Tips Guides Resources

They say that a dog is man’s best friend. Why? Because dogs have this uncanny ability to love and support their masters at all times, even under the worst of circumstances. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a good day or a bad day…dogs will still be there. Dogs will bond with their owners and stand by them through thick and thin.

And why do we love dogs? Well, we love dogs because unlike many of our human friends and contacts, dogs are absolutely positively 100% loyal.

There are some important lessons here from our canine friends as you build and grow your Mortgage Business. The lesson…never, ever underestimate the value of loyalty. It’s also important to remember that loyalty cuts different ways.

First, as Loan Officers and Mortgage Brokers you need to be loyal. Returning to the same Lenders, Appraisers, Realtors/Agents, Processors, and other suppliers of goods and services you need, can result in your receiving additional incentives and savings.

Everyone has an appreciation for your return business and many are willing to give you their best prices and service in exchange for your loyalty. As a result of the loyalty you display…you become their businesses “best friend.”

Second, loyalty also extends to your customers and clients. By your making a real effort to understand their situation, stand beside them, help them through good times and bad times, provide valuable unsolicited information, and dedicating yourself to providing an impeccable service level, you develop lasting relationships that can pay huge dividends for you over time.

As you know, the mortgage world can be a very mercenary place. It probably began early with your choice of employers and “the best split you could possibly negotiate.” It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of using a Lender that “pays you the most money,” or quoting a mortgage rate that “benefits you and not your customer.” Or it may be as easy as contracting for services that “may be less expensive” but are slow to respond. Those tendencies should be tempered by your understanding of the long-term advantages of showing loyalty to your customer first, and then the individuals and companies that you do business with.

Third, are you receiving the mortgage training and support that you need to survive in the mortgage marketplace? By being loyal and promoting your broker/employer you all deserve the tools and training necessary to help with your success.

Ask yourself these questions: 1) Does my current broker/employer provide marketing material to promote my mortgage efforts? 2) Are there regularly scheduled “learning” meetings and not just the old traditional ho-hum sales meetings? 3) Are there mortgage leads that I can use in my business from company promotions? 4) Is my current broker really interested in my success?

There’s no reason to be loyal to an individual or company that isn’t treating you right and/or doing their very best to serve you and your customers. You are not a dog and you don’t owe your loyalty to any particular master.

When you can demonstrate your loyalty…and, it makes sense to do so…it can produce some amazing results.

Tom Domin is the author of “101 Ways to Originate Mortgages” and publisher of “Tom’s Mortgage Tips” a twice monthly Mortgage Newsletter geared for Mortgage Professionals. Increase your pipeline and put your mortgage career on the fast track and sign-up for FREE at http://www.MortgageMarketingToolKit.com.

Would you like a marketing idea guaranteed to increase your sales? Would you like to stop people from shopping your product or service and losing business to your competition? Would you like to reduce the amount of rejection you’re receiving? Would you like clients to understand they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by buying from you?

Then offer a guarantee on your product or service. This one marketing idea can increase your sales volume dramatically; however, few companies use it to their advantage. Look around your market and identify how many of your competitors are offering a guarantee. I’m willing to bet very few if any.

A guarantee will set you apart from your competition.

You need to promote your guarantee like any other benefit of your product or service. You need to put your guarantee in print. You need to put it on every ad, sales letter, free report, application, business card and every other piece of paper that finds itself in the hands of an existing or potential client.

You should be shouting it out for your whole market to hear.

How to Craft a Powerful Guarantee

Guarantee that your clients will be so thrilled (not just satisfied) with your product or service they’ll want to share it with everyone they know. You need to offer an unconditional, money back guarantee.

When I talk about a guarantee, I want you to be specific and tell your customers exactly what you will do if they’re not thrilled about your product or service.

What ever guarantee you offer you need to be willing to live up to your guarantee. People will be more likely to buy from you and less likely to shop around to your competition when you offer a strong guarantee. Offering a guarantee will prevent you from over promising and under delivering. If you do then you’ll owe them. If you offer a strong guarantee you’ll be held accountable for providing the quality of service in your guarantee.

You’re probably thinking if I offer a guarantee I’ll go broke. People will use my guarantee to get something for nothing. Part of this concern can be addressed by designing your guarantee to be specific about what you will deliver. Making it clear to your clients as to what they can expect from your product or service.

A second part to this concern is looking at things that you’ve purchased in the past that offered a guarantee. If your purchase didn’t meet up to the claims that were made did you ask for your money back or did you just let it go? Statistically a very small percentage of purchasers will even take you up on your guarantee. However, that doesn’t mean you should provide a worthless guarantee.

