As a reminder, here is 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?"
In my previous column, I discussed developing relationships with agents. A deep relationship is required—but it is the value you bring to the relationship which will solidify the relationship from a business standpoint. First, you must define value. Value must be two things:
- It must be unique: If many others are offering the same thing, it is not valuable. Purchase a rare coin and it is valuable. If someone finds thousands of them, the value goes down. For example, giving great customer service is not considered of value. Every loan officer claims to give great customer service, and many (but not all) actually deliver on that promise. Not that great customer service is not important, but it should be a given in this equation.
- It must be what your target values, not what you value: You want more business, obviously. But that is not important to the agent with whom you have built the relationship. What do they desire? It is the identification of this value which is the key. It must be unique and also tailored to the individual.
Now assuming that you don’t have a bunch of leads to hand over to the agent, the question we must ask is: how are you helping the agent with their business? There is no one answer to this question. You must find out more about their business first before you formulate an answer. You can’t go in with "this is what I do for agents."
- For example, if they are holding a lot of open houses, how can you support them? Can you help them market the opens? Will you sit with them on select opens, helping them convert prospects as they visit?
- If they are looking for buyers, can you help them host buyer seminars? Do you have access to advanced credit tools to get some of their previous prospects “buyer ready.”
- What about your own personal sphere? Could your own sphere produce leads for the agent.
These are just a few examples. The important point is: you need to become a partner in the agent’s business. And you can’t do that without finding out more about their business so you can fashion a plan. Relationships and adding value are the keys to this equation.
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..
