The new mortgage industry

There is a new niche in the mortgage industry and it's "loan modification." A lot of ppl all across the country are going into foreclosure because of the recasting of their home loan. Their rates adjust (up mostly) and ppl can no longer afford their monthly obligations.

I started a new career as a sales rep for such a company here in Northern California and I am looking for advice on my sales game. 80% of my job is cold calling, the other 20% is following up and closing sales. Our service costs these borrowers a one time fee of $4475 which is quite a bit for ppl struggling to make their mortgage payments. I try to go through the benifits and explain that this service we provide is well worth the cost.

My goal with each call is to capture an email adress to send them an introduction package. My plan from there is to just follow up and eventually close. My boss does not want the intro pack to sell itself and so I try to stay on the phone with them a bit.

I've had call center jobs in the past where it is always one call one close. I'm not sure if I can do that here because of the magnitude of this decision for most ppl.

What advice can you pros give me about this sales process?
Should I go for the credit card on the first call?
Does anyone else have experience in this field?

My 1st post, looking for any feedback I can get here. Thanks guys. - - Chase -thechase23

Hey Chase, a couple thoughts for you to ponder:

1. It sounds like a challenging sale, but lots of products/services are challenging to sell.

2. Are you able to work a sales process and close on the first call? If you are, why not do it?

3. I'm somewhat skeptical of the "introductory packet" being the focus of the call. If you must send it, you've got to have a follow-up conversation scheduled before you send it, imo.

4. I'm going to be honest: I'm concerned about how you described your follow-up: "My plan from there is to just follow up and eventually close."

There is nothing "just" about following up. You've got to have a funnel you can lead your prospects through, and it starts with the first call and ends with the sale, but random "hey did you get my packet / what do you think" type follow-up calls probably aren't going to do much for you.

That brings us back to the importance of the first call. Can you learn enough about your prospect in that first call to determine if they qualify for your product? Can you generate enough excitement to be able to close on the first call? If not, can you define clearly what the next step is? What is their "assignment" as the second step? What is your "assignment"? There's got to be some agreed upon reason to get back together on the phone!

All the best,

Skip -Skip Anderson

thanks skip,

I definatley set up a 2nd call before I end my call. I've only made a few 2nd calls so far but I feel this call is the best time to close them. I dont think I can close with just 1 call, the person would have to be really trusting, if not gullible, to buy from a company they've never heard of who just called them up out of the blue.

On the other hand, a lot of prospects I call are already falling behind on their payments so they all need this service. I do have a lot of "ammo" going into the first call and I feel the intro pack gives my company some credibility.

our system is setup so that when you call a prospect, a portfolio pops up on my comp screen and tells me a little about them, name, address, FICO, 1st mortgage principle, monthly payments, LTV (huge) and a 2nd if taken.

I was told there should be a clear goal in mind with each sales call. I'm not good enough to close on the 1st call yet, and if not sending the intro pack...what should be my goal for my initial call? -thechase23