Can Your Originators Pass Prospecting 101?

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and their interest in grading an originator during the sales process. While no one knows exactly how the CFB will accomplish and evaluate an effective sales call, one thing is certain: a lender’s sales process and the interface between customer and sales person will be under much closer scrutiny.

Do you know the quality of your originator’s sales call? Are you sure that the right message is being delivered consistently at the point of sale? One way to measure how knowledgeable your producers are when executing the selling process is testing their consultative selling knowledge .

In Fall 2011, we conducted an in-depth study of mortgage loan originators at four national firms to find out what originators really knew. The results were surprising to say the least.

The study tested more than 100 LOs on six critical components of the sales process: Prospecting, First Meeting, Probing, Overcoming Objections, Influencing and Closing. Most of the originators in the study had years of experience in the business.

Our research showed that the number one training issue for originators is prospecting. Of the six areas, scores for Prospecting sales knowledge were the lowest, averaging 3.63 out of a possible 10.

To view the entire study results, download the PDF.

If you would like more information on the study or how to objectively measure your sales staff’s sales knowledge, please contact me.