THE COALFACE 17
brokernews.com.au
Brokering and balancing the best of both worlds Rogan Yates’ love of the broking industry is reflected in the success of his award-winning branch and the downtime he enjoys
R REELING IN THE REWARDS YBR Sydney CBD has won the franchise’s Branch of the Year for NSW, ACT and WA, and also the General Insurance award, Branch Support Person to Eva Kharoufeh, and Top Branch of the Year for Revenue.
ogan Yates took a road less travelled to become branch principal and wealth manager of Yellow Brick Road Sydney CBD. “My dream was to play rugby league,” says Yates, never imagining he would become an accolade-garnering member of the finance industry. In his mid-20s, after playing football for the Roosters didn’t work out the way he wanted, he became the first adult apprentice in engineering at Qantas. “I had no real interest in aeroplanes; I didn’t really know what I was interested in,” says Yates. “As I got older I worked out that I was more interested in finance and stockbroking.” So after 11 years in engineering, he started studying to be a stockbroker, and then a twist of fate set him on track to make his mark in financial planning and mortgage broking. A friend advised him to do some work experience at a newly launched finance company with Mark Bouris, who would become his mentor over the next 15 years. “I did work experience with Mark at Wizard, and never left,” says Yates. “I’ve been with Wizard for 10 years and YBR for five.” Yates says he had instant success with the mortgages he did during his work experience, and felt like it was just meant to be. “When I had the experience of mortgage broking, where someone walks into your office and asks you for
ALWAYS PUT THE CLIENT FIRST. IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT
money and you don’t charge them – and you do them a service of getting the money, and they walk out happy as anything and it hasn’t cost them any money – there’s no downside. It’s a first-class industry to be involved in.” On the bad rap brokers sometimes get, Yates says it completely baffles him. “I’ve built my business on the success of two things, and that is, I always put the clients’ needs first, which I don’t think is a hard thing to do. The second part of it is my preparation for work. If I’m going to be prepared for work, I prepare like I’m preparing for a football game.” Yates says that being physically, mentally and emotionally prepared for work is as important as knowing the industry inside out. It can be a demanding job but it has its rewards, particularly for those with young families looking for flexibility and a healthy work-life balance. With a young son himself, Yates has cut back on visiting clients outside the 9 to 5 norm. “I don’t mind Saturday morning and I don’t mind one night during the week. Eleven o’clock on a Saturday morning is not a bad time; you can still get up, do a bit of exercise, have a bit of brekky and then go and see a client.” And even with his busy schedule Yates has found downtime to relax and explore. A keen traveller, he has been to Bali over 30 times, where he was recently married; America four times; and he has clocked six trips to Europe. And it’s all the more rewarding if you have a job you enjoy coming back to. “I love the fact that you get paid for helping people. I actually believe that I sincerely improve their life when they come to see me, and I get paid well for it. So I think, ‘What a great business!’ I love the fact that there’s no downside to what we do, other than hard work.” Yates hit $94m in settlements last
year and has a personal average he likes to reach of $6–7m per month, but he says the success of his branch is thanks to his great team of five, including a financial planner. He says YBR is about brand and culture. “Running off YBR as a brand is really valuable. They are really well respected within the financial world, and there’s also the family culture of YBR. Because I come from a sporting background, I love the team environment.” Their leads are 100% referral and their clients span everyone from first home buyers to very wealthy clients to high-profile people. “Whoever walks in the door and needs a hand, I’ll help them, no matter what the loan amount. “In 2015 we’re looking to really increase the wealth side of our business and we want clients to know the value of having everything under the one roof.” Most of Yates’ clients come to him for mortgages because of his reputation, but he says they love hearing about all the other services on offer. “To do financial planning properly is not rocket science. It’s about getting a person organised. It’s about understanding what their future needs are and what their current financial position is, and then working through that. “I believe the makeup of financial planning can be clearly explained, and I love clients understanding what they’re doing. They need to understand. If a client walks in with us, we give them as much information as we can; we do not hold back or try and play games – that’s not our culture.” Yates says offering the client as much information as possible builds goodwill and reassures them that you actually care. The monetary side is not the first thing, but it comes back; it always comes back. If you put in, you get out. It’s not about trying to identify how much you’re making out of each client; it’s about having a culture that just says, ‘We’re here to help; no problem’, and the money follows itself.” He says no matter who walks in, they’ll help them. Yates advises young brokers to prepare for at least two years of dedication, not in learning the trade but in physical, mental and spiritual preparation to achieve your best at work – without, of course, forgetting about the clients. “Always put the client first,” says Yates. “It’s as simple as that.”