• It doesn’t limit you

A concern some Brokers have when using their face as the public image of their business is that it won’t be relevant if they grow to have other Brokers working for them. Many small companies have grown to large ones from being named after their founder. All that happens is that their name and face become a genuine and recognisable brand, which is what you really want.You could do worse than become a brand name like ‘Colgate’ (founded by William Colgate), ‘Cadbury’ (James Cadbury) or Swarovski (Daniel Swarovski).

  • Don’t pretend to be a large faceless company

Given the choice, people prefer to work with a person they know and trust, rather than a large faceless company. So don’t try and present yourself as one, particularly when you are not. In fact, big companies often try and create a single person as the face of their company in their marketing to make them appear human and approachable. I don’t know about you, but when I think of Kentucky Fried Chicken I think of Colonel Sanders.

Where you have a business name, logo or slogan, it is better to move them to the background and yourself to the front. So if you have an existing business name and logo, the message you want to send is that this is the business that is behind me and I have their resources at my disposal, but what you are getting is me and the best work I can do for you. I am solely responsible for looking after you.

This is why high net worth bank clients are typically assigned a ‘private banker’ or direct relationship with someone in the bank. It is simply a higher level of service, in perception and reality. As a Broker, we want to become their ‘private banker’ but better, because we are not limited to just one lender.

Whatever appearance your business takes, it is important is to present yourself consistently. People like predictability and it makes you and your business appear more dependable. So once you have decided what your business stands for and how you will display it, all your client facing materials and messaging needs to be as consistent and uniform as possible.

Consistency is one pathway to being considered trustworthy and is critical to making a sceptical public accept the promise that is your brand. Presenting in a mismatched and haphazard fashion makes you look sloppy and untrustworthy.

To achieve this, you need the look, feel, tone, and terminology to be consistent throughout your brand. This must be implemented for every marketing piece, including: business cards, websites, campaigns, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, signage, banners and all things related to your brand.

For the vast majority of Mortgage Brokers, the only difference between your business and the next Broker is yourself. They offer the same service and the same lenders and have the same solutions to offer their clients as you.

The most important thing to take away from this is that YOU are your brand. Building person to person trust is what you must do to be successful. Don’t let logos, slogans and business names get between you and your clients. Become the person your client goes to when they want something. Become their ‘private banker’.