As a mortgage professional, you make a major impact on your clients’ lives. The connections and relationships you build are a crucial part of your business. To learn more about connecting with home buyers on a personal level, check out these tips below!
Have heavy-handed automations on the front end to capture your leads’ attention.
It can take 8-16 outreach attempts to get a lead’s attention. That’s why you should have persistent automations in place to take care of the front-end follow-ups for you. It may seem like you’re pestering them, but in today’s world, everyone is so distracted that you basically have to keep hammering them and trying until you FINALLY get them on the phone. Once your automated follow-ups get the lead’s attention, then you can connect with them over a phone call and start building a personal relationship with them.
Take the application over the phone if possible
Every mortgage lender’s application process is different. You might start the application over the phone with them and then have the lead complete it. Or you might have a preliminary conversation before sending the link over to them to complete the application in full on their own.
If it makes sense with your sales process, it’s best to take the application over the phone with the lead. This ensures that a lead doesn’t get distracted and forget to complete the application. Also, this strategy gives you the opportunity to build rapport with that lead, educate them about the next steps, and connect with them on a personal level.
Focus on the home first (not the mortgage)
Before you go into the application and start asking personal questions about income and credit score, you want to gain your lead’s trust. That’s why it’s important to talk about the home BEFORE going into the application questions.
For instance, you might start off the call asking them, “What are you looking to accomplish with your home purchase? What are your goals?” This question will get your leads to open up and share with you the REAL reasons why they want to buy a home.
Maybe they want to move closer to their kids’ school, or maybe they need a ranch-style house to accommodate their elderly parents. Whatever their goals may be, taking some time to figure out what those goals are will get your leads thinking about all the positive emotions associated with home ownership. As a result, these positive emotions will motivate your leads to complete the application process sooner rather than later.
After having a brief conversation about the home and their unique circumstances, then you can go into the application and ask more personal questions about their finances.
Set expectations about the next steps
As an experienced mortgage professional, it can be easy to take the home buying process for granted. You know what the whole process looks like, so you have a clearer picture of what lies ahead.
But from the viewpoint of a first-time home buyer, they may feel left in the dark, unsure of how to prepare for the next steps. That’s why it’s essential to set expectations, giving your clients a mental picture of what they need to do to advance to each level before finally crossing the finish line.
You don’t have to educate them on the whole process all at once – that can overwhelm them. But at every stage in the journey, just give them a heads up of “Hey, here’s what’s next. Here’s exactly what we need to do to get you another step closer to owning a home.”
Breaking down the home buying journey into bite-sized steps will vastly improve your clients’ experience when working with you. Taking the time to set these proper expectations will also show them how much you care, and how well-versed you are as a mortgage professional.
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