• Believes the goal is to develop a long term relationship, not short term benefits

“You don’t close a sale; you open a relationship – if you want to build a longterm, successful enterprise.”Patricia Fripp

Thinking about short term benefits is what clients are expecting from a salesperson, whilst a Trusted Advisor understands that the real goal is a strong relationship with their clients. A Trusted Advisor doesn’t focus on ‘getting the next loan’, but instead on consistently being of value to their clients such that a two-way relationship develops. It is from these relationships that long term benefits arise.

Word of mouth recommendation is of course the most powerful and cost- effective form of advertising, not to mention the most common way clients choose a Broker in the first place, but it won’t happen if your client sees themselves as just another person you were trying to make a sale with. Instead, your focus is on building long term relationships if you expect people to readily accept your advice and refer others onto you.

Your only defence against the constant home loan advertising messages your clients see is the relationship they have with you, and building that relationship for the long term.

  • Believes it is important to understand the client’s underlying needs not just wants

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.”Peter Drucker

When a potential client comes to you there is something they want the loan for, be it saving money, buying a new house, whatever. Whilst it is of course important to understand their immediate objectives, as a Trusted Advisor, you know that a deeper relationship is formed when you fully understand what is driving them. This requires you to dig beneath the surface of what they think they want and are immediately telling you. Often a client needs to be challenged about why they are interested in a particular product or service.

Their real interest is the outcome of this loan and what they are going to get because of it — be it moving near better schools, an extra room for a new child on the way or removing their ex-husband or ex-wife from their financial lives.

Discovering this is usually not that hard if you simply show interest and ask questions. People like to talk about themselves. The more in-depth questions you can ask, the more likely you will truly understand what they need so you can provide the right assistance, rather than just responding to their immediate concerns and jumping from one superficial solution to the next.

Not selling people ‘what they want’ but rather learning ‘what they need’ increases respect and can change the nature of the relationship and help develop greater levels of trust in the future.