Smartline managing director Chris Acret believes women are naturally a good fit for a mortgage advisory franchise. A person needs quite varied skills to be successful in this industry, he says. On one hand, attributes such as being a problem solver, being organised, paying attention to detail, and strong technical skills in terms of understanding lending practices and home loan products are vital.

However, the really good mortgage advisers are also great with people. They take the time to listen, understand each client’s unique situation and have genuine empathy for and interest in their client.

I’d say it’s a 50-50 split in terms of the importance of both sets of skills in helping a person to build a really successful mortgage advisory franchise.

That’s why it doesn’t surprise me that many of the top performers in the industry are women. They’re able to marry both sides.

And because many women are naturally good networkers, this enables them to grow their business, he adds. The vast bulk of a mortgage adviser’s business is through referral, so it’s really important to have those strong personal and business networks that you can tap into.

In Smartline, about 85 percent of our business comes from referral, so the stronger the individual’s network and their ability to get out of the office and talk with people, the stronger their business will be, he says.

About 30 percent of the company’s 200-plus franchisees are women and Acret expects the female representation to continue growing towards 50 percent.

We haven’t had the goal of making Smartline female-friendly necessarily, we’ve just wanted to make it people-friendly, he says.

Multi-tasking: Cathy Anderson
Cathy Anderson started her Smartline franchise in October 2005 after more than 20 years in the banking and mortgage broking industry. In just five years she  has become one of the most successful and awarded mortgage brokers in Australia, with accolades including SmartlineÍs Marketing Champion in 2010, MFAA Operator of the Year in 2009 (the mortgage broking industryÍs highest accolade) and Telstra Business WomenÍs Awards SA finalist in 2009.

For the past three years Cathy has written more loans than any of the other 200-plus Smartline franchisees throughout Australia, with more than $100 million in loan settlements annually.

Cathy cites much of her success to the genuine enthusiasm and passion she has for her job. I love what I do and get a buzz from the understanding I have that the advice I provide can make a real difference to people’s lives, she says.

I thrive on the financial success of my clients. I’ve always believed that enthusiasm is contagious and I know I’ve done a good job when I see my clients leave my office excited about what can be achieved.

Empowering people, assisting them to control their finances to achieve their goals, and doing all the hard work associated with this means people end up being very appreciate of your efforts. It’s a great way to spend your work day and my clients know that I’m genuinely happy to have been able to assist them.

Cathy believes much of her success, as for many women in business and in mortgage broking, is her ability to be able to do many things at once, and do them all well.

Also, I think women are naturally good listeners and therefore able to really hear what a client needs and wants, which is vital in this role, she explains.

Problem solving: Karen Le Comte
Relationship-building has always been a priority for Karen Le Comte, and she attributes much of her business success to this. And in addition to her 25-plus years in banking and broking, it’s a key reason for the many awards she has won since starting her Smartline franchise in April 2006. Just this year she was named MFAA Mortgage Broker of the Year, a Telstra Business Women’s Awards Queensland finalist and received Smartline’s Lenders Choice Award.

I’ve always believed that focusing on developing and maintaining quality relationships is integral to success in all areas of life, including business, Karen says.

I made the move into mortgage broking from banking as I believed I could provide a professional, tailored and client-focused service based on strong relationships. I believed that integrity and transparency would be one of my points of difference and this is still very much the case.

Karen sees her role as very much that of a problem solver.

Being able to help others is my daily inspiration – I get an enormous kick out of solving problems and providing solutions for my clients that add real value to their lives, she admits. Having the opportunity to constantly grow and learn, and fine tune what I do, is also a real motivator.

As long as you are continually learning and growing you’re going to succeed. Running your own business can sometimes be hard work, but even at the most challenging of times I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to learn something new and something more about myself.