Breaking Barriers: How Carol King, a Banker-Turned-Broker, spearheaded industry change for single parents

Background

In the same way that Carole King the musician wrote timeless hits that resonated with millions, Carol King the broker is hitting the right note for her customers. Carol started her career at NAB where, like most bankers, she learned the tools of the trade. It was during this time that she found her love for property and desire to help everyday Australians with their wealth creation goals.

Carol turned to broking after 12 years at NAB when she realised that to deliver the level of service she believed would reduce unnecessary roadblocks in the lending process, broking offered more upside for her customers than banking, especially by way of guiding prospective first-home buyers to purchasing their first home – a major milestone. During Carol’s banking tenure, whenever she heard about broking aggregators within her network, there was always a consistent theme of the stellar reputation that followed Loan Market. Additionally, being familiar with LMG’s user-centric tech platform, MyCRM, the choice to become a Loan Market business owner was simple and in 2011, Loan Market Buderim was formed.

Challenge

Carol hit the ground running with a Loan Market shopfront located within the Sunshine Coast region of Buderim. She initially thought starting her first bricks-and-mortar business was going to be easy but without the foresight to plan or map out cash flows, her first year in broking challenging with inconsistent income; but Carol believed in the dream and shares, “when you want to help people and have that as your north star, things work out.”

Firmly holding the belief that having a Plan B detracts from Plan A, Carol tirelessly built her network within the community and made endless calls with real estate agents. She went to all the networking events available and laughingly shares that she had “a lot of coffees.” Carol also knew that elevating her business to the level she believed would truly benefit her customers, she needed a team of outstanding individuals, each bringing a specialised skill set to the table. The challenge she realised is, how do you invest in your staff who learn in different ways and at different rates? This question marked a significant turning point for Loan Market Buderim.

Solution

Until stepping into the role of a business owner, Carol had solely managed her own workload and never needed to manage, onboard or train others. This independence meant that she hadn’t established any formal procedures for her staff to follow or a system to guide them towards success in their roles. She quickly realised that not everyone learns at the same pace and shared that “other people may take a bit longer and come with different personality types and backgrounds.” Further speaking to how Carol implemented a Kaizen-optimised process towards onboarding, “Now it’s a lot simpler and easier, but back then, I was like, I’m so busy, and I need this deal processed, so I was really lucky that there were people at LMG I could reach out to.” Thanks to LMG’s specialised recruitment support service, Talentforce, and the Brokerversity training platform more recently, the team have created effective guides and processes for every function of their business. Team members are set up for success from day one.

A foundational element of Loan Market Buderim’s success has been reimagining marketing and eliminating any ‘too-hard’ attitudes.

For Carol and the team, maximising every interaction, whether at a networking event or stakeholder meeting, is crucial. Carol emphasises that marketing doesn’t always require TV appearances or billboards, “What we do every day is share flyers and info when meeting with someone, making sure we’ve got business cards, calendars, and uniforms. For us, marketing is as simple as walking down the street.” The team is taking a proactive approach towards enhancing Loan Market Buderim’s online presence by establishing social proof and encouraging satisfied customers to share their experiences. “Whenever a customer is coming into the office to sign documents and waiting for a tea or coffee, while they’re waiting to sign, we just ask, ‘Hey, would you mind scanning the QR code and giving us a review?’ Most people are pretty happy with that, and if we forget, we email them.”

When it comes to lead generation, the team rivals hotel-standard customer service. Carol believes that calling a customer back as soon as possible from the lead coming in is just the starting point. For her team, there’s intent and respect within each client interaction that nurtures them, and by providing consistent value every step of the way, customer or not, “they’ll usually end up being a client at some point,” Carol remarks.

Results

Since joining Loan Market, Carol’s achieved a number of the group's most prestigious accolades - achieving Premier status in 2017, 2018 and 2020 then progressing to Elite in 2021, settling more than 120 customers in twelve months while also maintaining exemplary customer satisfaction and compliance scores. In 2022 she backed it up again.

Her exceptional contributions were recognised when she was crowned Queensland Broker of the Year in 2021 and received Industry Thought Leader of the Year at the Australian Broking Awards in 2019. This achievement was awarded to Carol for challenging industry lenders on child maintenance policies for single parents and its associated negative impact on families’ applications for new lending. Through a comprehensive white paper led by Carol and a few of LMG’s Leading Ladies, one of the significant arguments that was raised was outlining how “being a mother does not necessarily make it difficult to work. Most females will return to work following the birth of a child, can work part-time/full-time, and continue to earn an income or even hire support to continue running a business during maternity leave and upon return to work.” according to King.

Another is Family Tax A & B to accommodate for a fairer and more just assessment of a family’s situation before attributing their financial situation. This advocacy catalysed a significant policy shift at Bankwest regarding child maintenance assessments and marked progressive steps forward towards equality in lending practices for blended families. Thank you for your commitment to this industry, Carol.

“I recently refinanced my mortgage with the help of Nicola and am very happy with the outcome. Nicola, Skye, and the entire team were professional and thorough. Carol King helped me purchase this home in 2013, and the quality of customer service I experienced remains unchanged today. I highly recommend them. Thank you, Nicola.

Kathryn Mitchell

“Carol and her team have gone above and beyond in order to secure our first home loan. It has been a lengthy process due to the sudden boom in the market however we were looked after at the highest level and were reassured at ever step that all will be fine, and it was!!! Big thank you to the team for all they have done and we look forward to seeing them again for our next purchase."

Joel Harland

“Carol is fantastic to work with, she was so easy to talk to and always acted in our best interest. Her team is very thorough and easy to make contact and communicate with. Carol was even able to secure us a better deal than advertised interest rates. I highly recommend Carol and her team for your mortgage broker needs."

Success Stories