The following is an email exchange between me and a mortgage lender. As context, this lender is in Phoenix. I live and work outside of Houston.
FROM MISGUIDED MORTGAGE CONSULTANT
Dear Petri,
I am glad to have the opportunity to keep in touch with you. My goal is to be your trusted advisor and as a token of my continued appreciation, I will be providing you with timely alerts and articles of interest which will keep you apprised of the latest events in the mortgage and real estate industries. This means you will always be ready when a friend or family member has a question about what to do in today’s ever-changing market.
Please be in touch if you have any comments on these items, particularly those where you’d like additional information.
Thank you again, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Sincerely,
Misguided Mortgage Consultant (not her real name)
FROM ME
Can I ask how I got added to your subscription list?
FROM MISGUIDED MORTGAGE CONSULTANT
Hello Petri. I have a marketing assistant that does most of my marketing for me so honestly I am not sure. I do a ton of networking and have been in the business for over 10 years. If there is anything I can do for you or someone you know please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a great day!
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MY FOLLOW-UP MESSAGE
Dear Misguided Mortgage Consultant (actually used her name here, but you get the picture),
The first step in becoming a “trusted advisor” is not adding someone unsolicited to an email list. That is the first step in becoming a spammer.
“… as a token of my continued appreciation I will be providing you with timely alerts and articles of interest …”
Continued appreciation for what? Allowing you to spam me? No deal.
“Please be in touch if you have any comments on these items.”
Consider this me being in touch.
“I have a marketing assistant that does most of my marketing for me so honestly I am not sure.”
Wow. Wow. Your “marketing” is the first reflection of your brand. And you don’t have a clue how it’s done? You want to become a trusted advisor, but outsource not only the first connection, but the entire process, and apparently don’t have a hand in determining how it is done. #FAIL
You may be the best tactical lender on the planet, and that matters not one single iota. You un-earned my business before you got the chance to demonstrate your skills. Your first interactions with me demonstrated that your priority is the sale – not me, not earning my business. And rightly or wrongly, that to me is a early indication of what your approach to client service would entail. Playing the numbers game is not the way to generate business or referrals. And clearly it is a way to ensure the opposite.
Feel free to breathe a sigh of relief – I’m not including your name or company in this post. I’m not interested in trying to bring anybody down, and your actions are symptomatic of a larger virus in the marketing world. That is, approaching prospects in a way that positions you as the most important one in the sales, marketing, and client service equation. You need to flip that and start connecting, offering, and asking – not mass-messaging, broadcasting, and auto-subscribing.
I am an optimist and I want to believe that people have the best of intentions. While you and I will not be working together, my hope is that you are just misguided and open to evolving your approaches. If you do, I believe you will see your business and referrals grow. If you are as good as you say you are, then I want that for you. So prove it, don’t advertise it. Great experiences from start-to-finish will be your greatest sales tools.
Think about it. And, if you decide to pursue a different path, let me know how it works out for you. I love stories of redemption and resulting success.
- petri
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HOW THIS COULD HAVE TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY
FROM GOOD MORTGAGE CONSULTANT
Dear Petri,
I was talking with ___________, and understand you are looking to relocate to Phoenix when your house outside Houston sells. She suggested I reach out to you and offer myself as a resource in the event you ever need any information or advice related to the Phoenix home market or if you have questions about obtaining a mortgage for your next house.
If you want to be as prepared as possible, my website is chock-full of free articles and resources that I think would be of value to you as you plan for as smooth a transition as possible. If you find that information helpful, you also can sign up to receive a short bi-weekly email with topics about house-hunting, the purchasing process, and how to be ready to act quickly on the mortgage and closing fronts. I know you’re probably thinking that the last thing you need is another e-newsletter in your inbox, but I promise that you will only receive it twice a month, it will contain only information that will make what can be a stressful and challenging process much easier for you and your family, and you will not be added to any other lists.
If you are not yet at the point where I might be of service to you, let me know if it would be acceptable for me to check in with you once a month.
My goal is to be your trusted advisor. To be a resource to you. And to hopefully take care of as much as possible so you can maintain focus on the things that are most important – your family, your work, and your sanity.
Thank you again, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Sincerely,
Good Mortgage Consultant
Ok, so it’s not perfect. But it’s a gabillion times better than what I received. Maybe I would have visited the site. I probably still wouldn’t have signed up for the email piece – at least not yet. But I would have responded favorably and remembered her.
I’ll be sending her a link to this post.
I’m pretty confident that this is the rule, rather than the exception. Do you have examples of similar experiences? How about really awesome ones that stand out? I want to hear them both.
