EMPATHY

Empathy: the capacity for experiencing as one's own the feelings of another.

Perhaps the greatest success tool in business and in life is empathy. The ability to understand how others feel and appreciate the fact that only your world revolves around you, is a skill every Loan Officer needs.

It is important to understand that the Realtor just wants to be paid and have his customers leave happy. It is important to understand that your underwriters have a job to do and it doesn't always mean approving everything that hits their desk. It is important to understand that your processor probably has other files to work on besides the one you feel is so critical. It is important to understand that your refinancing customer may just want convenience or the lowest payment or the most cash out to pay off their debts and sleep better at night.

Empathy, however, is most valuable to us in dealing with purchasing borrowers because they are the ones you typically need the most empathy. 

THANK YOU NOTES

Few things in business pay dividends as well as your basic "thank you" note. People appreciate receiving them plus they are easy and inexpensive. Take a few minutes once a week and write a note to every prospect or referral source you meet, or any person who did something remotely good for you that week. Just one or two sentences will do. It will make you look even better in their eyes and it is a great opportunity to circulate your business cards!

PERSISTENCE

80% of sales are made after the fifth call 

48% of all salespeople make one call and quit

25% of all salespeople call twice and quit

17% of all salespeople call three times and quit

10% of all salespeople keep calling

If you merely contact your clients four times, you have surpassed 90% of the competition. Especially in the relationship sales, persistence pays!

 

GET YOUR OLD CUSTOMERS BACK

If your business is a little down right now, you are not alone. Most all of us are dealing with far fewer loans than we were just a few months ago.

Whenever business slows, we tend to concentrate on getting new and more customers, which is a good thing. When looking to increase your number of customers, however, keep in mind that studies have shown that it generally costs ten times more to get new customers than to keep old ones!

So make contact again with your former referral sources and customers and make sure you hang on to the ones you have. The best way to pick you business up is right there under your nose!

UNDER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER

Set customer expectations correctly at the beginning and as long as you deliver, you will be a hero and recipient of loyalty and referrals. On the other hand, if you promise more than you can deliver, you will look like a goat. Consider the simple example of a loan file that takes you and your office 20 days to process. The Loan Officer who says 30 days and closes in 20 looks great, while the L.O. who told everyone 2 weeks looks like a fool and typically is making excuses for their over promising, and we all know what they say about excuses!

 

VOICE MAIL ETIQUETTE

Have you ever had someone leave a long winded voice mail message only to speed through their phone number at the very end so fast that you can't understand it? Of course, everyone has! Were you annoyed, amused, irritated? Or did you just feel bad for that person because they are probably perpetrating their lack of "voice mail etiquette" upon their entire world? 

Don't be that person! If you are going to leave a long voice mail, leave your number at the beginning of the message and then again at the end. Together we can all make the world a better place! 

TRACK YOUR REFERRAL SOURCES

One of the most valuable tools you need in your arsenal is a method of tracking where your business comes from. In order to effectively allocate time and resources to referral sources, you must know that sources are responsible for your success.

Take half an hour soon and set up a simple spreadsheet. Go back through the past 12-24 months and make not of how many transactions resulted from each source. Be sure and break down all sources individually rather than by office. Also, be sure to have separate categories for past clients, friends and affinity groups. You will probably find some results that are not only helpful but very surprising! 

LEARN FROM LOSING

No one likes to lose a deal, but losing is truly losing online if you don't learn from the experience! Sales are all about rejections and sometimes striking out. The more chances you get, the more likely you are to lose sometimes. Even the best Loan Officers do their share of losing. The difference is that they learn from their defeats so that their "batting average" will go up in the future.

So next time you lost a deal, look on the bright side. At least you had a chance and next time you will have a chance and be armed with knowledge gained from past defeats.

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said: "It's not how many times you get knocked down that makes you stronger. It's how many times you get back up."

BUSINESS 101

Whenever things are slow and sales are down...

It is just the time you want to be increasing the investment in your business!

It is just smart business to advertise more whenever you are slow. Did you watch the Olympics? Whenever you are making less, it is natural to want to cut back on spending. However, by increasing your investment you will actually cut your losses and improve your gains. By simply increasing your Media Center investment by 10% or more, you will see results that will far outweigh the added cost. Every Loan Originator is a small business. With that in mind, you must resist the temptation to spend less on your business when production is down. 

HELP

Almost all businesses have a mission statement and yours should too. 

If you don't already have one, try this...

Help as Many People as Possible.

If you focus on "helping people" as opposed to "making as much money as possible", your business will flourish!