Written By: Pat Earnhardt, The Mortgage Rewards Team, Hearthstone Mortgage, Raleigh, NC (tnextstep@aol.com).
As a customer, when was the last time you saw or felt really good customer service? Think about what happened. What can you learn from your experience? Have you been or do you plan on being that person or company’s customer again?
I have just been on the receiving end of good customer service. Recently during a heat wave our air conditioning system broke and we found out that our previous HVAC guy had retired. We had to find a new company. In spite of the demand for their time, the company I called came out later (after 5PM) that day and started fixing our AC unit. They kept their promises and did everything exactly as they said it would happen. Things were not perfect… our unit had to be replaced which meant that our AC would not be up and running for another day, but they told us what to expect. We had nearly two days without AC in 98-degree weather… but I was still pleased with the service given by this company. They now have a new loyal customer.
An excellent way to build your business is to provide good Customer Service. It seems so simple; it is hard to believe that so many of us in sales (Yes, Mortgage Loan Originators are sales people.) forget to use this valuable, inexpensive “tool” to make people feel good about doing business with us. Often, marketing and leads generation gurus talk about “stirring the pot” or doing something that will refresh or rejuvenate your business.
If your inner-guru is telling you it is time to “stir the pot”, a really good starting point is reviewing your Customer Service system.
Why is Customer Service an essential factor to success in today’s market? Customers will select you, stay with you, come back to you, and/or send other customers to you remembering not only your ability to get them a good home loan but remembering how you make them feel while doing business with you. Customer Service is so much about how you make your borrower (customer) feel.
Maya Angelou and Carl Buechner were right when they said that people may forget precisely what you did and exactly what you said, but they never forget how you made them feel. More than once I have heard customers lament that no one in their real estate or mortgage transaction even bothered to say thank you for their business. Thank you, two simple little words that can make all the difference in getting and retaining a customer for life or having a one shot deal.
Here are 7 easy steps for you to build into every mortgage transaction, either a purchase or a refinance (works for both). Build these into your “Marketing Through The Process” customer relations program and your Customer Service will pass any spotlight inspection:
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