by Piera Rossi, on Jul 5, 2021 6:10:07 PM
Gold Coast Marine Broker carves a successful career with Ausloans Finance Group.
James Nakhla knows his business. He has been in the finance industry for 20 years, jumping from business banking to broking to his own Ausloans franchise brokerage business. Today, he is the director of one of the leading marine finance brokerages on the Gold Coast, Ausloans Finance Gold Coast Marine. His team is known for servicing some of the largest marine dealerships in Australia for over 10 years. He says his business success is all about integrity. His reputation is proof of it.
How did you become a broker?
I started my career in banking at Westpac 20 years ago; then, I got into car dealing and car broking. After that, I worked for a few years in a broking company, one of my competitors today, until I decided I wanted to go on my own as an independent broker 12 years ago.
What is that you most like about being a broker?
Helping clients achieve something that they want. Mainly marine and leisure finance is helping someone achieve an enjoyable item for themselves. Cars are great, but a vehicle is a necessity, whereas when you buy a jet ski or a boat, it is all about the fun, so you’re helping someone use their pastime with something they will love.
The beauty of marine and leisure finance is helping people achieve an enjoyable item for themselves. While car loans are a necessity, marine finance is helping them achieve something they’re going to love.”
What types of loans does Ausloans Gold Coast Marine offer?
Our main service is marine loans, but we do any style of commercial loan and any kind of consumer loan—boat loans, car loans, machinery loans, equipment finance, commercial loans, and commercial vehicles loans.
Tell us about your referral partners. What do you think they are looking for in a marine brokerage?
Most of them are large franchise marine dealers that sell new and second-hand boats. Our relationship with them is great. Some of them have been with us for over 15 years. We share customers, so we help each other in taking good care of them.
I think they are mostly looking for honesty and communication. Communication is key when you get a deal. As soon as you have some sort of indication of what's going on with the deal, you give the dealer an update -obviously, without getting into personal details of the customer-. But you let them know you're on the move, where the loan is up to, and if I need the dealer's help to get involved. We all work as a team.
What’s that differentiation factor that makes Ausloans Gold Coast Marine successful?
Integrity. Integrity and honesty. Our relationships with the many lenders are a little bit different. We know how to present a deal, especially when we're doing two or three-million-dollar boat deals. The preparation and presentation of a deal to the lender are paramount in getting it approved. If you throw it up against the wall and get X, Y and Z, the answer will be no. They are in-depth deals, they need proper presentations.
The lenders know that we know how to present a deal and we don't present a deal until we have all the information. If you treat them with decency and integrity and do the right thing, they will be more responsive and more receptive to yourself and to your customers."
In your opinion, what makes an asset brokerage constantly grow?
Education, understanding credit, understanding the lender you're putting a deal to, understanding the credit matrix, and knowing what lenders will buy.
Many customers we're dealing with come from business managers who aren't sure of what they're doing and put deals to places that should never have gone to, damaging the customer's credit. That makes our jobs a little harder because a lender that would have bought them immediately turns around and says no because there's too much in the credit file that really shouldn't have been there because there was no way those lenders were ever going to approve those customers. So knowing what your product is and what your metrics are, is crucial.
What tech tools do you use to increase your productivity and performance?
We use Ausloans' patented fintech platform, Zink Software, of course.
Look, when you have 50 or 60 clients on the go and more than 40 different lenders with different matrixes that are constantly changing and moving, it is hard to keep up with all; it is a lot of brain activity.
Zink software gives you a good insight into all your options. Sometimes you forget about a lender, or new lenders are coming out that you don't know about yet because you haven't been doing that type of loan, but it pops in Zink.
How has Zink transformed how do you do business?
Zink software changed the game a lot. It sped things up. It streamlined a lot of the process, which then gives my guys more time to process loans at a faster rate. It also gives me more time to get out there and bring in more business and give the dealers the attention they need and be the face of the business. Before Zink, it was manual applications and manual input and manual manual manual.
Now it's two to four minutes for the customer to put some details in, and in Zink, it'll come up and say, right, we need this. We call the customer and say we need this information, this is how we think the deal is going to go. So, just that small process there saves about an hour. It chops an hour out of a deal. So instead of taking an hour and 20 minutes, the whole thing takes about 20 minutes.
Zink Software streamlined a lot our process, which gives my guys more time to process loans at a faster rate, and it gives me more time to get out there and bring in more businesses."
About Ausloans Finance Gold Coast Marine
Ausloans Finance Gold Coast marine is a marine specialised brokerage based in Gold Coast, Australia. Its main services are; low-interest boat loans, jet ski loans, commercial marine loans, leisure loans, personal loans, business loans, equipment loans, machinery loans, etc. Ausloans Gold Coast Marine service the city of Gold Coast and surrounding areas, including Sunshine Coast and Northern New South Wales.
