“The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not to just meet them, but to exceed them—preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.” – Richard Branson
In terms of timing, I have defined the Initial Marketing of your business as the things you do to make a client open to getting their next loan from us. Then, once a client has indicated to you that they are interested in your services in the near future, it is at that time the Sales process has begun.
How they came to know about you — as a past client, referred by a friend, referred by a real estate agent, from advertising, through an educational marketing process — will determine their starting level of trust with you.
Personally, if the client doesn’t already have a copy of my book, I will always give them one as soon as possible, because it helps set the tone of me as an authority and gives me immediate ability trust in their eyes.
I consider the Sales aspect of Mortgage Broking as everything you do person- to-person with your prospective clients from that point on, with the goals of:
- Determining the truth of their situation so you can work out the best way to help them or if opportunities exist to refer them to others.
- Taking them out of the market and getting some commitment from them before you meet.
- Making an appointment with them (if appropriate) and/or referring them to others.
- Providing a quality experience beyond their expectations.
- Preparing them for the next loan you will do for them, laying the groundwork for repeat business.
- Obtaining referrals from them to their friends and family.
- Preparing them for your Post Sales Marketing
So the Sales component begins the moment you are speaking with a potential client and takes you through the whole Operational process of your business, to the point your client has a settled loan, after which the Post Sales Marketing process begins.
For the sake of clarity, I define the Operational part of your business as the practical systems you have and maintain to get your client’s loan approved, such as access to lenders and software, which is primarily what your aggregator or franchise provides, and also your policy and product knowledge. I’m not going to go into much detail about the Operational aspects of your business
because they are fairly well understood and the resources for that are readily available to every Broker.
How your client experiences all of this is through your Sales process and sets the scene for future and referral business.
Do you consider yourself to be an honest person? If so, great, because honesty is the best attribute you can have in sales, definitely in Mortgage Broking. The hard part is conveying this to your clients, which comes down to your actions towards them.
Everything you do with your client must be in line with your goal of moving them from their expectation of having a transactional relationship with you, to you becoming their Trusted Advisor. It’s worthwhile then, at this point, to remind ourselves of what it means for you to be a Trusted Advisor:
- Put your clients’ interests first, rather than your own
- Be Authentic
- Keep your promises
- Understand that the goal is to develop a long term relationship, don’t focus on short term benefits
- Believe it is important to understand your client’s underlying needs, not just wants
- Work hard on yourself and for your client
- Demonstrate that you are an Authority in your field
- Be genuinely interested in your clients and connect emotionally
- Be genuinely passionate about your business
- You don’t need to say you are an expert, others will do it for you
So you need to build these principles into your interactions with your clients.
Selling does not need to be a dirty word. As a Mortgage Broker, you should be thinking of sales as listening, helping, serving and solving problems.