Build a mortgage broker referral network by choosing professionals who meet your target clients, agreeing on introductions and earning repeat referrals through reliable service. Start with ten relationships you can maintain, then record each referral and the next contact in your CRM.
Before exchanging client details, agree on consent and the information each person can share. Any payment arrangement needs licensee approval before it starts.
Why Referrals Decide Brokerage Growth
Referrals give a prospective client a reason to trust you before the first call. A recommendation from their accountant or selling agent can make the move from enquiry to an appointment easier than a cold advertisement.
An unpaid introduction has no per-lead purchase cost. Your time, client service and any agreed referral fees still cost money. Paid leads stop arriving when spending stops, while a professional who sees good outcomes can keep introducing clients.
Measure the difference in your own brokerage. Compare referred enquiries with paid leads by appointment rate, settlements and acquisition cost. Higher conversion is a reason to invest in relationships when your figures support it, rather than a promised result from every introduction.
Pick Referrers Who Actually Meet Your Clients
Choose referrers whose clients need the loans you handle. Selling agents in your target suburbs are a starting point. The guide to working with real estate agents and the explanation of Ray White’s broker referral arrangement explain how that channel works.
- Accountants with small-business clients encounter borrowers whose income needs more explanation than a standard payslip.
- Conveyancers and solicitors meet buyers who need finance decisions coordinated with a property transaction.
- Financial advisers and planners work with clients whose borrowing affects a wider financial plan.
- Builders meet clients who need construction finance and a realistic funding timeline.
- Past clients can introduce friends or colleagues after experiencing your service themselves.
Use ten deep relationships as your starting rule. Learn each referrer’s client type and explain which scenarios you can handle. Ask how they want an introduction made and what updates they expect, subject to client consent.
Financial Advisers and Planners
A broker and a financial adviser work within different licence permissions. The broker provides credit assistance under an Australian credit licence (ACL) or a credit licensee’s appointment. The adviser provides authorised financial product advice under an Australian financial services licence.
A referral passes the client between those roles. It does not give the broker permission to recommend investments or give the adviser permission to provide credit assistance. The comparison of mortgage brokers and financial advisers explains the distinction for borrowers.
Search for the adviser in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Financial Advisers Register on Moneysmart. The search accepts a name, adviser number or ABN, with a separate suburb or postcode option. Read the record for their authorisation, qualifications and permitted products.
Have both licensees assess any proposed referral payment. ASIC’s RG 246 Conflicted and other banned remuneration explains when benefits that influence financial product advice are banned. A payment for a mortgage introduction needs assessment in its actual circumstances. Disclosure alone does not make a prohibited benefit lawful.
Get the client’s consent before sharing their information, including updates back to the adviser. Explain who handles complaints about each service. A complaint about credit assistance goes through the credit licensee responsible for that service, while an advice complaint goes through the advice firm. Each has its own internal complaint process and relevant Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) membership pathway. AFCA is one scheme, even when the responsible firms differ.
Start with one suitable referral each way, with each client’s agreement. Treat this as a service trial, without a quota or a promise to recommend an unsuitable service. Review the handover and client experience before expanding the arrangement.
Put the Arrangement in Writing
A brokerage-run referral or affiliate programme sets the rules for partners who introduce clients to your brokerage. Buying leads from a platform is a separate acquisition channel.
Define who can join, such as accountants who work with your target borrowers. Require a consented introduction through your approved referral form. Send the form into your CRM and assign the broker who will call.
Record receipt, first contact, application status and settlement against the named referrer. Share only the updates the client permits. For an accountant referring a small-business owner, log the client’s agreed contact method and the question they want the broker to answer.
Put the referral arrangement in writing before the first paid introduction. Any commission, fee or gift must sit within a licensee-approved agreement and be disclosed as required. Approval and disclosure do not override a legal prohibition.
- Identify the parties and describe what the referrer can do. Keep introductions separate from advice or credit assistance that requires authorisation.
- Record each permitted benefit and when it is payable. State who makes the client disclosure and how the record is kept.
- Define the client-consent process. Name the information shared, its purpose and who receives it.
- Agree on response times and permitted progress updates. Set out how either party can end the arrangement or raise a complaint.
Use client consent as the basis for referral information sharing under the Privacy Act 1988. The OAIC’s guidance on Australian Privacy Principle 6 explains the rules for secondary disclosure. A client’s agreement to speak with an adviser does not automatically cover sending their full loan file.
Marketing emails to referrers need consent under the Spam Act 2003. The ACMA’s spam guidance also requires sender identification and an easy unsubscribe option. Keep the consent record before adding someone to a monthly email list.
Your best interests duty applies to every referred client. ASIC’s RG 273 Mortgage brokers: Best interests duty explains the obligations. A referrer’s preference must not decide which loan you recommend.
Earn Every Referral You Receive
Contact the referred client promptly and agree on the next step. Tell them what you need and when they can expect to hear from you again. Give accurate progress updates, including delays and outstanding conditions, so a smooth settlement remains achievable.
With the client’s permission, close the loop with the referrer at agreed milestones. Useful updates confirm that contact occurred, an application reached a decision or settlement completed. Keep private financial details out of updates unless the client has authorised that disclosure.
Use the Support Your Industry Already Provides
Use your aggregator’s resources to prepare referral materials and check your process. Connective and AFG provide marketing support alongside compliance help and training. Ask your support team for the agreement and disclosure process that applies to your business.
Keep your professional development current. When a referrer asks about a policy change, explain what it changes for their clients and which details you need to assess a scenario. Avoid promising approval before the borrower and lender requirements have been assessed.
Serve Referred Clients Visibly Well
Every referred file is an audition for the next one. Quick call-backs and realistic timelines give the referrer evidence that you look after introductions. Set expectations you can meet, including when a lender’s assessment will take longer.
If a client reports slow service, check the last promised contact against the actual update. Call the client, explain the delay and give a specific next contact time. Tell the referrer how the issue was resolved within the client’s consent boundaries. Repairing the communication gap gives them a reason to keep referring.
Run the Network on Systems
Keep one referrer record in your customer relationship management (CRM) system. Record the last contact, clients sent, feedback and next scheduled touch. Add the agreed introduction method and consent records so another team member can handle the relationship properly.
Segment outreach by the referrer’s work. An accountant might need an explanation of self-employed income documents, while an agent needs to understand finance timing. Send a relevant monthly email to contacts who have consented, then schedule individual follow-ups where a conversation needs more detail.
A hypothetical record might show that an accountant sent two clients, received a permitted settlement update and wants a discussion about company-income documents next month. That gives your next contact a purpose.
Avoid contacting referrers only when asking for another client. Share a useful policy explanation or make a suitable introduction back. Review referral sources monthly to see who sends appropriate enquiries and whether those clients receive the service you promised.
Go Where Brokers and Referrers Meet
Use associations and local events to meet potential referrers before proposing an arrangement. Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) and Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) events create opportunities to meet peers and discuss client needs.
Open homes put you in contact with local agents. Business forums introduce you to accountants and other business owners. Ask about the finance problems their clients encounter, then arrange a follow-up conversation when your work fits.
The guide to networking for mortgage brokers covers events and introductions in more detail. After meeting someone, record a reason and permission for the next contact so the relationship continues beyond the event.
Revive Three Dormant Referrers This Week
List every referrer who sent you a client in the last twelve months. Note the last time each received something useful from you, such as an introduction or a policy explanation.
Contact the three with the longest gaps this week. Ask about their clients’ current needs and offer help that fits your role. After each conversation, record the agreed next contact in your CRM. By the end of the week, each of those three relationships needs a named next action and a follow-up time.
