Selling mortgage brokerage services should be easy. There really isn’t any reason anyone should ever deal directly with a bank or lender when they could be engaging an expert broker to do it on their behalf. Despite that, many brokers struggle with the sales process, and prospects that should easily be converted to clients end up walking out the door, often to their own detriment. Luckily, there are some straightforward steps brokers can take to improve their mortgage sales techniques, and focusing on drawing out objections and clearly communicating the unique benefits of going with a broker are two of the easiest. 

 

Draw Out Prospect Objections

It’s very difficult to close a sale with a prospect that still isn’t totally convinced that you, or brokerages in general, are right for them. In order to close that gap, you need to ensure that you identify and break down all of the prospect’s objections and concerns. That might sound straightforward, but it can be tricky – especially if the prospect doesn’t offer up the information you need freely. 

The solution to that problem is to use regular trial closes and probing, open-ended questions to determine the prospect’s state of mind and help move your conversation closer to a final deal. Trial closes are essentially an attempt at a close midway through the sales process – and, a word of warning, they normally fail. That’s because trial closes are designed almost as much to identify that the prospect still has objections as much as they are to close a deal. If a trial close works, great – you’ve saved yourself time. If it doesn’t, also great, because you’ve identified an opportunity to further assuage the prospect’s concerns. 

Once you’ve identified that the prospect isn’t quite ready to sign on, you need to draw out why. That’s all about using open-ended questions to get the prospect to open up about what they aren’t sold on. Avoid yes or no questions, since they provide very limited information, and instead focus on using the context of your conversation to that point as a guide in probing potential concerns. 

 

Clearly Communicate Your USP

It’s amazing how many salespeople will buzz through a list of the features their product or service has to offer and then wonder why their glazed-eyed prospects don’t jump immediately at the opportunity to buy. First of all, features are meaningless – it’s benefits that make sales. But beyond that, you’re probably not the only mortgage broker in town, and even if you are, the banks would be more than happy to have your prospect walk through their doors and deal direct. So why should your prospect sign on with you at all?

It’s incredibly important that you communicate clearly what it is that you have to offer – both over the banks, and over the other brokers you compete with. With the banks, that’s an easy one – you’re an independent that works for the client, but your commission comes from the lender. That’s an ideal situation for them because they get someone not beholden to the bank and it doesn’t cost them anything out of pocket. You should really hammer that “us vs. them” message home because it’s powerful. 

When it comes to you against your competition in the brokerage industry, things are a little more fluid. It’s important to develop a unique selling proposition, or USP – the thing that makes you stand out from the crowd, and that your prospect will only get through you. That will vary greatly from broker to broker, but whatever it is that makes you special, you need to identify it and build it directly into your sales process. 

 

Sales are all about communication, and these two techniques – one designed to improve outbound communication and one designed to improve inbound communication – are extremely effective in helping turn reluctant or uncertain prospects into signed clients. Another great way to streamline the sales process is to utilize some of the emerging technologies designed to make sales and relationship building easier. CRMDialer – the mortgage industry’s best customer resource management platform – is one such technology. It offers advanced lead management, a full communications suite, built-in email and SMS marketing tools, scheduling, billing, and much more.