Share That You Care!
I have talked about the changes in the industry a great deal the past year and it becomes clearer to me every day; there are two paths to take in our industry, Transactional or Relational. Transactional business is pretty straightforward, buy leads and chase them until you convert them or give up trying using large teams and algorithms sifting through data chasing each transaction until it closes or falls off the radar. Relational business is largely build upon personal and professional relationships secured through providing value and an exceptional experience.
Since the transactional model has been largely perfected and an controlled by large companies who look to sell leads and make the industry reliant of paying for that information, or by groups that require huge teams of people funneling the credit for the business to one entity; let’s just let that be settled by those in that arena and move on to the discussion of owning the “Relational Market” where people value people and the quality of the experience and the value of the relationship is a priority.
I had a discussion this week with a long time client who has a great deal of experience and is an excellent provider. He has wanted to really enhance his connection with his huge database by adding some personal connection to his people and to provide them with more value. This year he is adding “Birthday Calls” to his list of connecting points along with his “Annual Review”. I was excited to see what his client’s reactions would be to the birthday calls over time given his long standing relationship with them. Since he already had a good steady stream of repeat business and database referrals, could adding the calls really help? We will have to see how it goes, but he said he really enjoys making the calls and so far his clients enjoyed them so we will see
The second thing was that his branch sends every closed client from the prior year a copy of the closing CD via email. I like the idea, but I wanted my client to follow-up with a phone call as to “WHY” it’s important to them to secure that email and have it available for their accountant. That follow-up call just takes a minute, but it shows the client a higher degree of caring! That personal call, just like the birthday call, is stronger than an email, more connecting than a text, and shows the client that you really care about them and their situation.
When you spend your time sharing important information and connecting personally with a phone call as to why that information is important and of value to them, the client really understands why having you as an exceptional professional in their lives is important! Sharing that you care is a very important part of being that exceptional professional. Reaching out personally by phone is one of those simple little touch points in a relationship that no email or text can deliver.
So share that you care! When you personally follow up by phone just a few times a year, your clients and referral partners will always be ready to share you as a truly exceptional professional that provides a quality mortgage experience.
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