Broker guide
Mortgage Broker Sales Process From Enquiry to Settlement
Move a mortgage enquiry through fact finding, options and settlement with clear client decisions. Keep sales follow-up separate from the credit assessment.
- Published
- Updated
A mortgage broker sales process moves an enquiry towards a documented client decision, then keeps the client informed through application and settlement. Give each stage a responsible person and a clear condition for moving forward. Keep follow-up activity separate from the credit assessment and the reasons for recommending a loan.
Qualify the Enquiry and Set Expectations
Establish what the client wants to achieve and when they need to act before discussing a likely lending outcome. A purchase with a finance deadline needs different follow-up from an early enquiry about refinancing.
- Record the purpose of the enquiry and the outcome the client wants. Ask about the property or existing loan, the amount needed and any deadline.
- Identify the applicants and who can give instructions. Confirm permission before discussing the enquiry with a referrer or another person helping the client.
- Explain your role and the next stage. Distinguish an initial conversation from an assessment, and explain that the lender decides approval.
- Agree on the next information request and a follow-up time. Assign a person to make that contact and record the client’s preferred channel.
For consumer mortgage work, build the applicable disclosures into this stage. ASIC’s disclosure obligations overview explains credit guides and the other documents required for different credit activities. Give the applicable credit guide as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent you’re likely to provide credit assistance, subject to the relevant exemptions.
End the first conversation with a specific next action. For example, ask the client to provide the requested income evidence before the assessment appointment. Avoid describing the enquiry as approved or promising a settlement time before the lender has assessed it.
Fact Finding and a Usable Scenario
Turn the client’s objectives and financial information into a scenario that another broker can understand and check. Use the mortgage broker fact find for the full information record, then summarise the facts that affect lender selection.
Separate what the client reports from what the evidence confirms. Record income sources and employment, living expenses, debts and available funds. Resolve differences between the conversation and the documents before relying on the affected figure.
ASIC’s responsible lending guidance describes reasonable enquiries into the consumer’s financial situation and objectives, verification of their financial situation and the preliminary assessment for credit assistance. A complete-looking form doesn’t establish that those tasks have been completed.
For a usable scenario, put each unresolved question beside its consequence. If the client relies on variable income, identify which income needs checking and how acceptance affects the required loan. Assign the evidence request to a person and keep that question open until the answer is supported.
Bulma’s Policy Advisor and Scenario Planner help you research lender policy and compare the scenario across 52+ lenders. Each answer quotes the policy wording behind it, which you can retain with the file notes. Use the research to resolve lender-fit questions while keeping your assessment and recommendation tied to the client’s verified circumstances.
Consider a hypothetical refinance client who wants a lower repayment and plans to sell within two years. Record both objectives. Compare the expected saving with switching costs and the consequences of a longer loan term, instead of assuming that the lowest immediate repayment meets the client’s goal.
The scenario is ready for an options discussion when you can explain the client’s priorities and the evidence supporting the proposed borrowing. If information needed for the recommendation remains missing, request it before recommending a loan.
Present Options and Record the Decision
Explain why the recommended loan meets this client’s needs and show the material trade-offs against the other relevant options. ASIC’s mortgage broker best interests duty guidance distinguishes acting in the consumer’s best interests from the responsible lending assessment. Satisfying one obligation doesn’t establish compliance with the other.
Use the same assumptions when comparing options. Show the loan amount and term, repayment basis, rates and fees, plus the features the client will actually use. For refinancing, account for switching costs and any proposed term extension.
If you recommend a higher-cost option, connect the additional cost to a benefit the client needs. ASIC’s review of mortgage broker practices identifies cases where recommendations lacked clear evidence for choosing a more expensive loan. A recorded preference for a lender needs an explanation of its effect on this client.
Before recording the client’s instruction, ask them to explain their understanding of the deciding trade-off. Correct any misunderstanding and give them room to ask questions. Keep the options considered and your recommendation rationale with the client’s decision, including any unresolved condition.
Client agreement doesn’t replace your duties. Keep evidence of how the recommendation serves the client and how any conflicting interest is managed.
Handle a Difficult Conversation
When a client presses for an approval promise or refuses a document request, identify the specific concern before repeating the request. Explain what the information establishes and what can’t proceed without it. Agree on a response time that fits the actual deadline.
For example, a client may ask you to lodge immediately while their income evidence conflicts with the fact find. Explain the discrepancy and request the evidence needed to resolve it. Record the conversation and keep the recommendation on hold until the necessary information is available.
If the client raises a complaint, use the brokerage’s complaints process. Keep the complaint separate from routine sales follow-up so a request for resolution isn’t treated as another conversion task.
Application, Conditions and Settlement Handover
Tell the client what has happened, what still needs a decision and who will contact them next throughout application and settlement. Give the processor the agreed scenario and client instructions with the evidence supporting the recommendation. The detailed mortgage processing workflow owns file readiness and condition tracking.
- Before lodgement, confirm the client’s instruction and check whether their circumstances or objectives have changed. Resolve any change affecting the recommendation with the broker.
- After lodgement, provide the application reference and the next expected update. Describe a lender turnaround estimate as an estimate and agree when you’ll contact the client if there’s no decision.
- When the lender requests information or imposes conditions, explain what the client needs to provide and why. Assign the request and record when it will be followed up.
- If the offer changes, return the material difference to the broker and client for a decision. A different loan amount or term can require a fresh explanation of the recommendation.
- Before settlement, confirm who is coordinating outstanding matters and the client’s next action. After settlement is confirmed, tell the client and hand over the agreed post-settlement contact.
Keep status labels precise. Lodged, conditional approval and settled describe different events. A client update must reflect the lender’s actual position, including any outstanding condition.
Verify the handover by asking the receiving team member to identify the next action from the file. They must be able to find its owner and due time, plus the client’s latest instruction. If they need the client to repeat a decision already made, repair the record before the file moves on.
Review the Process
Review where clients stop progressing and where files return for avoidable rework, alongside the quality of the recommendation records. Conversion shows movement through the process. It doesn’t establish that the client received suitable credit assistance.
Compare a group of enquiries received in the same period, allowing enough time for those files to progress. Separate withdrawals and unresolved cases from declined applications. Record the reason where known without assuming that every withdrawal is a sales failure.
| Measure | What to record | What to examine |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry progression | Enquiries reaching a completed fact find | Whether clients understand the next information request |
| Client decisions | Options discussions resulting in an instruction | Whether the recommendation and trade-offs are clear |
| Incomplete evidence | Files delayed by missing or conflicting information | Whether requests explain the evidence needed |
| Avoidable rework | Files returned because an earlier step was incomplete | Which handover or review failed |
| Recommendation quality | File-review findings and complaints | Whether the reasons serve the client and are supported |
For a hypothetical group of 40 enquiries, 24 completed fact finds produce a 60% enquiry-to-fact-find rate. If six of those files need repeated income requests, examine those requests before adding more follow-up calls. These figures are an illustration, not a performance target.
Choose one observed problem and change the step that causes it. Then inspect the next comparable group of files for the intended improvement and any new delay. Keep a change only when the evidence record and client decisions remain sound.