Are you still afraid that it will cost too much to give a guarantee?

It will cost you much more if you don’t. If your competition gets wind of this idea and start offering a great guarantee, then your clients will be attracted to your competition and not to you.

Teaching useful marketing ideas is an important part of our sales training programs. A great marketing idea can provide you with new clients for years to come. and with out clients you have no sales.

Jim Klein provides salepeople with effective strategies that attract new clients, build customer relationships, and increase sales, GUARANTEED.
Get free sales training by subscribing to our free newsletter “The Sales Advisor”.

“Customer service is the never-ending pursuit of excellence to keep customers so satisfied they tell others of the way they were treated in your place of business.”

A big problem in the sales world today is that many salespeople and companies spend more time and money to get a new client than to keep their current clients satisfied.

One of the keys to customer service is go the extra mile. Give the client more than they paid for. Treat everyone like they are the most important person in the world and they will become “raving fans”.

Let me give you an example of bad customer service and then an example of good customer service.

I contract a company to take care of my lawn in the summer and plow the snow for me in the winter. I had one company that’s been doing both the lawn care and snowplowing for me the last couple of years.

The guy who rides the mower drives at a very quick pace over my lawn. In my backyard there is a line of pine trees along one side of my lot line on the east side. When it rains, as it did quite frequently last year, the ground along the trees stays wet.

If you’ve seen the latest riding mowers they use, when the mower turns, the back wheels turn 180 degrees. As a result of the speed he was traveling and then turning so quickly, he was digging up my lawn. I talked with him on numerous occasions; however, it didn’t seem to make a difference. He came back the next week and did the same thing.

My dissatisfaction with him continue this past winter. I opted not to sign a contract for snowplowing. Instead I decided to pay him per trip. He never came out and said anything directly, however, I could tell by his attitude, he wasn’t happy about my decision.

The agreement was for him to plow when there was three inches of snow. At least three or four times he plowed my driveway when there was one inch or less of snow on it. I called and had a conversation with him on each occasion. With each conversation he became increasingly annoyed to the point of getting downright belligerent. In the end I ended up paying the money I would have spent on signing the contract.

Instead of trying to find a solution that would be a win-win for both of us, he decided he was right and it didn’t matter what I thought. He was more concerned with the money he would make than he was providing his customer with good quality and service.

Needless to say I fired him.

This spring I hired a new company to do my lawn service. I made the owner aware of the issue with the lawn along the trees and he has been very conscious of not digging up the lawn.

About a week and a half ago on Thursday I received a phone call from the owner of the new company. He was calling to let me know that he would be cutting my lawn on Friday that week instead of Thursday because he was running a day late on account of the rain.

He also wanted to know if his work was to my satisfaction and if there was anything I would like done differently. We had a very pleasant, short conversation and when I hung up the phone, I turned to my girlfriend to tell her what had just happened.

I was absolutely blown away by this phone call. It wouldn’t have mattered to me if he cut it on Thursday or Friday, however, the fact that he took the time to let me know, and to see if his work was to my satisfaction, showed me he cared, and was willing to go the extra mile, to over deliver.

In two years with the other company I never once received a phone call like that and the conversations we did have showed me he cared about only one thing; himself, and the money he would make

I know your probably thinking it was a little thing he did making that phone call, however, it’s the little things that make a big difference. It made a big difference to me, and I’m the one paying the bill.

Which company do you think I would recommend?

How does your customer service compare to the two examples I’ve given? Or do you fall someplace in the middle?

Are you going out of your way to make your clients and customers happy, or are you doing just enough to make the sale and then move on to next one?

When you go the extra mile, and when you do the little extra things, you will stand out from the competition and turn your clients into “raving fans”.

When you ask for referrals they will be more than happy to give you some. When their friends and associates ask who they purchased from, they’ll be more than willing to sing your praises.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to please people; however, the returns you’ll receive will be more than worth the effort.

How can you go the extra mile and provide better customer service for your clients and turn them in to “raving fans”?

Jim Klein helps salespeople fine tune the sales process so they can confidently close more sales and create long term relationships. Get free sales training by subscribing to our free newsletter “The Sales Advisor”.

With RFID technology a store owner knows everything about the item you take to the checkout including price, color size etc.

The USA now wants to put this technology into passports which would allow people to be mass processed through custom control, without having to form queues. You know what it is like when you arrive home late and there is a queue of 200 people in front of you at the Passport desk.So a convenience would be faster people handling.

