Mortgage sales require hard work and dedication, and if you truly want to grow your business, persistence is the key (I’ve written before on how to set and achieve sales goals, here). Persistence can sometimes get a bad rap, but it doesn’t mean hammering someone who’s given you a hard ‘no’ until you can get to a ‘yes’. It means putting in the time and effort to form strong relationships, demonstrate your skills, and show prospects why you’re their best choice. Here are a few ideas to use persistence effectively:
Have a Longer-Term Plan
Studies suggest that only 2% of sales are closed in a one-time meeting. And most studies show that it takes an average of five meetings to close a large deal. So, for loan officers, it pays to have a longer-term strategy in mind from the beginning. Following-up and future meetings are part of the strategy, and they should be factored into the sales process. Of course, it’s helpful to go to a networking event or meet with an interested prospect — and who doesn’t love it when a word-of-mouth referral swings by the office? But if your initial efforts don’t immediately lead to a client who’s ready to sign, you can’t afford to stop there. When leaving a conversation with a client there should always be an expectation as to when the next contact will be. If you have a proper plan before ending the current contact it becomes easier to set expectations as to when you will be following up. This feels obvious but loan officers, and all sales professionals for that matter, often forget where they are in the sales process. Having an plan of where you are and where you are going makes for a smoother process and less awkward follow-up.
Build Strong Connections
Your clients are trusting you to guide them through one of their biggest (or the biggest) financial decisions. The key word there is trusting — trust isn’t built in a single meeting. Sure, you might have a promising email exchange or a great phone call, but while those are indicators that things are off to a good start, they don’t generally equal a real connection. Building connections, even more so than closing deals, should be your top priority (more on building connections, here). Strong connections will not only help you to turn prospects into clients, but they’ll also help you increase your referral business as well. To form strong connections that are built on a foundation of trust, you need to make yourself accessible, you have to be willing to get to know your prospects, and you need to be confident in sharing your skills. In most cases, it’s going to take multiple in-person meetings and several calls before you earn their trust, but the extra effort is worth it.
Demonstrate Dedication
Persistence isn’t the quality of someone hard-up for business or someone willing to pester their prospects. Instead, we should see persistence as an opportunity to show our dedication. When you remember details from a conversation with a prospect and reference those details when you follow-up with them, you’re demonstrating that you’re invested in the connection. It shows that you value their business, and that you’re willing to put in the work to earn that business. Looking at it from a prospect’s position, it also shows that you’ll be willing to put in that extra effort when they become a client.
Share Value
I often see LOs give up on a prospect after the second or third outreach. It’s usually because they don’t want to annoy their prospective client, but they also haven’t received a ‘no’. Here’s where it becomes crucial to share value. When you make a persistent effort to help your prospects and clients (not just trying to get their business), you’re communicating who you are as a professional. If you ask questions and pay close attention to the conversations you have with prospects, you’ll find the areas where they need specific assistance. When you can send a useful article or explain your experience and expertise in a relevant area, they’ll see you as a loan officer who puts their clients’ best interests first.
We need a steady pipeline with regular incoming clients to have long-term success in the industry. And if we want to gain these clients, we need to be willing to put in persistent effort to earn their business. When you distill that persistence down into building strong connections, demonstrating dedication, and sharing value, it looks less like a salesman trying to get a sale, and more like the strategy of a successful professional.
If you like what you’re reading, you can get my weekly articles for loan officers right to your email inbox. Subscribe today at MD-LoanOfficer.com.
Comments