Similar to sports and other competitive efforts, in selling the difference between winning and losing is very small. The difference between being first or second often comes down to a fraction of a second in a horse race or making a few putts over four days of competition in golf. This law of incremental differences applies to mortgage origination where customer decisions usually come down to the smallest details.
Every originator thinks that they have provided their customer with a compelling and highly differentiated value proposition and that the buying decision should be an easy one. Often times, these same originators believe that it is always a price issue that makes the difference. The truth is customers have a hard time distinguishing between competitors.
In Andy Paul’s recent book Amp Up Your Sales, he argues the difference between winning and losing is 1 percent. This translates into a salesperson needing to be perceived as 1 percent better than the alternative the prospect is considering.
The 1 percent difference while seemingly inconsequential between competing salespeople can boil down to doing a few things really well.
Here are six small differences that Paul suggests can translate into big results:
• Did you respond more quickly and completely to the prospects’ questions?
• Did you consume less of their time in the buying process?
• Did you deliver value at each step of the sales process?
• Did you ask perceptive questions about the prospects’ requirements?
• Did you provide a new insight into their purchasing of a home or a broker selling a loan that helps them better understand lending requirements?
• Did you make it easy to do business with you?
Are your originators’ sweating the small stuff? They should be because your customers are watching and making their decisions.