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Welcome, Professional Partners!
Insurance Agents, Financial Planners, CPA /
Tax Preparers & Attorney's can increase their income and provide
additional value to their clients by establishing high quality lender
relationships. In fact, many of these professionals are losing clients
by not having these relationships in place while their competition
capitalizes on them by acting as a gateway to additional services
of value to their clients.
As a result of our Preferred Partners and Clients for Life Program,
we have millions of dollars in "Mortgages Under Management." Our
Preferred Partners that participate have given us their trust by
referring us their clients and they continue to benefit from exposure
in our Clients for Life Program. With the cost of new client acquisition
calculated at approximately 3 - 5 times the cost of keeping a current
client relationship, it's clear that maintaining your hard-earned
client base is a matter of economic survival. Our Clients for Life
Program accomplishes this through the following steps:
1. We can help your clients restructure debt, through "equity
repositioning", that provides cash flow for the purchase of
your products and services.
Insurance
I have a associate who is a successful insurance sales person.
He shared with me that the higher commission dollars are in selling
"whole life" vs. "term" insurance.
He also sells the insurance, not as insurance, but as a retirement
planning tool. He has sent to us referrals, from those that
needed to restructure their debt, for an "equity repositioning"
refinance to free up monthly cash flow to allow investment
into an insurance product that requires a monthly contribution.
In return, we now ask our clients at closing if they have adequate
protection in the event of an unforeseen disaster, thereby
returning the referral favor. (Click
here to see the special form we created for this purpose; it
accompanies each and every loan application we send out or take
in person; requires Adobe Reader).
For more information specific to Insurance Professionals, Click
Here.
Financial Planning
The same principle applies. "I can't afford it" is no
longer an acceptable excuse.
For more information specific to Financial Planning Professionals,
Click Here.
Wills and Trusts
Without a will or a trust, when the client passes, their property
may end up in PROBATE. What an ugly word. With every loan
application a mortgage professional should ask the client if they
have this in place. If not, (80% of them don't) refer them
to an attorney that can do this for them.
In conversations I have had with family planning attorneys, many
of them recommend to their client, "If you are thinking of
refinancing, do it now instead of waiting on this process (establishing
a new trust). It could cost you more in the future to accurately
reflect the trust."
Attorneys
David Ward a well-respected marketing consultant for the legal
profession recently received numerous emails with a common theme.
What many attorneys wanted to know was "tips on how to accelerate
payment for services rendered, politely, while retaining the client
and in the process not turning into a bill collector or pushing
the client away."
His recommendation was to introduce a mortgage professional to
the client for a debt restructuring refinance and in the process
of the closing having the attorneys bill
PAID IN FULL!
Top professionals use mortgage lenders as a tool for their practice.
Check out point number 4 below! Having this type of relationship
is not an option, it's a matter of economic survival!
For more information specific to Legal Professionals, Click
Here.
2. Add Real, Non-Self Serving value while leveraging your
referral potential.
What good is a database if it's not being marketed and communicated
to?
By networking with another professional and introducing the new
professional's products, services or solutions to the client base,
the referring professional has created another excuse to market
and "stay in the mind of" the client. Our Preferred
Partners find this helps maintains their hard earned client relationships.
Additionally, for those clients referred to us from our Preferred
Partners, we help strengthen the Partner-Client relationship through
our Client Retention Contact Program,
which helps our Partners increase their monthly business and income.
To see how our Client Retention Contact Program helps our Preferred
Partners grow their businesses, Click
Here.
An example A mortgage professional was introduced to a client from
an Estate Planning Professional and the professional recommends
that the client refinance and in the process have the loan documents
accurately reflect "the new living trust" during the creation
of the trust.
This could save the client time and money from needing to do this
once the trust is created. A financial planner may want to
semi-annually send out a joint marketing piece promoting a "debt
evaluation check up." During a refinance market this
is critical. Please read item number 4 farther down this page.
3. Maximize the Profit potential per client.
Most financial planning professionals that sell mutual funds set
up IRA's or other retirement vehicles to get paid a commission for
services rendered and continue to get paid as those accounts accumulate
wealth.
This does vary from professional to professional. One financial
planner I work with shared with me that he is compensated 1 to 3%
of the total monthly deposits his customers make into their retirement
mutual fund account. "Replace credit interest debt by
refinancing and rolling credit debt into your mortgage (now a possible
interest deduction) and deposit those monies into your retirement
account."
Financial planning professionals need to maximize their client's
retirement planning potential!
4. Protect your relationships.
Recently a firm tele-marketed over 100,000 Legal, Financial, Taxation
and Financial Planning firms across the country and one question
they asked was; "in conversation with your clients does the
topic of mortgage lending or refinancing ever come up" or "can
refinancing be used as a tool for any of your clients needs?"
