As a prime source for repeat business and referrals, your relationships with customers have to be given top priority. Loyalty is having a borrower who sticks with you, even when your competitors come knocking. The kind of loyalty that will weather all kinds of competitive advances, even better rate offers because your borrowers are choosing you and the value you bring to the table. So what can you do to develop unshakable customer loyalty?
There are several steps to developing this kind of loyalty. First and foremost, you have to deliver what you promise and more. You know the saying, “underpromise and overdeliver.” If you do the opposite, you are immediately in a negative position with their borrowers.
Second, you have to stay connected to the borrower throughout the loan process. Your borrower needs to know that you are his advocate and that you will be there as needed for any questions or issues.
Third, you have to keep the channels of communication open after the loan. No relationship will flourish and mature without open and honest communication. Solicit feedback and build the relationship after the loan is made. Make deliberate decisions on how often you connect and how.
A good practice is to develop systems around staying connected. In other words, don’t leave it to chance or wing it. If you do, things will likely fall through the cracks. Using CRM (customer relationship management) software can help you manage your relationships better. Anytime you can automate the process to keep you on task, the easier you will make it on yourself. In fact, a survey of 1,337 companies by Jim Dickie and Barry Trailer found that the right CRM system that was properly implemented increased cross-selling/up-selling by 102% while decreasing the cost of the sale by 31%.