If you are not working hard at building a loyal client, you will no doubt lose them unless you are. How does one find and develop a loyal client anyway? As each day goes by, your clients, past and present, are meeting people around them, at work, socially, and even through other business and service providers they know. Suppose they meet someone who is in the same business as you are, there is no doubt that this new service provider is already working hard at soliciting your client to use their service or product. Despite what you may have done for that client in the past, all of your hard work you offered them, may be jeopardized as that client may already be pondering this new and shiny offer right before them.
Consumers today have many options and a wealth of services to pick from. They are bombarded daily, with discount deals and quick cash incentives, at the supermarket, on the radio, in the mail, internet, and television. As those same clients you helped today, enter back into the free market, after your deal is done and signed, will they be repeat customers, in 1 year, 2 years or 5 years from today? I have put some thought into this, as I have worked to build my own business, and have observed the activities and actions of those other business colleagues around me and have observed that there are some practical ways to build loyal clients.
1. differentiate yourself. What makes you different and unique? What makes your service stand out from the others? I realized that a client may not necessarily come back to me unless their experience was truly better than that of my competition. I work in mortgage financing and so do hundreds of others, right here, in my city, and they can all access the same “great mortgage rate”, many have spent considerable time and resources to build sharp-looking websites, others have developed fancy informative blog pages, some twitter about their every move, and others who make promises to get financing for just about anyone. As I reviewed all of these things, I wondered whether all of this activity and stuff was “really important” to the average mortgage shopper. I initiated some surveys, to past clients, and was surprised to discover that many of the above items were never mentioned. The strongest and most prevailing theme was: a high level of personal service and attention during the financing process. If I could differentiate myself to develop myself, in this area, I believe I will build up a strong network of loyal clients.
2. always, always, always be honest and up-front with those you work with and those individuals who come to you for a mortgage and never make promises that you cannot keep. I have found that many mortgage companies like to dangle the lowest mortgage rate as the way to entice the client to call them. Brokerages and banks have always marketed low mortgage rates and have often declared that they are the only ones who have these rates. The “low mortgage rate trick” is the oldest and not the most effective way to find clients these days because most people already know that mortgage rates are available to them, on the internet: http://www.financialpost.com/personal-finance/rates/mortgage-closed.html
Of course, accessing the best mortgage rate is always an important consideration to the client, but it should not prevail as the reason why someone should work with you. I would even argue that just advertising a low mortgage rate can sometimes have a negative effect on the applicant. Mortgage applicants need to understand that the lending market has changed for good and it is wise to ensure they understand this up front. We are now, in a market, where clients are no longer “entitled” to the lender’s best mortgage rate advertised by you but rather lenders now pick and choose who they want to do business with. Not so long ago, mortgage applications submitted to lenders would be snapped up and processed by almost any lender but no so anymore. Lenders have learned painful lessons from the US credit crunch of 2007 and as a result they have had to tighten underwriting guidelines considerably in order to protect themselves from risk. Ensuring applicants understand that the advertised “best rate” is not necessarily available to all will not lead to disappointment should the mortgage application be submitted to a lender that offers higher rates. How does this all fit in with the subject of “loyalty”? Be honest with a client, right from the initial conversation, that you will work hard to place them with the best mortgage rate and lender that they will qualify with and that it may not necessarily be that lowest rate they saw advertised. If a client can appreciate these lending market changes, and understand the challenges you face in properly assessing their application to place it with the right lender, they will surely give their loyalty to you when you have found them the best deal despite their circumstances. Getting a mortgage application approved is no longer an easy task because it now requires a thorough understanding of lenders and each lender’s own stipulated underwriting guidelines.
3. Loyality: build it and enforce it with your network partners or end up losing your loyal clients to them and to their other network sources down the road. Do you REALLY KNOW who you are handing your clients to? If you do not, your clients may be solicited away from you in the near future. Are you bringing your clients to a service partner just to get a cash reward or just because you may see an immediate reciprocal lead? Does your network partner maintain a good database? How will they know in two years, who referred that business lead to them? If they do not maintain good records, they may very well be soliciting your clients sometime soon. Maintaining loyal clients is much more than a business transaction, it is a heart issue that comes with careful and thoughtful assessment of who you have chosen to work with. Be sure to assess your network partners carefully to evaluate their values. If you want to operate your business with a clear conscience and a list of satisfied loyal clients, you need to assess those network partners who also work with your client. See if they uphold integrity and honesty and most importantly do they give your clients whole-hearted service level and commitment. If not, you need to take steps to weed them out of your network.
I recently watched a video interview with Seth Godin, a best-selling author who has written many books related to business marketing. The short interview is excellent and describes how to “build a tribe of loyal clients”:
http://www.attorneymarketing.com/2010/04/25/seth-godin-explains-how-to-build-a-tribe-of-loyal-clients/
Building loyalty is the only way to guarantee that a client today will be a client tomorrow.
© 2010 This blog was
written by Elizabeth Blair at Mortgage Edge on May 24, 2010. Elizabeth Blair
services mortgage clients primarily in Mississauga and all over the Greater
Toronto area.
or you visit her
website at: www.missmortgage.ca
Elizabeth is licensed
with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and is also a Member of IMBA
(the Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario) www.imba.ca
Lic # M08005880 /
Brokerage Lic # 10680. Head Office: Park
Place Corporate Centre, 15 Wertheim Court, Suite 210, Richmond Hill, ON, L4B
3H7, Canada.
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