Why do loan officers look alike? How come so few differentiate? For instance, if you collect everyone's brochure and removed their logo and telephone number, the content would appear the same. Check out everyone's website and you discover the same.
After working with hundreds of loan officers, many who have difficulty distinguishing their services, do so because they lack vision. Don't get me wrong, everyone has vision, but I find that it doesn't go beyond the norm of "closing loans and servicing customers." Just ask agents if all mortgage people are alike and their responses are amazingly consistent - "yep...mortgage people are all alike."
If your goal is to stand out and attract agents, you must differentiate from the rest of the pack. Your first step is to correct your vision. In other words, if your promise of service includes closing loans on time, rendering great customer service, offering a variety of loan programs or most competitive rates, returning calls promptly, etc., agents have heard this before, so much so, that your marketing is being ignored.
Craft a Vision Statement
A vision statement is a graphic picture of the business you want. It's the desired destination, describing the future of where you want to be.
A vision statement should:
- Trigger emotional and sensory reactions
- Challenge conventional thinking
- Capture the passion of your idea
Imagine how exciting it is to come to work everyday when you have a vision that stimulates desire, energizes passion and builds commitment.
What If and Why Not
Let your vision challenge conventional thinking. Too often, people get pinned to doing the same as everyone else. Instead, let the process of creating a vision statement be fun, wildly optimistic and with no limits. Just ask yourself, "What if...and...why not!"
Here are some mind-stretching ideas to spark your creative brainstorming:
- What if every borrower referred another new pre-qualified borrower and why not develop a home investors club that bought and sold multiple homes monthly?
- What if you developed a marketing package that new agents used to produce a new client monthly and why not offer experienced agents a solution that helped them add 20% more income annually.
- What if each time an action item was completed in a borrower's file, the loan origination system notified automatically the borrower and the Buyer & Seller's agent and why not offer 24-hour access so the borrower or agents could log into the loan origination system and retrieve a loan status report.
- What if you processed & closed every loan application in 24 hours and why not have documents ready to sign by the next day.
I bet if you shared some of these examples in your office, you'll hear some pessimism. It's the nature of some people to pooh-pooh any idea. But that's why you push the limits and ask yourself, "What if...and...why not!"
Thanks for support,
Jeff Nelson
Salesachievers
Helping loan officers attract more clients
Are you struggling with agents? Do you want to stand out and get noticed?
Learn more about my program, Become an Agent Magnet, that's helped loan officers make a clear distinction from competitors so agents notice them.
Stop the hassle of dealing with agents who give you headaches. Learn how to get the right ones to chase you. My program includes a 365-day money-back guarantee so you have nothing to risk.
© 2005 by Jeff Nelson
All rights reserved
www.loan-officer-marketing.com
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© 2004, 2005 by Jeff Nelson
All rights reserved
