The Third Mistake in Trying to Win Business

Over and over I watch mortgage professionals sabotage their success, and their ability to grow their business.  This is the final part of a 3-part series in which I’m exploring three fundamentals of human nature that are being ignored for the most part in the mortgage industry and how it leads to critical mistakes by originators in trying to win business.  If you missed the first or second ones, here you go.  Get caught up first, then come back here. The First Mistake and the The Second Mistake.

Let’s dive in and begin with the fundamental behavior:

We place the most value on things that are difficult to obtain.

Front row tickets to the biggest concert of the year.  A window seat for dinner on a beautiful Saturday night at Portland City Grill. Courtside seats at a Blazer playoff game (ugh, still stings doesn’t it?).

Now the real question:  How difficult are YOU to obtain for a client or referral partner?

Countering this huge mistake takes a lot of courage.  At your core, you do everything you can to be accommodating and helpful.  You drive to a client’s house to get the paperwork.  You make yourself always available when clients or partners need you.  You promote you’re available 24/7 on social media, your website, and your business cards as if this is a good thing.  But you do it all because you think it’s the right thing to do…I get it.

The problem is, you diminished your value in the eyes of the prospect.

When I was personally closing over 200 transactions per year, I made a bold, but necessary decision for my own sanity, to only stay late one night per week (Wednesdays).  You can imagine how nervous I was the first time I told a prospective client who called on a Thursday, wanting to meet that night after work to get pre-approved and go look at houses that upcoming weekend.  I could sense shock on the other end of the line when I explained I only stay late on Wednesdays, so he had two choices:  “I can happily re-arrange my schedule today or tomorrow (Thursday or Friday) during the day to meet, OR I will plug you in for next Wednesday night as my only late meeting of the week.”

He chose the following Wednesday night and didn’t blink an eye.  We took care of his immediate need and got him prepared to look at houses that weekend via phone and email.  And the following Wednesday evening, he showed up promptly.  There was no “shopping”.  There was no “are you cheaper than this other person”.  Why not?  Because I built a framework that I was hard to get, my time was extremely valuable and sought after…AND I took care of his real need in the meantime.  In addition, I promised, with confidence that his experience with me and my team would be like no other in the industry.  And I backed that up.

So back to the question – how hard are YOU to obtain?  How difficult do you make it for a Realtor, Financial Planner, or a client to get you?  The reality is, you only have so much time in the day.  You have family, hobbies, and your health.  And unfortunately, too many people sacrifice all that for being too easily obtainable for clients.

You must be more exclusive.  How can you make it harder to get YOU?  What’s a filter you could put in place that in doing so, makes others want you more?  People want a challenge.  They want to be a part of something special.