One of the questions I like to ask my new students is Who is your primary target? Many times this question is followed by a moment of awkward silence as the loan officer wonders if this is a trick question. It pains me to say this, but I must confess that an alarming number of loan officers have absolutely no clue as to who their target market is. While on the surface this may not seem to be that big of a concern, the truth of the matter is that it is. You see, as loan officers, we have many complaints when it comes to real estate agents. In fact, I often wonder if were not fighting a war against realtors with the way some originators talk. For example, here a few comments/complaints I have heard recently: I hate Realtors
Realtors are arrogant
Im tired of realtors telling me how to do my job
Those agents think they know everything
All agents are jerks
Why do realtors have to be so crabby
Im tired of getting hung up on
Why cant realtors mind their own business While I can certainly sympathize with the frustrations that accompany these statements, you will find that in many cases the cause of this frustration can easily be avoided. What I mean by this is that we are far more likely to run head first into strong resistance when we have not even bothered to identify and focus on our target. This problem is further exasperated by the fact that 9 times out of ten, loan officers are looking to do business with the high producing agents. I refer to this as an amplification of the problem simply because a high producing realtor will typically have an entirely different set of priorities, needs and wants. To illustrate this, we need to first look at the needs and wants of your average real estate agent: More prospects
Higher quality of prospects
More closed transactions This is certainly a short and over-simplified display of what your average realtor wants, but it is accurate. An average real estate agent earns less than $40,000 per year so you can easily understand why his/her goals will typically center on earning more income. This is where most loan officers begin to make mistakes. See, using a standard all in one approach for every agent you talk to is simply not going to cut it. The reason for this is that not all agents have the same needs and wants. A cookie cutter approach is going to cause you to appear just like every other loan officer. When you appear to be just like every other loan officer you will get the same objections as every other loan officer. Lets look at some of the needs and wants of high producing agents. I conducted a survey with 100 local realtors that were funding $8,000,000 or more in volume per year. Here is the list that resulted: Less time in the office/ more time with family
Less stress
Less problems at closings
Less money spent on marketing (higher conversion ratios)
More referrals from past clients
Maintain same volume with fewer units You may have noticed that most of the items on this list seem to refer to time and stress. Agents who are producing at this level are less concerned about earning more money, and are more concerned about having the time to enjoy it. If we as loan officers can help lift some of that stress off the agent, and show alternative ways to bring in clients, then the agent can also see a higher profit margin by spending less money to produce the client. There are many powerful ways to do this. You can understand why many loan officers are intimidated by successful realtors after looking at the way these agents are being approached. It only takes a few days of getting shot down by this particular group of agents to begin to feel that you are wasting time and spinning your wheels. It doesnt help that this group of agents tend to be a little more forceful on the phone and with their objections due to the fact that not only are they extremely busy, but they also tend to get harassed by more loan officers than average. It only takes two or three high producing agents to have a major impact on your income. A single successful agent can add 25, 30, or even $40,000 or more per year to your paycheck. Obviously this means that this group of agents could be a very valuable niche for you to target. Before implementing your campaign though, make sure you study your target well and get to know what is needed. Think about your own natural sales resistance. When you are asked to listen to a sales pitch about an item you dont need or want, what do you do? In your car, when a commercial comes on the radio, do you flip through the stations? Of course, we dont want to be bothered with sales calls when we dont need what is being sold. However, what happens when you actually need the item being sold? The bottom line is that if we truly need or feel that we can benefit from something, we listen. If you can isolate the pain and needs that a high producing agent has, then you are ahead of your competition. The call at that point becomes a much easier and simple process. If you take the time to discover what services will truly benefit your local realty community, then you will have discovered the key. The question is, do you feel it is worth your time? If so, will you do it? |
