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Working my pipeline

By
Mortgage and Lending with Credit Werx, LLC.

I have seen a lot of posts recently about DATA BASE management. The most obvious benefit to keeping and maintaining a rich data base is repeat and referral business. Sometimes people struggle for business and they miss the fact that a huge source of business is sitting right there in front of them.

I get back to everyone whom I deal with in a timely manner. I always get pre-qualifications out within 6 hours and I keep my clients informed every step of the way.

Still, there are those people whom I speak with for quite a while who go out in the market and do not find what they are looking for right away. After several months it can become too easy to lose touch with your prospects. It is important to go back through your pipeline every few days to make sure that you don't miss anyone.

This morning I went through my pipeline and there are about 5 people whom I had been in touch with and have not heard from in 2 months or more. I called every one of them this morning and so far I have recieved one call back.

The call back that I recieved was from a gentlemen whom said that he has just found a place. He had lost my contact information so he was going to start shopping for a mortgage again. I told him what I can do for him and reminded him of some of the conversations that we had previously had.

I got his Realtors® information and sent over a pre-qualification letter for negotiating purposes. The offer is almost definitely going to be accepted as this is a motivated seller and the offer is not a lowball offer.

This is almost certainly going to be a loan for me for the month of June and all it took was a few minutes of my time to scan through my data base and make a couple of phone calls. Work those Data Bases and you will be successful in a "down market"!

Posted by

Christopher Ohlsen

37 Boynton Ave

(845) 243-5293 (Office)

(518) 565-0799 (Cell)

www.plattsburghmortgage.net

chris.ohlsen@guaranteedrate.com

 

 

Comments (8)

Darleen March
Adirondack Country Homes Realty - Glens Falls, NY

Chris

So true in any industry, need to keep the folks in your sphere informed and considered part of your business family.  Purchasing property is a large investment, and many clients need time to create their dreams or nuture their investment portfolio.  The agents (mortgage/real estate) that keep in touch with those conservative folks will obviously get the business and the referral process.

Darleen March, Broker

Adirondack Country Homes Realty Inc.

Jun 06, 2008 02:31 AM
Christopher Ohlsen
Credit Werx, LLC. - Malone, NY

Absolutely, I actually just received contact from someone on LinkedIn who used to work with me at a mortgage company whom I was previously employed by. She is not longer in the mortgage business, she is in some other kind of sales now. Still, she has applied her networking and database management skills that she learned in the mortgage business to her current line of work and she is meeting with great success. We are in the process of implementing a mortgage CRM called Mortgage Quest by Market Focus. A system like this is a great way to keep in touch with clients while freeing up some time to focus on relationship management and marketing.

Jun 06, 2008 02:44 AM
Kevin Corsa
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector

I keep in touch with my past clients using Send Out Cards as my database, and it reminds me when to send certain things, as well as birthdays and all that. Works ver well for me and my feeble brain that can't even remember where I parked my car.

Anyone who wants to try it out can go to my private link and send a free card on me. Just go to www.sendoutcards.com/32451 and send a free card to a loved one, or someone you know. If you need help with it just let me know.

Jun 06, 2008 02:53 AM
Brian Kreick
Willinger Real Estate - Wenatchee, WA

I think that is great.  Follow up is key in this business.  If you didn't make the 5 minute call you would have lost a few thousand dollars.

Jun 06, 2008 03:40 AM
-- Casey Brischle
Columbia Bank - Spokane, WA
Spokane Home Loan Mortgage Professional

You have to take advantage of all you have...and that includes your sphere and dateabase

Jun 06, 2008 03:55 AM
Christopher Ohlsen
Credit Werx, LLC. - Malone, NY

Kevin - Thank you for the information. We are actually just started using Mortgage Quest... It does seem quite complicated and I am still working on grasping every bit of its functionality but so far it is an impressive program. I will check out the cards, Mortgage Quest allows me to import cards and automatically send out letters, cards, notifications, and all kinds of other stuff but you may not like it if you are not completely comfortable with complicated techology.

Brian - Absolutely, The day that I wrote this I was happy to have extracted a client from my dadatbase. In retrospect it is just amazing how much opportunity there is to go out and get as much business as we need. As long as you are motivated and not lazy about your business little things like this can have a huge impact on the bottom line.

Casey - Very good point; it is crucial to keep in contact with your sphere as well as your database. It is your sphere of influence that will get new business coming in through the door on a regular basis and your manament skills that will allow you to turn those new clients into clients and referral sources for life.

Jun 06, 2008 04:05 AM
Paul McFadden
Responsive Pest Control - Seattle, WA
Pest Control, Seattle, WA.

Christopher: The people who are plugging away are finding opportunities. Thanks for the inspiration. I told myself I would spend a fair amount of time contacting my database and prospects today. So far I'm off to a decent start. Back to work!

 

Paul

Jun 06, 2008 05:53 AM
Christopher Ohlsen
Credit Werx, LLC. - Malone, NY

Paul - Thats right! I purchased a Yellow Book ad a couple of months back from a gentlemen whom I am working with twofold. First I am assisting him in getting his home sold and the second thing that I will be assisting him with is the purchase of a new home. He is a comissioned sales person in instant sales. He makes an attractive living but he told me that while he is working toward purchasing his second home many of his colleagues cannot even feed themselves right now! He explained to me the only difference between himself and them is that he works hard and they do not. You stated it well here and to state it even more simply; work hard = happy clients, happy business and referral patrners, and lots of money for you. work lazily = unsatisfied clients, unhappy business and referral partners (or none at all), and little money.

Jun 06, 2008 06:08 AM