Selling mortgages is not rocket science: Never give up; never surrender!Dave HershmanMortgage originations,leads
In the first part of this series, "A call you cannot afford to
miss" (February 2004 edition of The Mortgage Press), I
introduced an essential follow-up call for anyone who has made a
sale. In this segment, we will focus on the second follow-up call.
This call occurs earlier in the process, at a time when we will not
be making a sale.
I am referring to a call made to a previous prospect. More
specifically, a prospect whom we have lost (for lack of a better
word). How many times have you heard a salesperson say that they
lost a deal? Obviously, you cannot lose something that you never
owned.
Okay, back to the point. We believe that seven to 10 days after
the prospect has decided to purchase from someone else, you must
make a follow-up call. At this point, the call is more than
essential--even mandatory.
What do you say in this call? For one thing, you won't be
asking, "Have you changed your mind, yet?" Rather, you can begin
the conversation by telling the prospect that you were thinking
about them and were wondering if everything was going well
regarding their pursuit: How is your goal of refinancing your home
to consolidate your debts coming along?
Secondly, make sure the inquiry does not come off as
self-serving. Make it clear that you are available to help them if
they have any questions, even though you may not be handling their
transaction. This will set the stage for their response.
If they tell you things are going great, congratulate them, but
remind them again that even though you are not doing business
together, you would like to be remain available as a resource for
them. Leave the door open for a future relationship--the prospect
you never closed may wind-up being your best future referral
source.
On the other hand, if they say things are not going well, then
offer a helping hand.
You may not have called to talk them out of their decision, but
you do know that anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of customers are
going to be disenchanted with their selected brokerage, especially
if they were reeled in by unrealistic promises. If one out of three
are disenchanted, and you can convert half of these, you are
recovering a sale one out of six times.
By exiting the sales process too quickly, you are wasting the
precious resources--time, money and energy--that you used to
produce this prospect. The other five calls are not a waste of
resources, either, especially if you can position yourself for
future referrals.
It is quite ludicrous for us to focus on speaking to new
prospects if we never finish the process with the others we have
produced. Of course, if you have too much business, you can waste
these opportunities, but most salespeople rarely find themselves in
that position.
Calling your customers after closing and contacting prospects
after losing them takes discipline. Take some time away from
pursuing that next conquest, and take the critical step of planning
to make these important calls. Take out your calendar and schedule
them; unless you turn them into a recurring habit, the calls will
not happen.
And just don't start with the new ones. Many brokers will not be
comfortable calling previous customers and prospects they should
have called three months ago. It is Martin Luther King Jr. who
said, "It is never too late to do what is right."
Do not let call reluctance keep you from increasing your level
of income, and moving off the treadmill of sales and onto a solid
foundation of success.
Dave Hershman is a leading author and a top speaker for the
mortgage industry with eight books and several hundred articles to
his credit. He is also head of the OriginationPro Mortgage School.
For more articles by Dave Hershman, free marketing materials and a
schedule of events, visit www.originationpro.com. He
may be contacted by phone at (703) 222-6456 or by e-mail at
[email protected].
