead of spending their time walking new agents through technical hurdles. The smoother that early period became, the more it shaped the confidence of new brokers who were trying to find their footing.

Clients felt the impact as well. Files moved with fewer pauses. Questions that normally stalled deals surfaced earlier and were resolved without the same back-and-forth. Brokers reported fewer interruptions in their day and a greater sense of control over their workflow. Nothing dramatic. Just the kind of operational steadiness that lets people focus on the decisions that matter rather than the mechanics around them.

How brokers shaped the system to fit their work

As Tango paid closer attention to how its brokers operated, a more interesting pattern emerged. Brokers were not using the system in identical ways. They were adapting it to fit the shape of their business. Some developed more advanced workflows, connecting CRMs or layering in automations. Others kept things simple. What mattered was that they could adjust the system without forcing their business to conform to someone else’s blueprint.

Support formed part of that picture. Brokers often mentioned how valuable it was to reach someone quickly who understood the nature of their work, especially when they needed help mid-file.

“The way we work at Finmo is that we see our users as partners instead of clients,” emphasizes VP of sales, Frank Bessette.  “We focus on tech so that they can focus on mortgages - and we win together. 

“Agents shouldn't have to spend their days worrying about technology.  They can focus on their files and clients knowing that we're always minutes away if needed, and we apply that same dedication all the way to the top of their organization to assure all their supporting needs are met.”

What broker behaviour makes hard to ignore

The most revealing part of Finmo’s role inside Tango is that nothing about its adoption was encouraged or directed. Brokers had every option available to them and still concentrated around the same platform. “About 60 percent of our brokers choose Finmo. We don’t mandate it—it’s just what they choose because it works,” says Jason Henneberry, Co-Founder and COO. When a fully independent brokerage settles on the same system year after year, it is rarely coincidence. It usually reflects something practical: a tool that keeps work moving, limits distractions, and supports the client conversations that matter most.

That pattern aligns closely with how Tango has always thought about scale. “Choice is central to Tango’s culture, but so is making sure our brokers have the right tools. Seeing them consistently choose Finmo and Lender Spotlight speaks to the real value these platforms bring to their business every day,” notes CEO Dean Larson. Independence, in this context, does not mean operating in isolation. It means having the freedom to choose systems that reinforce good habits rather than complicate them.

In that balance between autonomy and structure, Finmo did not rise because it was promoted. It rose because brokers kept arriving at the same conclusion on their own. It fit the way they wanted to work, helped protect their time, and reduced the background friction that slows files and erodes focus. The pattern emerged quietly and stayed consistent.

For a brokerage built on autonomy, that kind of unprompted alignment says more than any policy ever could.

This article was produced in partnership with Lendesk