Credit card companies would be able to read your card simply by you waving it near a reading device.So we face a revolution in the use of RFID technology.But security on terrorist activity may be compromised because he could alter his passport to get though without an official actually seeing the falsified document.

And then there is the issue of personal privacy. You buy an item using RFID and for the rest of the day a scanner could pick up the fact you just bought it and how would this compromise you if you are holding a RFID credit card.

Also consider the supply chain structure. Now thieves could know what’s being held in premises and what its value is.

There are some solutions for specific cases. So for example when you buy something, there should be a tear off section your ticket to remove the device. So you will not be readable after you have bought your items.
Credit cards are a different consideration.

What would be the diving line between being close enough for the scanner to pick you up but not close enough for a thief to scan the card in your handbag?

An unacceptable situation would be where thieves could wander around shopping centers and simply get close enough to your wallet to scan your card. Clearly there is some extra thinking to be done here and it may be some time before this is solved, where convenience is improved but your privacy is secure. Maybe aluminum wallets are the answer? Time will tell.

Counting devices
Client counting solution to the retail sector offers a system is aimed at providing pertinent management information on client visit habits and related transactions.The system comprises client movement logging hardware - deployed in-store and a software suite which would typically run within head office and provide web browser access to count statistics.

Benefits
o Sales to look into conversion rate analysis to ascertain sales effectiveness and help improve Average Transaction Value and Units
o Marketing to assess the effectiveness of advertising and marketing campaigns
o Operations to provide insight into the effectiveness of staffing levels
o Security and exceptions will note movements after-hours and differences between people entering and exiting the store
o Environment to look at through-store footfall to ensure appropriate floor layout andcustomer awareness of in-store departments
o Low impact and quick installation

Management information
A simple to use browser-based software suite provides immediate access to management information right across your enterprise.Integration with management data allows automated linking with transactional and staffing data so you can see how wisely or not you are spending you money.

Sales transaction data should be automatically imported on a daily basis and the system database should be queried by third party products for further integration/analysis as necessary. Client counting can improve your operational cost-effectiveness, improve your advertising impact on sales and enhance the customer experience by ensuring staffing levels are appropriate to customer flow.

Arthur Stoller advises customers on the use of retail technology. Find out how you can implement protection for your shop by visiting RTO Security tags

Making money is always a good thing - especially when you’re in business for yourself. But although you might see an initial jump in your profits when you’re running an online business, keeping those profits moving in the upward direction is not always as simple as it seems. In order to continue to grow your business, you need to find ways to help and to encourage your customers to spend more when they are on your website. Here are some of the most common and most effective ways to do this.

Offer Regular Sales

People like to save money, even if it means spending money along the way. When you offer regular sales, customers will see that they are going to be able to spend less on the items they want; often causing these customers to buy more to stock up until you have another sale. Try to hold regular sales so that your customers understand that you will be discounting items each week so that they come back to see exactly what is on sale. The only trick is that you don’t want to look as though your prices are never steady. Try to limit your sales to one to five items each week to continuously keep your customers guessing as to what you will mark down next.

Offer Additional Items with Purchase

Create specials in which the customer buys one thing and then can get something else for a discounted price when they pay full price for the first item. One of the popular deals is to offer a one dollar item with the purchase of one regularly priced item. Or you might want to offer a certain item for free when the customer spends so much money during a single transaction. In either case, they are going to be spending more than they originally planned to spend because of that extra item. This ends up making a nice profit for you in the end.

Give Discounts to Regular Customers

If you have customers that come back again and again or you sell products that need to be refilled, be sure to offer some sort of discount to these loyal customers. Perhaps they can get a coupon off their next visit if they make a purchase with you. Or you might want to establish a system in which they get points for each purchase and then these points can be redeemed for discounts. Loyal customers are the ones that you really need to work hard to keep as they can provide you with years of profits.

Encourage Add-Ons at the End

When the customer is starting the check out process, you might want to include advertisements for items that will go well with items in their shopping cart. This is sort of like the little knick knacks that you always see when you’re out shopping. Strategically placed by the register, these items are things that the customer might need, but since they’re so easy to pick out as they’re wrapping up their shopping, they’re more inclined to buy at that point. If you are selling clothing, you might want to offer accessories or perhaps a matching purse. Think of ways to add on sales to each order.

