Five hurdles between your brokerage and AI that actually works
Used by 90+ Australian brokerages · Data stays in Australia
Free PDF Playbook
The Five Hurdles Playbook
Putting AI to work in an Australian brokerage, step by step
Brokernote · Frank Ziegler & Scott Bennett
The takeaways
Everyone agrees AI is here. These five hurdles decide whether it works in your brokerage.
Not one of them is the technology. Each hurdle below comes with the question to ask and the fix we shared on stage.
Hurdle 1
Where do I start?
Don't start with the AI. Start with last week's to-do list, and look for tasks that pass three tests. We call them the 3 Rs.
Repeats
It happens often, and the same way every time.
Recipe
You could explain it on one page to a new starter: inputs, steps, what good looks like.
Reviewable
A person can check the draft faster than writing it. AI drafts, the broker decides.
Last week's to-do list × the 3 Rs = where you start.
Hurdle 2
Where does my clients' data go?
"Australian data" isn't one tick box, it's three. Some enterprise AI plans store data in Australia but process it overseas, and some assistants hand requests to third-party models that sit outside their residency promise. Ask every vendor:
Stored?
Where does the data sit at rest?
Processed?
Where does the model actually do the thinking?
Trained?
Is your clients' data used to train the model?
Get the answers in the contract, not the brochure.
Hurdle 3
How does it know our stuff?
AI is a brilliant new hire who has never been inside your office. It doesn't know your insurers, your wordings or your process until you hand it the binder.
Paste it in
Good
Upload files every chat. Forgotten next time.
A project
Better
A shared folder every chat inside it can read, as in ChatGPT and Claude projects.
Connected knowledge
Best
Linked to where it already lives (Copilot to SharePoint, Gemini to Drive) or one firm-wide knowledge base.
Someone owns keeping it current. An out-of-date binder gives you a confidently wrong AI.
Hurdle 4
The senior and the young gun
A two-page "perfect prompt" doesn't scale. One person tweaks it, another won't touch it, and six months later there are twelve versions in twelve inboxes.
The perfect prompt
Lives in someone's inbox
Copied, tweaked and forgotten. The result depends on who's typing and how well they write prompts.
A packaged workflow
Lives in the platform
Your best broker builds it once and everyone runs it the same way. Claude calls it a Skill, ChatGPT a custom GPT, Gemini a Gem, Copilot an agent, and Brokernote a routine.
The expertise lives in the routine, not in whoever's typing.
Hurdle 5
Does it sound like us?
"Let's delve into your exciting renewal journey" is not how your brokerage talks. Get two layers right and your clients will never notice where the first draft came from.
Sound like you
Examples, not adjectives.
Show it your five best client letters, the words you use and the ones you never would. Claude Styles, ChatGPT custom instructions and Copilot brand kits all support this.
Look like you
Your template, not the AI's.
Your letterhead, logo and layout, not a wall of chat text.
No budget required
Your Monday list
List last week's tasks
Circle the ones that pass the 3 Rs. Pick one.
Write its recipe on one page
Inputs, steps, one great example. That page becomes your knowledge base, your routine and your tone guide.
Ask your AI vendor three questions
Stored, processed, trained? Get it in writing. Then package the task once so the whole team presses the same button.
One routine, all five hurdles cleared
Watch a branded renewal report built in the Brokernote AI assistant: a guided form instead of a blank prompt, your knowledge base, your tone, your template, and data that stays in Australia.
Free download
Get the Five Hurdles Playbook
A printable version of this page, ready to use with your team.
The 3 Rs worksheet to score last week's tasks and pick your first workflow
The vendor question sheet: stored, processed, trained, and what to get in writing
A one-page recipe template for your first routine
A cheat sheet comparing knowledge, workflow and tone features in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Brokernote