Wow….I just got through with a pretty heated phone call with a lender in dealing with a Short Sale situation.
Now, I understand the position they are in….truly I do….the primary contact I have been assigned to has 400 accounts she is dealing with…yes, I said 400 which might as well be 4000! I have also been told that they recieve an average of 6000 pages coming through daily by fax (thru one fax machine) to their dept which is separated by hand, assigned people and hopefully make it to the appropriate person! I won’t even go into the room for error on that one….
The struggle here is we have the Approval….just not the written one. My contact assured me it would be in our hands last week Wednesday and we still don’t have it! This is the only thing that is holding up our buyers to move towards closing and of course spawning off other potential issues now beginning to loom up ahead.
That the person who has been assigned our case continually states…”it is out of her hands”, “there is nothing further she can do”, the “lawyers now have it”, along with refusing to give me name(s) of the person or person(s) hands it is now in…does nothing in the way of giving us confidence that our account is actually being taken care of nor that we have not simply been lost on one of the over worked lawyers desks.
So here it comes… my 2 cents….I believe that everyone who is being trained to represent clients in any field should all be given these “101 Basics”…just as a matter of Survival.
1. Always beat them to the punch…if you have to spend some time each day contacting your clients just to say…” this is where we are at, this is what I have done, and this is what I expect to happen” you will avoid many frustrated or potentially angry phone calls just for the fact they know you have not forgotten them and are keeping them informed.
2. Never Promise something you are not certain you can provide…do not say “you will have it tomorrow” if there is any chance they won’t! You could say “I will do my best to have it in your hands tomorrow but please know that typically this could take x – x days.”
3. Always give yourself a buffer…especially if you think you may need it….if you’re not absolutely certain it will be ready tomorrow give yourself the extra time you know you may be in need of…then if it is done early they are ecstatic...if not, there is nothing for them to be upset over and you still have the “buffer time” available.
4. Be willing to pass the buck upward…if you find yourself in a position where you are no longer a viable contact to be able to assist your client in the manner they deserve…give them the contact name who can then best assist them. This is good customer service and also why there is such a thing as upper management…it is their job.
5. Return, or even better… answer your phone calls...pretty self explanatory.
6. Don't Hide...Nothing sets off more negative alarms than this...enough said.
In speaking with my contact person today (and to my surprise)…I actually did mention much of the above to her, for in my experience with our dealings, she has done none of them. She does not like getting my daily phone calls however she gives me nothing to assure me she is doing her best to assist our situation…so she can continue to expect the daily phone calls (unfortunately) from me.... for I'm still riding the dragon.
It is my hope that this contact someday will see that she continually puts herself in the position of being reactive instead of proactive which is always a painful place to be in (then change it). For some people it is very difficult for them to see that a little extra time spent on the front end, will avoid potentially hours of struggle on the back end.
I truly don’t know how this lady can possibly get through and survive her day (each day) with the stress I know she is under….and I can honestly say that I for one, certainly do not relish her position.
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