As a reminder, here's John's question: "I am getting a shot at deals from my agents, but I keep getting beat out by competitors. Is it me, or is there more competition out there right now? I have lost deals in the past, but never to this extent. How can I win more of these deals when shopping is rampant?"
Getting to the consumer earlier in the process enables you to do two things: establish a relationship and deliver value. But first, you have to be there early. How do you get to the prospect early? There are two major ways (and they are related):
- Make sure the agent refers you early in the process. Of course, this means you must have a great relationship with the agent, but also it means that you must train the agent on when and how to refer. For example, if the prospect is already pre-approved, the agent should refer you for a second opinion. With such a significant decision, it is important homebuyers have choices and consider all options. Plus, they need to refer as soon as the prospect is thinking about purchasing: you are the first step. Again, the earlier the better.
- Leverage your own sphere to provide direct consumer contact, including prospects referred previously by agents. Imagine you're coming back to the agent and letting them know one of their previous clients or prospects is thinking about purchasing again. This means being proactive with your sphere, using all technology tools at your disposal, including social media, your CRM, mobile app and more!
If the key to beating the competition is getting to the consumer early and the key to getting to the consumer early is a strong referral from a real estate agent, you must focus on establishing deeper relationships and adding more value to these agents. How do we establish deeper relationships? We need to weave ourselves into the fabric of the agent’s business and life.
My question is: how much do you know about your agents? Do you know where they are from, where they went to school, do they have children, do they have pets? Do you even know what neighborhood they live in and what their favorite leisure activity is?
Social media is a great way to start researching. So is having conversations with their favorite vendors. When you know more about them you can ask questions about their lives. Showing an interest in them and listening to their perspectives will help tremendously. People do business with people they like.
People like those who listen and show an interest in them. If one day you bring them a bag of their dog’s favorite treats, that is deeper than just bringing them some candy. Come to think of it, do you know what their favorite candy is? I think you get the idea.
Dave Hershman is Senior VP of Sales of Weichert Financial and the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School – the online choice for expert mortgage learning and marketing content. His site is www.OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
