On occasion in the mortgage and real estate business, we get so caught up in the metrics that we can forget about the people. What do I mean by that? Well we are often spending time day to day worried about how many outbound calls we are making. Blog and Social Media Post engagement. Lead counts, rate locks, loan applications and other metrics are all part of our day to day currency. But I was reminded this weekend that there is a family trying to make something happen for themselves.
For the last couple of years we have done a lot of ensuring that our technology is on the cutting edge. We use a powerful CRM, we use Homebot to help our clients have an understanding of their current market value. We exchange documents with clients through Floify so that we can work securely and not meet with them.
Sometimes, as we work for efficiency, metrics and “deal count” we forget about the people. This weekend, a real estate professional I work with regularly asked me to take a meeting with clients. But it was not just a meeting. We drove an hour one way to take the meeting together and then sat with the borrowers for ninety minutes talking about their plan for their new vacation home.
It was a revelation! The meeting was well worth the time. I understand this may not be the case in every situation. However, these folks met with another lender and were turned off by his demeanor. It was critically important to them to know and like who they were working with. We talked a little bit about how my team works and how we will handle their transaction. How we will work hand in hand with the realtor and like I was in a time machine, they handed me a stack of personal documents for their mortgage and asked me to FedEx them back with a tracking number.
They were grateful for my investment of time. The Realtor was also very appreciative of my doing this. He specifically mentioned afterwards that he would not have asked me to do it for everyone but knew that these folks needed this special touch and that he appreciated me going out of my way for his business.
So, one meeting, one new client relationship and a solidified business relationship with the realtor who sent them. I’m still concerned about my metrics and have numbers to make. But sometimes you have to take care of the people. Remember, every family you are working with is trying to make something positive happen!