Two out of three responded, "YES."
They would then follow up with a second question: "Do you
have a strong referral relationship with an existing lender or do
you let the client select his or her own professional?"
NINE out of TEN respond; "I pretty much let the customer select
their own lender."
Hopefully, one can understand that by not introducing the client
to an associate for their other professional needs, the client has
the opportunity to develop a relationship with a non-competing professional
that may have a strong referral relationship with your competitor.
The professional that does not provide the referral solution for
their client could be left behind or their services challenged by
a competitor. Having a trusted mortgage professional to refer
your clients to, and to guard your relationship with them is not
an option, it's a matter of economic survival!
Small Community Banks
Why are small community banks anxious to establish relationships
with local mortgage brokers?
If the community bank cannot provide a financial solution for their
customer due to a limited supply of mortgage lending products, then
that customer has to go to a competitor (another bank) for their
solution. If the customer goes to a Bank of America or Washington
Mutual, those companies will solicit all of their checking and savings
accounts to be moved.
A local mortgage broker is a safe solution because they do not
provide checking and savings account services. From the smaller
banks point of view, establishing this referral relationship is
not an option, it's a matter of survival and protecting their existing
relationships (deposits).
I have heard stories of Financial Planners referring their customer
to the large nationwide lenders with a presence in their markets.
Do these planners realize what a business risk this is? Don't
they know that Washington Mutual, Bank of America, Citibank and the
other major financial institutions have divisions that provide the
same financial services the referring professional provides?
If you are a non-lending professional reading this outline hopefully
you can see the value in creating this type of referral environment
and developing a strong professional relationship with a mortgage
professional.
How Do You Select the Right Lender?
A common question is "how does one select the right lender?"
To find the answer we should look to the industry that works with
lenders the most, as they would have the most experience with a
lending professional. That would be a TOP Producing Realtor.
I didn't say "any" Realtor, I said a TOP Producer.
How do these top producing Realtors select a lender?
First of all, top producing Realtors do not switch lenders very
often. Why? Because good lenders are hard to find.
When we think of a lender, most consumers automatically think of
"lowest rate." The lowest rate for a lender can
probably be found on the Internet. Just like the lowest rate
for a stock trade or direct mutual fund investing can be found on
the Internet. Just like the lowest insurance premium can be
found on the Internet. Just like the family planning "do-it-yourself"
solutions can be found on the Internet. Eliminating the middleman
always seems to be the least expensive route, but, be careful what
you wish for, don't eliminate yourself in the process.
The best loan for a client, believe it
or not, many times is not the lowest rate available.
It's always about matching the proper loan with the client's life
style or finding a loan that can accomplish a more important goal
like retirement planning investment, adequately providing insurance
protection for ones family, refinancing to make the IRS go away,
providing conclusion to a drawn out nasty divorce, avoiding bankruptcy,
etc. A successful mortgage professional doesn't provide loans, they
provide integrated financial solutions.
The most important elements in selecting a lender are:
- First, can they do what they say? Most don't.
- Second, are they competent and professional? Most
aren't.
- Third, is the lender you are working with out to earn
a quick buck or are they in the relationship for the long haul?
- Fourth, the referred professional is an extension of
the referring sources of business...will they live up to the referral?
- And last, from the referring professional's point of
view, will the referred lender have a referral mindset as well
as protect the referring professionals interests in the relationship?
As hard as it is to find a good lender, the task of finding a good
legal, insurance, taxation or financial professional is equally
as tough. Just because a person passes the state bar exam,
insurance exam or receives professional licensing doesn't mean they
are good.
We only team up with proven professionals
with the highest ethical standards who have demonstrated a desire
to work in their clients best interest. If you feel you
meet these standards, feel free to contact us to arrange for an
interview. Click Here for phone
and e-mail information, or...
Apply
Directly to Become a Preferred Partner!
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For specific information
for Legal Professionals, Click Here.
For specific information
for Insurance Professionals, Click
Here.
For specific information
for Financial Planners, Click
Here.
For specific information
for Enrolled Agents and Tax Professionals, Click
here.
To find out how we
help our Preferred Affinity Partners maintain their clients loyalty
to them through our Client Retention Program, Click
Here.
For a list of our
preferred Realtor Partners (those who have demonstrated a high level of
professionalism, those you can chose with confidence), Click
Here.
For a list of our
Preferred Professional Partners ( those who have demonstrated a high level
of professionalism & expertise in their areas of expertise), Click
Here.
A mini-site of helpful
mortgage reports. Click
Here.
To read actual client
testimonials, regarding the level of service we have provided in the past,
Click Here.
To Register for our
Free weekly e-mail newsletter, which details market trends
& changes, mortgage info, tax strategies, real estate ideas, etc.,
Click Here.
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