How to get more business without being too salesyBrian Hilliardqualifying the prospect, following up, networking, referral
One of the biggest mistakes I see mortgage professionals make is
coming across in an overly aggressive manner in an effort to win
the deal. They call the prospect every other day, send e-mails when
they don't hear back and sometimes stop by since they "happened to
be in the neighborhood." No wonder most loan officers struggle to
consistently get new business. No prospect wants to be around
someone who's that aggressive. On the flip side, most professionals
know that the early bird really does get the worm, especially in
the post-refi boom. And if you're not following up on a consistent
basis, you're going to lose deals simply because someone else was
more persistent. So the question becomes, how can a smart,
enterprising mortgage professional strike the balance between being
Johnny-on-the-Spot—making calls, hustling along and moving
the buying process forward, and Joe Isuzu—the used car
salesman who would do anything to close a deal? Let's look at a
couple of common sales situations and see how the more successful
loan officer (we'll call him Johnny-on-the-Spot) is able to get
more business from the same set of circumstances when compared to
that of his less successful counterpart, Joe Isuzu.
Qualifying the prospect
Joe Isuzu (the used car salesman recently turned mortgage guy) goes
to networking events thinking that everyone is a prospect, and it's
just a matter of meeting the right ones (read: those who are ready
to buy a house right now). He's busy working the room, passing out
cards, and if you're not actively in the home buying process, then
Joe doesn't have time to talk. Joe has started to notice that most
of the people he does meet usually don't fall into that "ready to
buy right away" category, but he figures he's just not networking
at the right spots. In the unlikely event he does meet someone
who's ready to buy right now, he calls that person every other day
to follow up and "see how things are going." Sometimes that works,
but most of the time it just turns the prospect off. Joe often
complains about how all the rate shoppers are killing his book of
business and stays up at night thinking if he could just meet more
prospects, he'd be good to go.
However, Johnny-on-the-Spot doesn't have those issues. Johnny
doesn't step one foot into a networking event without knowing how
it fits into his overall networking strategy. He has a target
market in mind and puts himself in places where those prospects are
most likely to be. If he's looking to get more referral business
from real estate agents, then he's networking at the local state
association event or meeting folks at the women's council of real
estate agents. If he's looking for clients who haven't gotten a
real estate agent or are just thinking about buying a home, then he
goes to events where his target market is most likely to be. For
example, he attends downtown networking events if he specializes in
financing condos or other "in town" living areas, but he goes to
events in the suburbs if it's the opposite. Either way, his
networking strategy has him in the right spot.
While networking, Johnny is comfortable in only making three to
five new contacts, since he knows people aren't going to trust
their largest personal asset to someone who just whisks in and out,
dropping off a business card in between. He does his job by
creating trust with the prospect and demonstrating expertise in the
industry—usually through a phone call or follow-up meeting.
Johnny sleeps like a baby knowing his pipeline is always full.
Following up with a qualified prospect
Joe Isuzu can't believe he ran into someone who's ready to buy
right now! As a matter of fact, as soon as he gets home he starts
pulling together all of the brochures he can get his hands on. He
calls the prospect the very next day and wants to meet as soon as
possible to start talking about the process. During the
conversation, Joe talks about his years of experience and how he's
been in the financing business since 1986. Sometimes he gets the
client, other times he doesn't. But rarely does he get his full
commission, since he often has to lower his rate in response to the
prospect shopping his deal around.
Johnny-on-the-Spot almost always gets his full commission. When he
runs across a qualified prospect, he's not overly surprised, since
his networking strategy puts him in front of those folks all the
time. And while it's certainly nice to have someone who is ready to
buy within the next few weeks, he's not going to overdo it by
insisting on a meeting. Instead, Johnny contacts the prospect a
couple of days later (allowing the deal to breathe a little), makes
some small talk and asks a few good questions to learn more about
their situation. What made them decide to move? What areas are they
looking in and what's an absolute must have in their new home? This
is all information Johnny can give to the real estate agents he
chooses to refer his lead to.
Johnny winds down the conversation with the following: "Boy, that
sounds like some good stuff! I'll tell you what—why don't we
sit down for a few minutes? I can jot down some more information
and if you'd like, we can even get you pre-qualified for a loan.
That way, depending on how quickly you want to get started, we
could touch base next week."
The prospect says that's a great idea (assuming he was serious
about buying a home to begin with), and Johnny is well on his way
toward closing another deal. In the cases where the prospect brings
up rates, Johnny offers to answer any questions at their next
meeting. He doesn't worry about losing the deal, because he knows
that if the prospect was strictly focused on rates and wasn't
willing to spend a few minutes at least talking about the
pre-qualifying process, then he was probably the exact type of rate
shopper Johnny doesn't like to deal with. Johnny always speaks in
terms of benefits and clearly articulates his value proposition in
context of how it could help the prospect.
The bottom line is that everyone exhibits some of the qualities of
either Johnny-on-the-Spot or Joe Isuzu. The real question
is—what kind of loan officer do you want to be?
Brian Hilliard is a motivational speaker and author of the
book, Networking Like a Pro! He may be reached at (404) 434-2826 or
e-mail
[email protected].
