For loan officers, word-of-mouth referrals can be a powerful source of business to keep their pipeline flowing smoothly. Think about your day-to-day — maybe you’re looking for a service, someone to fix your furnace or maybe a financial advisor to help you navigate your investment options; with just a cursory google search, you could easily pull up dozens of names, many with solid branding and a modern website. How do you know who you can trust? Then, you mention your search to a friend, and they share a positive experience about someone they’ve worked with. It’s almost always a no-brainer at that point. A word-of-mouth referral is heads above any other kind. Consumers value trust, and they’re much more likely to feel some sense of trust with a recommendation from a friend or family as opposed to an advertisement or website. This week I wanted to cover some proven strategies for getting more people to talk about you:
Form an Emotional Connection
Your satisfied clients will likely be the largest source of word-of-mouth referrals since they’ve worked with you and experienced your services firsthand. How can you turn client interactions into motivation for them to spread the word about your business to family and friends? By building an emotional connection. As I mentioned earlier, trust is paramount to today’s consumers. When you form an emotional connection with someone, you’re also increasing the level of trust. This is how your clients will be able to recommend you with full confidence.
Go Above and Beyond
When is the last time you told a friend about an average experience? Probably not very recently, or maybe never. And if you did, they’ve probably forgotten about it by now. You need to give your clients a reason to talk about you. Perhaps not every friend a client has is going to ask for a loan officer recommendation, but that doesn’t mean they can’t share their experience. With every client, commit to going above and beyond when it comes to meeting their needs and delivering a highest-quality client experience. This is what gets clients talking and leaving rave reviews. More on impressing every client, here.
Maintain an Active Online Presence
So, you’ve asked a friend for a recommendation or remember a name they’ve shared in the past; but when you go to find this person online, there isn’t much there. This can leave many consumers feeling a bit suspicious, or at least motivate them to continue searching before reaching a decision. You want to maintain an online presence that reflects all the positive things they’ve heard — and reinforces them. They should be able to easily find a modern website and active social-media pages that are uniform and clearly belong to the same person. This reaffirmation of the word-of-mouth referral can be just the nudge they need to take the next step and reach out.
Just Ask
Finally, don’t hesitate to ask for referrals. Especially for a service like mortgage loans, people don’t always think to share their experience with their circle of influence. As long as you’re polite and not pushy, there’s no reason to shy away from the fact that referrals are greatly appreciated. Particularly so if you’re confident that you delivered top-notch service, you should feel comfortable mentioning the importance of referral to your clients. Simply letting them know you value their business and are eager to assist anyone they send your way is often enough to motivate clients to share their experience.
It's not hard to get more people talking about you if you put in the work. The rewards can benefit your business for many years to come.
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