I purchased my home in the heat of the crisis. (Isn’t it funny how anyone in the mortgage industry instantly knows what time period you’re referring to when you say “the crisis?”) A few years ago, a loan officer (“Summer”) with my lender began contacting me, dangling tempting refinance rates and cash out options. Most of the time, it was with a cheery email showcasing the mortgage flavor of the month, other times it was with a monthly newsletter, describing all the benefits of refinancing and the usual filler, seller mistakes, improving your gardening skills, etc. I would occasionally get calls as well. Not too often to be annoying, but at the same time, keeping her name top of mind. Ok, I’ll admit it, most of the time I ignored her efforts… I wasn’t interested.
The years ticked by and I continued to get communication from her. Until… (wait for it… wait for it…) I decided now might be the right time to refinance. So I called some other lender and got connected to the loan officer on call to handle my loan. Just kidding. I dug out one of those many discarded e-mails from the ever-persistent Summer and shot one back to her. Fast forward to yesterday, when I successfully refinanced my home with Summer’s name on the dotted line.
My loan was not without it’s challenges but Summer was right on top of things, keeping me updated and informed. She created a relationship with me. I personally get somewhat annoyed at the tons of mailers I get via snail mail, from loan officers, realtors, insurance agents, etc. It seems so… lazy to me. Impersonal. They always go in the trash. What happened to the days when people actually made an effort to get your business? Summer made a concentrated effort to stay in regular contact and in the end, it paid off.
Production leaders should be applying this same strategy to recruiting efforts. If you come across a good candidate who may not be ready to make a move, do you stay in regular contact? When you get new\better\different programs or an improved comp plan, do you pick up the phone and reach out? One of these days, you’re going to hit him\her at the right time. But… if your name doesn’t immediately come to mind when the candidate considers a change, chances are he\she is going to pick up the phone and call you to find out what their best options are. I know it’s easier to employ the school of thought that says, “I’m not going to chase him. If he’s interested, he’ll call me.” Show me that line of thinking and I’ll show you a flawed recruiting strategy. Don’t be obnoxious with it; that can work against you. But keep your name and company forefront in the candidate’s mind. If done correctly, odds are that it will eventually pay off, just as it did for Summer.