Make Shopping Quick and Easy

Of course, the faster you make shopping, the more likely your customers will come back to spend more. Online shopping is supposed to be fun and simple. If you can expedite the shopping and the check out process, you will encourage your customers to not only spend more, but also to come back again and again.

Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of “Website Traffic Secrets” and “Minisite Creation Tactics” for FREE — immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com

If you’re looking for a successful salesperson to hire — a salesperson who not only CAN sell but WILL sell — look for a salesperson with PRIDE.

PRIDE is an acronym for 5 characteristics that will help ensure that the salesperson you hire will get the job done for you and make the revenue results you desire a reality.

PRIDE stands for:

*** Proven
*** Respectful
*** Innovative
*** Decisive
*** Enthusiastic

Proven

Proven refers to the candidate’s track record. Have they delivered results? More importantly, who else says so besides them? As you know, resumes can be fact, or they can be fiction. How can you tell the difference?

A person who has been successful producing results should be able to provide you with third party proof. Have the candidate bring in their sales awards, including plaques, trophies and pictures from the trips they’ve earned. Have them show you the stack-ranked sales reports showing their name at or near the top of the field.

More importantly, what do their customers have to say about them? Can the candidate produce testimonial letters from their customers, indicating they were satisfied with the buying experience? Candidates should be able to furnish written recommendations proving that they were able to deliver tangible results.

Respectful

Salespeople should approach being Respectful from two positions. First, they need to be respectful of others. Careful listeners, these salespeople would never be regarded as pushy because they take the time to hear their prospects out. They keep their egos in check, remembering that everyone can make a valuable contribution in their own way and that other team members deserve respect, too.

Second, your salespeople need to respect themselves. Expect them to have a quiet confidence in their own abilities, and a strong desire to use their time, talents, and skills to produce optimal results. They’ll respect their health, physical needs, and family commitments, and as a result be refreshed, well-balanced, and ready for work each day.

Self-respect allows salespeople to be assertive, ensuring that they won’t allow themselves to be used as a doormat by prospects who want to waste their time or abuse a relationship.

Innovative

An Innovative salesperson is a problem-solver. They’re able to quickly assess a prospect’s situation, and then come up with an approach to help the prospect accomplish their objectives. Reactive salespeople need not apply. Proactive salespeople spontaneously look for ways to do the job better, to improve on past successes, to show better results even faster than before.

Innovative salespeople are easy to manage, because they don’t require instructions. They’re pretty much point and shoot; give them an objective to aim for, and they can creatively approach obstacles and move past them.

Because they are innovative, they tend to look at the world through fresh eyes, and hence have a good sense of humor. A willingness to be playful and funny is a good clue that you’re talking with an innovator. Good news! Your buyers would prefer to do business with someone who can make them chuckle and lighten up their day.

Decisive

A Decisive salesperson can make up their mind. They have effective critical thinking skills that allow them to rapidly size up a situation and decide how to best approach it. Decisiveness is truly important for a salesperson, for how can they expect the buyer to make a decision when they can’t make one themselves?

Decisiveness is often related to owning a clear set of key moral values. It’s easy for salespeople to consistently do the right thing when it’s clear to them what the right thing is. You want decisive salespeople who know when to walk away from a bad deal, and can separate good prospects from the time-wasters.

Enthusiastic

Enthusiastic salespeople have become a cliche for all the wrong reasons. Enthusiasm must be more than an induced rush spawned by a rah-rah motivational pep talk. If you want enthusiasm that lasts, you need to find salespeople who are eager to help your customers.

You want salespeople who are excited about what they do and how they do it, so their curiosity is stimulated and they are inspired to continually learn on their own. Enthusiasm comes from believing that you can make a difference, that you can improve someone’s situation when they do business with you.

Enthusiastic salespeople are motivated when they understand the strategy that will help them succeed, when they have access to all the tools they need to allow them to do their job and serve the customer, and when tactical training is available to allow them to skillfully serve the customer as well as the company. Enthusiastic salespeople have every right to believe they can win. And they do.

Hire a Compete Package

From the salesperson’s perspective, PRIDE is about feeling good about your job. It’s about believing in yourself and your ability to deliver. It’s about enjoying yourself, helping the customer, and making the most of your God-given talents and abilities. It’s about recognizing individual contributions and abilities while respecting the value of the team. When you hire salespeople with PRIDE, you, your salespeople, and your customers all win.

Copyright 2007 Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson works with selling organizations to convert sales trouble into double and triple digit performance breakthroughs. Visit http://ConsultativeSelling.com for a simple definition of Consultative Selling and more sales insights.