82% of mortgage professionals consider relationship building and communication the most important professional skills. Steve Richman, Business Relation Strategist, joins the AD Digest to share his insights on how to build trust, be memorable, and use AI to help mortgage professionals shape their voice.
Biggest Mistake Brokers Make
‘Where I see people make a mistake is they do not follow up and they do not follow through,’ explains Steve. ‘If you promise something, you have to do it. If you don’t get the call back, you have to make a phone call. Let’s not worry about what has been done – let’s worry about what we are doing tomorrow and how we are on getting you to the table.’
Being consistent and reliable is the first step toward building connections and trust. However, this alone is not enough. Brokers also need to connect with their customers on an emotional level. ‘Emotion precedes logic,’ says Steve, emphasizing that once this connection is established, customers are better able to recognize the value a broker provides beyond the mortgage itself.
Today, when everyone receives tons of emails and scrolls through hundreds of social media posts per day, standing out from the information noise can be challenging. Making an emotional connection is a way for people to remember you.
‘It is not their job to remember. It is your job to be memorable.’
Trust Can be Built – but It Can Also be Lost
Some people might think they start a conversation as a blank slate. Steve explains that it is not the case: ‘If they didn’t trust you, they wouldn’t be talking to you from the beginning.’
‘I like to think about trust as a cliff. When you are just starting the conversation, you are right there at the edge. The more reliable you are and the more value you provide, the further you go back from that cliff. Once you started doing the wrong things or not doing what you said you would, you go over the cliff.’
At the beginning of communication with a borrower, even a small mistake can quickly damage the connection. Unlike with a significant other or a long-term friend, you do not yet have an established relationship or a history of trust to rely on. At this stage, it is easy to fall from the cliff. That is why brokers should invest time and effort in building meaningful, reliable relationships with their clients from the very first interaction.
Give Your Customer a HIICUP
To help brokers master relationship building, Steven suggests the HIICUP approach:
- H – Make your customers feel heard. You can use phrases like ‘So, what I hear you saying is …’
- I – Ensure your customers feel important. Put your phone away and do not get distracted when talking to a client.
- I – Be in the know. Your customer does not have to chase you for updates on their deal. Contact them proactively and make sure they are aware of what is moving forward.
- C – Let your customers be confident in what you are doing – by being reliable and by following through.
- U – Do not make your client feel underwhelmed. Instead of adding more to their plate, make their life as easy as possible.
- P – Be positive about your customer. Do not say ‘I am glad I locked your loan because rates just went up’ – go with ‘You were really smart that you locked your loan because rates just went up’ instead.
Human Relationships in the Age of AI
Technology and AI tools take second place in the most important broker skills for 2027, according to 58.4% of mortgage professionals. However, AI is not a tool of the future – mortgage brokers and LOs already use AI-powered solutions on a daily basis.
The majority of mortgage professionals use technologies for automating repetitive tasks, but can AI help in the most human thing ever – communication and relationships?
Steve believes in it as a powerful tool explaining, ‘AI can help you create your voice profile.’ Basically, all you need to do is include five examples of emails you have written into a prompt and ask an AI chatbot to analyze your tone of voice. Then, you can save the analysis as a PDF and upload it to other chatbots, ensuring all of them understand you better and follow your voice. ‘ChatGPT is trying to guess who you are all the time. Why not tell them? And the best way to tell them is to give an example.’
In addition to personal branding, you can use AI tools for marketing. To help you get started, we have created five detailed prompts that will save you time on creating texts and pictures for social media posts, asking for reviews, and other tasks.
One Thing to Take Your Profession to the Next Level
‘Everything is evolving, and we need to continue to grow. If I want to take my profession to the next level, I can do it through one thing – education.’
However, before getting into AI and innovative solutions, learn the basics – the loan programs that your partner-lender provides.
‘Every LO thinks that the first question a customer will ask is “What is the rate?” Wrong.’ Steve says the question LOs should be answering first is, “Can I get this loan done?” Therefore, you need to be 100% on all the guidelines to answer this question right away.
AD Mortgage offers a full range of loan programs so our partners can easily match their clients with the right mortgage scenarios. Complete the Broker Package today to benefit from a broad loan portfolio, fast turnaround times, and innovative technologies.
