Intermediary Financial Consultant

Location: Hermanus, Western Cape
Remuneration: R200k – R470k per annum (dependent on qualifications and experience)
Industry: Financial Immigration Services
Reports to: Head of Advisory Services

The Role:
The Intermediary Financial Consultant is a key member of the Sales team reporting to the Head of Advisory Services. This role is responsible for securing customers, by qualifying leads (qualified prospects) into paying customers. The role assists and advises customers on the service or bundle of services required to meet their specific needs. It also works closely and collaboratively with Customer Services team members to ensure customer expectations and the company’s revenue targets are met.

Key Requirements:
It is recommended that the candidate possess any combination of the following:
• Tertiary qualification, i.e., Certificate/ Diploma or Degree.
• Financial Services/ Retail/ Banking/ Sales/ Insurance/ Customer Service or Call Centre experience.
• FAIS Regulatory Exam (RE5).
• Exposure to and/or theoretical knowledge of FICA legislation.
• Approximately five years’ experience in a reasonably complex process orientated environment, preferably within the Financial Services industry.
• Salesforce CRM knowledge and/or experience.
• Knowledge of Tax Emigration and associated services.
• Excellent communications skills, verbal & written (Afrikaans & English).
o Ability to write clearly, courteously, and professionally with excellent e-mail etiquette.
o Confident communication with clients.
o Ability to distil complex issues into succinct and easily understood language to convey key messages.
• Relationship management with various stakeholders (establish, develop, and maintain relationships).
• Strong interpersonal skills coupled within a resilient yet enthusiastic life disposition, including the ability to remain calm in dynamic situations and project with sunny poise and aura.
• Excellent collaboration skills to deliver cohesive outcomes.
• Relationship management with various stakeholders (establish, develop, and maintain relationships).
• Excellent networking skills and the ability to interact confidently with stakeholders at different levels.
• Experience with sales techniques and strategies to meet customer and business needs and objectives.
• Proven ability to be self-motivated and work autonomously, while also working successfully within a team.
• Proven organisational skills including the ability to prioritise work to ensure deadlines are consistently achieved.
• Strong attention to detail and follow-through.
• High degree of initiative and motivation.
• Demonstrated inclusive, collaborative, and engaging approach; including the ability to consult, facilitate, negotiate, and influence a broad range of people at all levels in a medium sized corporate environment.
• An ability to work under pressure in a rapidly changing environment.

Key Accountabilities:
Advisory and Sales
• First point of contact for all Marketing leads, to qualify leads into prospective customers.
• Gather, compile, and analyses financial and personal customer data.
• Gain a full understanding of customer’s situation and objectives, explaining the company’s service offering and tactfully guiding and advising them through the decision-making process.
• Give the customer as much insight in wealth migration, including the implications of exchange control and tax, relative to pensions, investments and other South African source assets, economic trends, pension legislation in target countries etc.
• Match customer needs to specific solutions, based on the company’s service offerings.
• Integrate the customers profile and goals through cross-selling of service solutions specific to customers’ needs.
• Correspond with customers re additional information required.
• Continuously look for better ways to conduct business and improve processes.
• Responsible for contributing to the revenue stream for the team and take-on of new clients.
• Client acquisition, retention, service orientation and relationship management.
• Ensure compliance with all related legislation, e.g., FSCA, FAIS, FICA etc.

Learning and development:
• Being available and willing to learn existing and new processes that may be added to the company’s suite of products/services from time to time.

Compliance:
• Comply with all company standard operating procedures (SOPs), policies, guidelines, and procedures.

Key Performance Indicator’s (KPI’S):
Proficiency in this role may be measured using some or all the stated KPI’s; but, also not limited or restricted to those indicated in below table.
• Contact all allocated leads within set time frame according to SLA - Measured through various tools relating to productivity, turn-around times, and quality conversion rates.
• Conversion rate - Percentage of Marketing qualified leads converted to prospective clients.
• Customer service cancellations - Number of complaints, compliments, and cancelled services.
• Lead qualification accuracy - Number of customer transactions where a difference between the proposed service and actual service were noted.
• Quality of customer interaction and communication - Peer and management review to determine the quality of customer communication and interaction.

Key Relationships:
Internal and external relationships; level of interaction and purpose.
Internal (Primary)
• Head of Advisory – to seek advice, direction, and guidance on delivery of successful customer outcomes.
• Sales & Customer Services’ team members – to ensure customer requirements are met within expected timeframe and quality standards.
• Marketing Team members to liaise and ensure alignment between Sales and Marketing strategies to ensure best fit and outcomes for customers.
Internal (Secondary)
• CRM system (Salesforce) support – liaise with subject matter experts to ensure the system is continuously improved to ensure more effective processes and data integrity (where relevant).
• Business Intelligence & Reporting – cooperate with subject matter experts to enhance customer insights capability, organisation wide.
• Risk and Compliance – to consult and seek advice on financial / business risks, controls, mitigating actions and response.
External
• Customers.
• Brokers and Broker Agencies.
• Advocates and potential advocates.
• Service providers and partners.

Core Competencies:
We have identified the competencies that are required to be successful. These competencies help define how we do our role and recognise the behaviours that we need to display daily. The required competencies for this role are:
• Managing relationships - Works to build and maintain warm, friendly and constructive relationships with colleagues and business partners; is responsive to the needs, feelings and opinions of others.
• Ability to plan and organize - Able to prioritize and plan multiple tasks and yet be flexible and adaptable in revising plans and priorities on short notice to achieve objectives.
• Sense of urgency - Able to cope with pressure and show ability to deal with urgent matters.
• Action orientation - Initiates action to achieve objectives within set deadlines and pro-actively takes responsibility for achieving work objectives and shows willingness to go the extra mile.
• Decision-making - Able to reach a conclusion or decision, whether it be to further an investigation or for purposes of recommendation / escalation to management.
• Resilience - Able to tolerate and persevere in a reactive environment. The tolerance to deal with conflicting information. Displaying the perseverance, energy and drive to persist, despite interruptions and unforeseen / unexpected changes until tasks have been successfully completed. Able to deal with ambiguity.
• Systems knowledge - Familiar and proficient with MS Office (Outlook, Word and Excel). Sound understanding and proficiency with the employer’s CRM system (Salesforce).
• Product knowledge - Advanced knowledge of the products and/or services the employer offers to their customers locally and internationally.
• Adaptability - Willingness to learn and adjust to a changing work environment.
• Co-operation & teamwork - Co-operative in planning and striving to see that the goals and objectives of the company are being realized.

Additional Information:
• Employment Engagement - This is a permanent position (one-year fixed term contract). The incumbent will be employed under an employment contract which specifies employment terms and conditions including salary.
• Workplace Health and Safety - The incumbent must comply with workplace health and safety requirements and policies. The incumbent will also ensure other team members also comply with the company’s workplace health and safety requirements and policies.
• Risk and Compliance - The incumbent will be responsible for the risks undertaken in the department within the confines of the overall risk control framework of the company. This will include the identification, analysis, escalation of risks and facilitate an understanding of risk management processes within your department. Implement approved risk treatment procedures to ensure adherence to relevant regulatory requirements within your division. As part of the normal performance review cycle, you will also encourage and reward open and transparent reporting of errors and behaviours which contribute positively to the desired risk and compliance culture.

This description is a general statement of required major duties and responsibilities performed on a regular and continuous basis. It does not exclude other duties as assigned.