Are You Ready For The End Of Trigger Leads?

This month we interrupt our series on the “right” sales training for current events. By now everyone in the industry should be aware of the new law which severely restricts the use of trigger leads. Those who are referral-based loan officers are very happy with this new law which is effective in a few months. Those who run companies focusing on these types of leads are less than happy. Though with the progression of AI, you can be sure there will be plenty of other ways for these companies to produce leads one way or the other. 

While we are deviating from the sales training topic, there is actually a sales training lesson to be learned as loan officers come to adjust to this new reality. Let’s start with this dichotomy:

• Example One: An inbound or outbound cold call in which the conversation is all about the company’s rate. Ever hear the question, “What is your rate?”
• Example Two: A strong referral in which the prospect says to the loan officer: “My financial planner or real estate agent or ________ told me I should use your services to finance the home I am going to purchase.” 

Now here is the question. How strong should your sales skills be for example one vs. example two? I would guess that you would need ten times the sales skills to be successful for example one vs. example two. You might quibble with my estimate — but you can see the point. 

Now, growing a referral base requires skills as well. You don’t try to “sell” the real estate agent to get a referral. You use your relationship building skills and as you develop this relationship, you must add value to the relationship. These skills are different, but they are not easier than sales skills. The difference is in the result. If you sell a cold call lead, you will need to sell another cold call lead the next day. If you develop and nurture a relationship, this relationship will continue to feed you strong referrals as long as you continue to deliver value. 

By the way, the value we speak of is not just getting loans closed. It is helping the agent, financial planner, or other referral source with their business and/or their life challenges. There are plenty of loan officers who can get loans closed — though not all are top notch in this regard. The value we speak of is adding value to the referral source’s business. 

The concept of developing relationships and adding value also applies to each customer you close. Those who develop relationships with their clients and continue to add value to their lives are setting up referral sources for life. They may not be as lucrative as a top producing real estate agent, but turning your clients into supporters can provide a great diversification for your business. If those referrals are potential purchases that you can refer to your real estate agents, they become a gold mine of value in the long run. 

Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI (Business Network International), addresses this in his book, Money on the Table. BNI is one of the largest networking organizations in the world. Misner counsels his followers to ask the question:

What other challenges do you have in your life? 

Buying a home is a challenge, but there are many others — such as a wedding for your child or setting up retirement. Your ability to help with these challenges though professional referrals adds value to your referral sources and your clients. In this regard, your ability to network becomes one of your major value assets. 

Going back to the original question — Are you ready for a life without trigger leads? — you and/or your company have several choices:

• Find other unlimited sources of leads, hopefully earlier in the process than when a credit report is usually run. 
• Focus upon the reduced number of leads you obtain and turn them into repeat sources of business, making each loan officer self-sufficient after a certain period of time. 
• Strengthen your referral relationships and continue to nurture these relationships by adding value on a continual basis. 

For those who are already referral-based loan officers, there will be less chance that your client will receive twenty phone calls offering quotes the day after you run a credit report. And that should make you happy. Those dependent upon leads have a choice to make. And the need for solid sales skills will vary based upon this choice.