So we get asked all the time is it easy to generate a conversation that leads to a referral to one of our mortgage broker?
The answer is yes. Simple in fact and actually quite natural.
The real question is do I care enough about my clients to ask them questions that potentially get them out of a sticky jam or disrupt their thinking enough to get them to get ahead of the game so to speak.
The fact is a lot of your clients actually need you to ask caring questions that may not seem relevant to your core business but will have an impact on your core business if potentially bad situations are left to rot and made worse.
This stems from the fact most people don’t have someone to turn to for financial conversations and clarity. And we know a lot of people do bury their heads in the sand when things get tough.
So here we go. The one question to ask your clients to generate a quality conversation to generate referrals:
“How are you feeling about rising interest rates and inflation?”
Generally there will be 3 answers to this question. And with this I will give you 3 responses that almost guarantee they do something about it. Now we want them to do work with us and our partners. But if they end up going their own path that’s ok too. As long as they do what they need to do.
Answers and further prompts:
1) Concerned: They may feel their financial situation and cash flow in particular is taking a hit. I know mine has.
Prompt: You’ll be surprised at how easy this is to fix if we hit this early. Why don’t we set up a time with our preferred (insert service provider) for you to have chat to them?
2) Opportunistic: They are generally in a great position financially and feel this can represent great opportunity for them in terms of picking up distressed properties and other assets.
Prompt: Well done on getting yourself into this position. It’s rare and puts you into a very wanted class of people. Why don’t we build a team of professionals around you to help maximise this opportunity? Likeminded people who are on your level.
3) Neutral: They likely haven’t thought about the immediate and long term affects of rising interest rates and inflation. A little bit of “She’ll be right mate” and that great Aussie devil may care attitude.
Prompt: well this environment will go one of two ways for most people. Either it will hurt them financially and put pressure on cash flow, in which case they need to get help before things go bad or it will represent great opportunities to create further wealth. Which one is you?
Follow above prompts to generate the referral.
From here friends it’s simply a numbers game. Some will have their people to go to and others will rely upon you. As always though, follow up no matter what. Show interest in their financial well-being and the rewards will come either financially or a good feeling you’ve helped someone achieve their goals or stay out of financial stress. Or both. Either way, we all win and that’s what partnerships are about.
As always, we are here to help you build a high revenue high asset addition to your business. Ask us how and happy referral hunting.
Steve Lake | National Lending Group | slake@nlg.com.au
He also owns Referconnect, a marketing company specialising in linking financial service providers to provide better outcomes for their clients and deliver assets and profit to business owners and stakeholders.
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