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6 Ways to Protect
Your Pipeline
Taking these steps could help you keep your clients
all the way to closing
mortgage brokers face two key
challenges with borrowers today. The
first involves capturing leads and turning them into loan applications. The
second challenge is keeping borrowers
as clients all the way to closing. Once
you take a loan application, it’s often
easy to lose the transaction to another
broker or lender. This causes lost revenue, commissions and time.
Brokers typically invest four to six
hours working on every loan file, including prequalifying borrowers, checking
credit, taking the application, gathering documentation, consulting with the
borrower, selecting the best loan program, doing paper work and so on.
Here are six steps brokers can take
to bring more applicants to closing.
conduct a complete prequalification 1.
before taking a loan application.
Many brokers rush borrowers to ap-
plication at the first sign of interest.
Borrowers who take the time to par-
ticipate in an upfront consultation
typically are more serious about
moving forward with you. Those
who do not wish to go through this
phase often already have applied
elsewhere and are shopping for their
best deal before closing.
meet the borrowers 2. . Instead of
sending them to the company Web
site to apply or taking the applica-
tion by phone, get borrowers in your
office. When you establish a face-to-
face relationship, people feel more
connected to you and your company
and are less likely to stray.
refer them to your 3. favorite real es-
tate agent. All agents have a favor-
ite lender or broker to whom they
By Douglas Smith
President
Douglas Smith & Associates
try to steer their customers. If buy-
ers don’t have an agent after you
prequalify them, recommend one
of your referral partners. That agent
will sing your praises and keep the
buyers with you.
send a thank-you card. 4. Something
as simple as a handwritten thank-
you card will show your clients that
you are grateful for their business.
To form a strong relationship, you
must reach out to them on a per-
sonal level. A thank-you card helps
you do that.
give them “the speech.” 5. When you
prequalify buyers or take their loan
application, let them know that oth-
ers may try to steer them to another
broker or lender. Tell them some-
thing to the effect of, “As you move
through the loan process in the next
few weeks, you may encounter real
estate agents who want to steer you
to their lender or broker instead of
me. Some of these agents earn a
fee or a commission for doing so,
and that’s why they try to maneuver
you. Be careful. You may also see
ads for teaser rates and other unbe-
lievable mortgage offers. Again, be
cautious of these. You could end up
with a loan situation you don’t want.
“I am committed to making sure you
get a good rate, the right loan pro-
gram and a great experience. I hope
you are as committed to me.” Don’t
be shy about making this speech. It
could save you a lot of loans.
keep in touch. 6. It’s a good idea to call
your clients once a week while the loan
is in process to provide a quick status
update. Don’t just shoot out an e-mail.
A phone call and two-way dialogue
keeps the connection tight and the re-
lationship growing as the loan moves
forward. It also lets your customers
know you are working hard for them.
Few mortgage brokers have a
100-percent pull-through from application to closing. But those who employ
these six ideas will have a much higher
conversion rate than most. Keep more
of your loans in your pipeline — you’ve
earned them. •
Douglas Smith is president of Douglas Smith
& Associates. Smith is a 26-year mortgage
veteran and nationally known speaker, sales
trainer and author of the book Climbing the
Ladder of Success. He delivers workshops,
seminars and presentations on highly effective
sales and sales-leadership strategies. Contact
Douglas Smith & Associates at (877) 430-2329
or visit www.dougsmithonline.com.
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