2 JUSTIN DOOBOV

Justin Doobov of Intelligent Finance is on the 2nd place of the MPA Top 100 brokers of 2016.

2 JUSTIN DOOBOV
http://www.intelligentfinance.com.au/
2 JUSTIN DOOBOV
Intelligent Finance
Sydney, NSW
Aggregator: Choice Aggregation
Total value of residential loans FY2015/16: $322,225,177
Total number of residential loans FY2015/16: 695

When Doobov broke the $300m barrier last year it would have been reasonable to assume that would be his peak – Intelligent Finance remains a small brokerage, with Doobov the only broker. Yet Doobov, who was named Broker of the Year at the Australian Mortgage Awards, has made a career through an intellectual approach to the industry, constantly analysing how its boundaries can be pushed. Fittingly, he’s added another $7m to his annual total, taking it to over $322m.

This year’s innovations have been focused on eliminating any gaps between Doobov and his staff, he explains. “We’re more in sync with each other, so the time taken per application is a lot less and the handover between me and my admin team is a lot smoother.”

The brokerage’s focus has also turned to existing clients, Doobov adds. “Whilst we haven’t increased volumes as much as we wanted to, it’s great to remain consistent on new business whilst dramatically improving the way we serve existing clients.”

Doobov has seven supporting staff members, and their performance is integral to his own. Consequently they constantly reassess how they work together. “Every week we look at the admin work I’m doing on a deal and try to work out how the admin guys can take that off me; some of the emails I send to clients, chasing clients for documents – pushing that down the line.” This approach even applies to more complicated scenarios, Doobov says.

Although the client base is similar to previous years, the lending landscape has shifted around the brokerage, with changes by APRA and the banks having very tangible consequences. “The customer gets the same result, but behind the scenes there’s a lot more admin work required per application; it’s put more cost on the business.” With huge volumes coming through the door, meeting staff costs isn’t a challenge; in fact the reverse equation applies. “The more staff I have the better I can service a client, which means there’s a high chance they’ll refer me to somebody else.”

Pushing boundaries, Doobov says, is the best way to raise performance.

“Now’s the time to work harder at whatever you do, whether it’s seeing more clients; doing that extra 1–2%; seeing an extra client per week; making one extra phone call a day.”