This is the fourth of four articles in a series about the missing ingredient in your marketing. The first article unveiled the missing ingredient - campaigning. Campaigning is what moves each process of a relationship forward from being a stranger to a friend, a friend to a client and a client to a loyal client.
The second article explained the Teaser Campaign. The goal of it is to convert leads into permission-based prospects, Agents who give you permission to market future messages to them.
The third article covered the T.O.M.A. Campaign. It positions your services and shapes an Agent's perception of your expertise. When they comprehend your specialized knowledge and how they benefit from it, you become their friend.
Today's article on the Agent Loyalty Campaign completes the process of relationship building - Agent Retention.
Agent Loyalty Campaign
When it comes to all the effort to acquire Agents as clients, there's nothing worse than creating an appetite for what you have and then having them go elsewhere to eat. Agent retention is the final and most critical process of relationship building. There's a clear distinction between the Agent acquisition process and Agent retention process. It can cost up to 5 times as much to obtain a new Agent as keeping an existing one.
Retention comes from building loyalty with Agents. Loyalty is a state of mind and the aim of an Agent loyalty campaign is to establish a sense of mutual understanding and trust.
The campaign consists of frequent contact, conversations and messages that help the Agent know you exist between loans, between matters, and between customers.
The Drivers of Loyalty
In a new relationship, loyalty is frail until you teach the Agent what it means to have a valued partnership with yourself. There are three drivers to establishing loyalty:
Adding tangible value
You do, of course, what you've been hired to do. But you help both the Agent and yourself when you add value to the relationship. For instance, sending a brochure on a subject of mutual interest, or a copy of a clipping in which you've been quoted on your subject matter that's important to the Agent, or a simple newsletter, covering information of interest or concern can boost loyalty.
Building comfort & trust
Loyalty is an emotional connection characterized by trust and comfort. Simply by doing what you say you'll do, develops this emotional bond. Before an Agent can be loyal to their lender of choice, expectations must be fulfilled and to a certain degree - superseded, often known as "wowing" the client.
Go the extra mile for them
As someone once said, "The little things don't mean a lot -- they mean everything." Always go the extra mile for your clients. It's easier than you think. The road is never crowded.
Practice Relationship Accounting
Although a relationship begins with rendering quality service, it takes relationship accounting, the process of evaluating valued relationships, to keep developing loyalty.
Your Agent Loyalty Campaign should include a loop for feedback. It's the single best thing you can do for nurturing the relationship. This means meeting with the Agent two or three times annually and accounting for every aspect of relationship.
You can use the S.W.O.T. analysis to carry out an appraisal. Therefore the client's feedback isn't just about improving what you're doing, it examines everything.
Ask them to describe your (S) strengths.
- What problem(s) have I solved for you?
- Which solutions were used to solve your problem(s)?
- What results were achieved?
Discuss your major (W) weaknesses.
- Am I earning 100% of your transactions? If not, why not?
- What single thing can I do to improve my service (our relationship)?
Uncover potential (O) opportunities.
- What are your goals for the next 90 days?
- What can I do to help you achieve them?
- What is something you're trying to accomplish but lack resources to achieve?
Pay attention for possible (T) threats.
- If you use more than one lender, tell me about the other lenders?
What do they do that you like?
- Do you envision doing more business with them?
- How comfortable are you in your career?
Afterward, you'll know how much loyalty exists and what you need to do to improve it. If this doesn't happen regularly, the relationship is being taken for granted and susceptible to being stolen by the competition.
The Marriage Begins
Closing and finalizing a loan is the completion of servicing a customer's needs. But for the true mortgage professional, this is only the beginning.
The sale merely consummates the courtship. Now the marriage begins. How long it lasts depends on how well you manage it.
Your #1 job is to make your client look good in front of others. If you've made a mistake, admit it quickly. If possible, let the Agent know before they find out from somebody else.
Like in grade school, if you earned a poor grade, you knew beating the story home meant the punishment was never as severe. It's the same with an Agent. If you've made a mistake or if something has gone wrong during the loan process, don't wait for the Agent to learn about it through other sources, be the first to communicate.
Next week's issue
Structuring winning campaigns including channels of communication, frequency and design.
Thanks for support,
Jeff Nelson
Salesachievers
Helping loan officers attract more clients
© 2004, 2005 by Jeff Nelson
All rights reserved
