How a growth mindset powered a 50% increase in business

Maninder Kaur is one of the most passionate brokers you will ever meet.

She’s completely customer-focused and always has been.

But she wasn’t always as focused on business growth. 

Why? To put it simply, she didn’t have that mindset – or the time to achieve it. 

But that was before. Now it’s a different story.

Since joining Loan Market and working closely with her Broker Success Manager, Anne-Marie Deieso, she’s unlocked a new mindset – one centered around growth. 

Maninder puts this down to the tech-tools, coaching and strategic planning that she’s had exposure to since joining Loan Market almost a year ago.

We recently spoke to Maninder about her journey from broker to business owner and how she’s on a mission to take her business to the next level (and the level after that!).

You were a broker for four years before you joined Loan Market, what was your experience?

Before I joined Loan Market I was pretty comfortable with what I was doing. I had experience in corporate roles in management and training before I moved to broking, where I was with my previous aggregator for four years. 

I was operating very much as ‘just’ a broker. I would wait for the referrals to come from my referral partnership with two agents from Ray White Craigieburn and I would really only deal with one customer at a time. 

It wasn’t until I met Suzi Trajanovski from the Loan Market team, that I realised the world of opportunity that was available for my business, including how Loan Market could facilitate an official partnership with the Ray White team. 

I thought if I was already getting business from two agents, why not the whole team? 

What were the main reasons you joined Loan Market? 

The ability to work exclusively with Ray White was very appealing. I have a great opportunity to be officially a part of the team at Ray White Craigieburn, which has given me a platform to build my referral relationships and generate more leads. During COVID-19, the number of referrals has increased from at least 5-6 agents in the team.

However – I must say – I used to think that Ray White was the main reason I joined but since I’ve been with the Group, I know that it was the best decision I could’ve made because of the ongoing guidance and coaching I receive

My Broker Success Manager, Anne-Marie Deieso, and the entire Loan Market team have really pushed me to think about my business in a broader way and I now think of myself more as a business owner, rather than ‘just’ a broker. 

My mindset has shifted to business growth, and I am now thinking about how I can generate and diversify my business and expand outside residential lending. 

Switching to a new aggregator after four years must have been a big adjustment, what was that like?

It was a big change for me. 

When I was first getting started in June, I was struggling to learn Loan Market’s tech platform, MyCRM as it was such a big shift from the software I was used to. Both Suzi and Nicole Ferguson [Loan Market’s State Director, Victoria] visited my office and trained me on how to use MyCRM. They really took the time to help me integrate the technology into my process. 

When my team started to grow, with two Loan Writers and a CSM [Client Service Manager], Deanna Garassi personally came to my office to spend time with the team and train them on MyCRM and all of the tech tools. 

I’ve found that every department at Loan Market is committed to make you a better business owner and broker. 

How has implementing new processes and using MyCRM benefited your business?

When I first started broking, I was doing everything myself – meeting clients, data entry and loan processing. I was constantly stuck in the office with paperwork.

Since we’ve implemented MyCRM, my process has been simplified. I’m more organised and the way I run my business has completely transformed over the last 9 months. 

We’ve saved so much time with our new way of working and we are planning to go completely paperless. 

What does going completely paperless involve? 

We want to continue saving time so we’ve incorporated Loan Market’s tools such as the Hello Pack and Online Fact Find as part of our process. They are such great tools and really add to the seamless experience we want for our customers.

The digital signature tool, eSign has really helped our processes as well. We can send all the documents that we need, to our customers in one go, and it makes it really easy for them too.

From a compliance perspective, we’ve adopted the Loan Market compliance checklist and we collect all the supporting documents very early in the client discovery phase. 

In the beginning, it was challenging to follow because I wasn’t used to it, but it has helped us be more organised.

We’ve improved our customer turnaround times and been able to get their loans approved faster. 

You mentioned you’ve grown your team since being with Loan Market. Was that a natural progression for you?

No. Before I joined Loan Market I was always working on my own. I just didn’t have the time or a growth mindset. I’ve always been customer-focused and I never wanted to compromise the customer experience in finding new business. 

After I joined Loan Market my mindset shifted to growth. With my new processes in place, I could also utilise support staff so I could spend more time meeting new clients and generating business. 

I workshopped these ideas with Anne-Marie as she is an experienced broker who understands the challenges that we go through day-to-day. She supported me in finding and hiring the right Client Service Manager for my business. 

And your Loan Writers? 

Suzi helped me recruit both of my Loan Writers. She introduced me to Alex who works with me part-time and is a great asset to my business. 

One of the biggest challenges I had when I was running the business on my own, was having enough time to go out and look for opportunities to grow. Now that I have my team, this is much more achievable.

I know my back-end operations won’t affect the customer’s experience because I have my team managing that process. 

You’re so passionate about what you do, what motivates you to keep growing? 

Since I have joined Loan Market, I am more focused and I have such a great support network around me from the Loan Market team and my family. 

Recently, I achieved a personal best month in settlements and I received a handwritten letter from Loan Market’s Executive Chairman Sam White congratulating me. 

My goal is to be a Loan Market Premier broker next year, and an Elite broker the year after.

It’s almost been one year since you joined the Loan Market Group, what has been the biggest change you’ve seen in yourself?

Absolutely the shift in mindset. I was just a broker before and now I think of myself as a business owner. 

My entrepreneurial skills have been developed since I joined, and I now have a business growth mindset. I am looking for how I can generate more leads, perfect the broker/agent relationship and next year I have plans to diversify into commercial and asset finance.

I really feel that this is just the beginning. I still have a lot to learn, but I have definitely grown so much thanks to the personalised attention and coaching I have received and I’ve never felt so connected to an aggregator. I know that if I need to reach out to anyone for support, they are in my corner.  

In 2025, I plan to be one of the top brokers at Loan Market. I have to work hard but I am ready to do it and I have the right support to get there. 

---

So, what’s in store for the future?

To put it simply, growth. 

Maninder’s business owner mindset, implementation of tech-tools and support from the Loan Market team have built a solid foundation for business growth and success. 

We can’t wait to follow Maninder’s progress over the next few years as she takes her business to the next level!