Stop firefighting and find the source, brokers warned

The warning came from broker coach Jason Back, who was speaking with Broker Daily director Alex Whitlock on the Business Accelerator podcast.

Back said that despite thinking they were helping their businesses, many brokers are limiting their ability to scale by repeatedly fixing problems rather than addressing root causes.

“Brokers are incredibly good at solving problems, but that’s actually where a lot of them get stuck,” Back said.

“They’re jumping in, fixing files, calling lenders, smoothing things over with clients, and it feels productive in the moment.

“But if the same issue keeps happening again and again, that’s not a one-off problem – that’s a broken system.”

The ‘firefighting trap’

Back said the habit of stepping in to resolve issues quickly can create a cycle where inefficiencies persist and compound as the business grows.

“It’s the classic firefighting trap,” he said.

“We’re constantly putting out spot fires, but we’re never curious about how those fires actually started in the first place.

“So instead of fixing the cause, we just get better tools to put out more fires next time – and that’s not how you build a scalable business.”

Systems – not effort – drive scale

According to Back, one of the biggest misconceptions in business is that growth simply requires more effort or longer hours.

“Efficiency creates the space for productivity, not the other way around,” he said.

“If your volume is going up but your time and stress are going up with it, then you haven’t built a scalable business – you’ve just created a bigger workload for yourself.”

He said the key to handling more volume without sacrificing service is building repeatable systems that reduce reliance on memory and individual intervention.

“Our industry is incredibly task-based and process-driven, but a lot of businesses are still relying on how they remember doing things or how they’ve always done it,” Back said.

“If a mistake happens twice, it’s not a mistake anymore – it’s a missing process.

“That’s where checklists, documented workflows, and automation come in. They’re not there to slow you down, they’re there to stop the same problems from showing up again.”

Whitlock agreed and also noted that the challenge becomes more pronounced as brokers transition from solo operators to managing teams.

“As soon as you start bringing people in, whether that’s admin, offshore staff or additional brokers, you can’t rely on doing everything yourself anymore,” he said.

“You need structure, because otherwise you’re just scaling chaos.”

How to fix it

Back outlined a variety of ways to improve systems to accelerate your business development.

Clarity of roles is one of the biggest problems – but the easiest solutions, he said.

“We need to be really clear on role, responsibility and authority. Who is accountable for what? What does good look like? And what decisions can people make without escalating everything back to the broker?” Back said.

He added that many brokers underestimate the importance of structured training and development.

“A lot of business owners aren’t trainers or coaches, so what happens is we show people what to do once and expect them to just pick it up,” Back said.

“But if your staff can’t do the role without you, then you haven’t trained them – you’ve just helped them through the process.

“We’ve got to move beyond task-based training and actually teach people why they’re doing something, what the outcome is, and how it fits into the bigger picture.”

Back also noted the importance of taking a step back to create systems that can allow your business to operate independently.

“If you want to scale, your people have to be able to operate without you constantly stepping in,” he said.

“That means documented processes, clear standards, regular training, and feedback loops where you’re actually reviewing what went wrong and fixing it properly.

“Otherwise, you’re just adding more volume into a business that isn’t set up to handle it.”

He added that taking time to review recurring issues is critical to long-term improvement.

“Sometimes you’ve got to slow down to speed up,” Back said.

“Go back, look at where things went wrong, and ask yourself – was this a skills issue, a behaviour issue, or a process issue?

“Because if you don’t fix that, it’s going to keep showing up again and again.”

[Related: Chasing volume like ‘tipping water into a sieve’, brokers warned]

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