January is a difficult time to start building momentum if you finished December without a plan.
Clients are on holiday. Referral partners are taking a break. Applications are waiting for documents. Your inbox is filling up again.
Before long, you are busy. But being busy does not necessarily mean your business is moving forward.
With around nine weeks until 2027, there is time to make useful changes before the year ends.
At Masters Broker Group, we encourage brokers to use this period to review what worked, resolve unfinished business and put the foundations in place for the year ahead.
You do not need to rebuild your entire business. You need to identify the actions that will make the greatest difference and schedule them.
Here are 20 practical tasks to consider.
1. Review what actually worked in 2026
Look beyond your settlement total. Where did your enquiries come from? Which became clients? Which activities produced little return?
For newer brokers, review the conversations, appointments and applications that helped you progress. Identify what you should repeat, improve or stop.
2. Set three clear priorities for 2027
“Write more loans” is an ambition. It needs a plan behind it.
Choose three priorities that address your biggest needs. These might include building a reliable referral source, improving application quality or creating a consistent client review process.
Give each priority a measurable outcome and a deadline.
3. Work backwards from your settlement goal
Use your own conversion rates to estimate how many applications, appointments and enquiries you need.
For example, if half your qualified appointments become settled loans, four settlements will require about eight appointments, allowing for the time between the first meeting and settlement.
If you lack reliable data, start tracking it now.
4. Give every active application a next action
Review your pipeline file by file.
What is outstanding? Who is responsible? When is it due? Does the client know what happens next?
Replace vague notes such as “waiting on client” with a specific action and follow-up date.
5. Confirm holiday arrangements and critical dates
Check lender processing updates and the availability of clients, conveyancers and other parties involved in upcoming settlements.
Identify expiring approvals, finance dates and settlement deadlines. Explain timing risks early and avoid promising outcomes you cannot control.
6. Clean up your CRM
Update contact details, remove duplicate records and correct application stages. Make sure important conversations and documents are saved in the right place.
Every active opportunity should have an owner, a next action and a date.
A tidy CRM makes follow-up easier and reduces reliance on memory.
7. Book client reviews for early 2027
Identify clients whose circumstances or loan arrangements warrant a review. Consider fixed-rate and interest-only expiries, changed employment, growing families or plans to buy again.
Book suitable appointments before the holiday break.
A review should establish what the client needs today, with any recommendation supported by their circumstances.
8. Reconnect with clients who didn't proceed
Some clients were not ready when you first spoke. Their plans may now be clearer.
Contact those who deferred a purchase or refinance and ask whether their goals have changed. Offer a useful next step, such as updating their information or arranging a January appointment.
Keep the conversation helpful and free of pressure.
9. Review the quality of your recommendation records
Select a small sample of recent files and read them as someone unfamiliar with the client.
Can you understand the client’s priorities, the options considered and the reasons for the recommendation?
ASIC’s recent Report 840 highlighted the need for stronger evidence where a recommended loan costs more than available alternatives. Make this a practical file-review priority before year-end.
10. Fix one recurring process problem
Where do files repeatedly slow down?
Perhaps clients misunderstand document requests. Perhaps applications reach assessment with information missing. Perhaps updates depend on someone remembering to send them.
Choose one recurring problem and fix its cause. A clearer checklist or better email can save time across many future applications.
11. Check your professional obligations
Review your training progress, accreditation status and upcoming renewal dates. Confirm the requirements that apply through your licensee, aggregator and professional association.
Check that you know how to recognise, record and escalate a complaint through your licensee’s process.
Put relevant dates and actions into your calendar.
12. Prepare a cash-flow forecast
Map expected business income and expenses from November through March.
Allow for settlement delays, operating costs, tax commitments and potential clawbacks. Keep uncertain pipeline income separate from income you can reasonably expect.
A forecast helps you decide what the business can afford before committing to new spending.
13. Review subscriptions and operating costs
List the software, services and memberships you pay for.
Are they being used? Do two tools perform the same job? Is a missing tool creating unnecessary manual work?
Make each cost justify its place through better service, lower risk, time saved or business value.
14. Strengthen a small number of referral relationships
Review which relationships generated suitable enquiries and constructive working partnerships.
Arrange a conversation before year-end. Discuss the clients you can help, how you communicate and how to make introductions easier.
For newer brokers, a few well-developed relationships can provide a practical foundation for growth.
15. Clarify who you help and why
Can someone explain your service after hearing one sentence?
Be specific about the clients you understand and the problems you help them solve. Avoid broad claims about offering great service or competitive rates.
Clear positioning helps clients and referral partners recognise when to contact you.
16. Prepare your first month of content
Choose a few questions your clients regularly ask and prepare useful answers for January.
Topics might include preparing to buy, understanding an offset account or gathering documents for a home loan review.
Check accuracy and follow your approval process before publishing. Give every piece a clear purpose and a relevant next step.
17. Use automation to improve follow-through
Look for routine tasks that can run more consistently, such as appointment reminders, document follow-ups and review prompts.
Start with one process and test it.
Check that messages reach the right person at the right time, and keep human review wherever circumstances or judgement matter.
18. Review data security and holiday cover
Check access permissions, multifactor authentication and your backup arrangements. Remove access that is no longer needed.
If someone will cover your files, arrange appropriate access and a clear handover. They should know each file’s status, deadlines and escalation contacts.
19. Book learning and accountability into the calendar
Identify the skills that will make the greatest difference to your work.
That might be reading financial statements, structuring applications, explaining recommendations or conducting better discovery meetings.
Schedule learning time and regular mentor reviews. Turn each session into a specific action you can apply.
20. Plan your break and your first week back
Set your leave dates, communicate availability and organise cover where needed.
Then plan your return. Book client appointments, protect time for pipeline reviews and schedule your first business development activities.
Taking a proper break is easier when you know the business is organised and your return has direction.
Turn the list into a nine-week plan
Do not leave these tasks on a wish list. Give them a place in your diary.
- Late October to mid-November: Review performance, clean up your pipeline, check cash flow and sample your client files.
- Mid-November to early December: Improve one process, reconnect with clients and referral partners, and set your 2027 priorities.
- December: Confirm holiday arrangements, prepare January communications and appointments, and complete your handover.
If you are unsure where to begin, start with upcoming client deadlines, your cash position and any unresolved file issues.
Build a business you can manage with confidence
A new calendar does not change how a business operates. Clear priorities and consistent actions do.
The work you complete over the next nine weeks can give you a clearer pipeline, stronger client relationships and fewer loose ends when you return.
At Masters Broker Group, we help brokers turn business goals into practical habits, sound processes and accountable action.
If you are a new broker preparing for 2027, speak with Masters Broker Group about a mentoring program that supports your next stage of growth.
