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It’s important to understand why borrowers decide to go with you as their lender instead of one of your competitors. It would be nice if every possible lead was from a past client, or a friend, family or co-worker, but working with today’s client still requires building trust through knowledge and follow-up to increase your conversion ratio. Here are the four main reasons why customers decide who will be their lender.
- The lender did more than any of the other lenders that I talked to. By asking well thought out probing questions such as how long do they expect to live in the property, explaining maximum tax benefits, eliminating debt , providing a number of good faith estimates showing loan origination fees versus no origination fee will give the client the opportunity to do make decisions in their overall finances and mortgage needs.
The lender they chose did more than anyone else in lowering their total costs and improved their overall monthly cash flow. Explain and assist your client in redoing their W-4 form. By raising the amount of exemptions, the client will have less taxes taken out and thus improve their monthly cash flow. Ben an expert in understanding tax brackets—don’t guess or overstate tax brackets. Also share what the impact of making one extra monthly payment will do in the reduction of their principle balance. Become the lender that borrowers will say, “The other lender I talked to never told me about these tips”. The lender they choose did more than anyone else to make my life and the experience easier. By using a “Page 6” or as we call it, “Mortgage Planning and Client Expectation” ask questions such as: “How can we make this transaction simple, easy and enjoyable for you?” Another question would be: “How often do you want us to contact you about the status of your loan?” If you don’t ask questions, how do you know if you are meeting your clients’ needs? The lender we choose did everything they could to get us the best possible rate and term. It’s important for you, the lender, explain the bond market, economic reports that can affect interest rates, the dangers of floating and the security of locking in rates. No one that I know has a crystal ball about the future and we saw just about six weeks ago rates went from 4.5% to 5.75% in a two week period of time. Thousands of clients could have closed at the lowest rates in decades, only to lose because the loan officer was gambling, not keeping their eye on interest rate trends or betting for a better price to make a larger commission. As the old saying goes, “The pigs get fatter and hogs get slaughtered.” Explain the importance to lock in this low interest rate environment. The difference in saving an extra eighth of a percent is about three latte’s a month or a third of a cable bill. If the client decides to float, make sure they understand the rules and communication that will be needed—even if it is daily to stay on top of the ever changing market.
Have you positioned yourself as the most knowledgable and trusted mortgage provider in your area? Are you the “least risk” alternative for your clients? Risk is the strongest and most influential driver of customer behavior in our industry. Risk avoidance is the most important component of branding your business. Branding is predictability. The stronger your brand the more predictable the Realtor professional and client expect in the results. Position yourself as the best lender in your area in understanding the customer’s needs, provides the most thorough solutions, has the easiest application, processing and closing systems that are customer friendly and you will see your business climb to greater heights of success. Tom Ninness is Vice President/Regional Production Manager for Cherry Creek Mortgage in Denver, CO. He is also the President of Summit Champions, Inc. and creator of the “The 90 Day Journey to Your Sales Success”, a powerful 90 day action plan for the sales professional.
To learn more about The Journey
and Summit Champions, go to http://www.summitchampions.com/
or contact Tom at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Office: 720-221-4396.
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