Marketing gurus tout the importance of engaging clients to grow ongoing referrals. However, many strategies to keep a customer engaged usually fall short. For a very low cost any loan officer can create a presence on top social media sites, send email newsletters to engage past or future clients or use Google Search to help clients find them when they are looking for mortgage services. However, customers who don’t need a new mortgage in the next three years will probably overlook and eventually ignore your emails about current interest rates or your social media tips on getting a mortgage. These expert suggestions have merit but all fail with past clients without a strategy of long term engagement.
It’s true that a large percentage of new customer referrals originate from past clients, and most customer referrals will be made within one year of a completed transaction. Like compound interest where interest added to capital earns additional interest, we can develop new lead creation with past clients with an effective long term customer engagement strategy that builds on our past successes.
Like capital, growing a steady stream of leads takes time and focused attention. An effective long term customer engagement strategy is intentional and seeks to continue the trust relationship established with your customer beyond the loan closing. Your customer chose you to facilitate an important transaction; you have already earned and established their trust. While trust is difficult to establish, once earned it can be maintained for years if you take an other-centered approach to continue the relationship.
Watch your new lead creation grow as you take these steps to establishing relationships beyond the closing:
- Say thank you. We meet mortgage professionals every day who forget to thank clients. A proper thank you is essential in making the transition to a continued relationship with compounding results. Simple thank you gifts make a high impact and strategic transition.
- Ask your clients who are pleased with your services to refer friends. Be intentional in letting your clients know that a referral is the biggest compliment that they can give. If their referrals end up being clients, say thank you again. Your clients will get satisfaction knowing that you took time to appreciate their thoughtfulness.
- Partner with your customers to support their charitable interests. Customers feel honored when you express concern over charitable causes they feel passionate about. If you practice charitable giving, remember that the funds you give away would not be possible without your customers. Allowing your customers to guide the giving process honors them.
When you build trust, practice other-centeredness and distribute generosity you have the winning components for building long term client relationships that compound referrals. Allow us to share with you how easy it is to deploy this winning strategy.