Is this normal behaviour from a broker?

Thanks Terry,

I understand that this could be one approach used to qualify customers.  I would agree that qualifying is exactly what a salesperson should do in order to ensure that they are maximising their time.

BUT to claim that current regulations require that he collect all this documentation before he even start looking at products for me seemed to be a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, given your answers on a separate post it appears to be a moot point.

Thanks again,

Jason.

Thanks Michael,

with such a competitive market it is hard to strike a balance between providing great service and protecting yourself from clients who have little or no respect for your time.  I support methods to qualify customers, to place value on your own time and to protect your intellectual property.  It is a conundrum though because it is difficult in the early stages to identify quality prospects from others.  I imagine that there are plenty of examples where brokers feel like they have wasted their time with tire kicking prospects and where some clients might feel they waste their time with brokers who might be good sales people but no good at the "technical craft" of broking (ie product knowledge, structuring, allowing for future contingency, application and settlement admin etc).  I have run into too many brokers that are great at sales but hopeless at getting an outcome that meets requirements.  So at the same time I expect a broker to be qualifying me as a client, I am qualifying them as a competent professional.  For me trust comes after demonstration of ability to deliver.

In my particular circumstance I was referred to the broker by my financial planner and so I felt that I came, 'pre-qualified' to some extent.  Certainly sufficient to give the broker a sense of certainty that he wasn't wasting his time.  Further I gave the broker sufficient information about incomes, assets and liabilities for him to do a quick assessment on the spot, if in fact he had brought a laptop with him to do that (which he hadn't).  The initial information I was after was not much more than product information: "I want a product with the following features/attributes.  Who can do this?"  Even I was able to identify a number of lenders who had something close (some also mentioned in another thread, thanks to those who responded) and that took me 20 minutes and with none of the comparison tools available to brokers.  

I was not after structuring or strategy advice and so I expected that his product knowledge mixed with experience would have been sufficient to answer my question.

I think also I had a decreasing level of confidence that the broker was able to provide a product that would be fit for purpose.  It was a combination of things that made me feel this way.

Thanks for your explanation Michael.  I appreciate you taking the time to explain.

Jason.

Thanks guys, I understand the points you are making and understand the requirement to conduct an appropriate needs analysis prior to making specific recommendations for an individual's specific circumstances.

This is not what I was asking for at that stage in the relationship.  Imagine a client asking "which lenders have home loans with offset accounts" and the answer being "I can't answer that until you send me all your mortgage documents and tax returns."  I'm exaggerating to make the point.

At that stage we were trying to determine if there were products available with the appropriate features that could allow a strategy to be implemented in a particular way.  There were some loan features I was after but did not know what the correct terminology was for them.  If there were products that were fit for purpose then the next step towards serviceability checks could have been taken.

To review your doctor metaphor… I would expect that a doctor (GP) would have an excellent level of competency and be able to apply an effective solution to my problem and so I agree I would give him or her my personal details up front.  There is also a very different trust relationship there.  I have not had the same experience of competency or trust with some brokers I have spoken with in the past and, given that the loan was not a "vanilla deal", my first step was to confirm the broker could do what I needed before I took the next step.  I think that makes sense too.

I respect brokers' time and value mine as well.

By the way thanks for your time in contributing to this interesting thread.

Cheers,

Jason.