How Mortgage Consultants Can Leverage Human-Centered Communication to Build Better Relationships

Mortgage consultants like you are the link between so many people. Your clients (both past and present), real estate agents, community partners, title agents, and more depend on your services. And whether you’re helping someone invest in a home or an agent to close business, it’s you who brings the dream of homeownership full circle.

A home is one of the most significant financial investments people make in a lifetime. And because of this, the importance of trust can’t be overstated. In fact, trust is the foundation of success for mortgage professionals like you. But when so much of communication is now virtual, how can you build the trust that leads to better, stronger, more authentic relationships and deeper connections?

Well, you can start by leveraging human-centered communication. Human-centered communication, especially using video, makes it possible to foster and strengthen trust and, subsequently, relationships in a more personal and impactful way.

Why Mortgage Consultants Need Human-Centered Communication

The Problem

In a digital world full of constant noise and unwelcome distractions, it can be challenging to foster the genuine connection and trust you need with your prospects, clients, and referral partners. Spam, bots, data hacks, and more all create digital pollution, impacting your ability to communicate across virtual spaces. And because of this, your message can be muted or lost entirely.

The Impact

You see, the result of digital pollution is that people are hesitant to communicate with you because they don’t know who or what is reaching out to them. And who can blame them?

Think of your email inbox. How often do you find yourself hitting delete, unsubscribing from things that don’t serve you, or wading through junk just to find the information you need? It’s probably pretty often. And it’s important to consider that your recipients are doing the same.

In addition, digital environments lack vital communication elements like emotion, nonverbal cues, tone, and more that meaningfully connect us as people. So whether you’re reaching out to request time-sensitive documents or providing updates throughout the mortgage transaction process, ongoing communication — even with someone who knows you — can be challenging without the warmth, urgency, excitement, and clarity you convey in person.

The Answer

Human-Centered Communication: A Business Case Against Digital Pollution by Ethan Beute and Steve Pacinelli highlights that every piece of communication you send influences your recipient to engage you or ignore you the next time you reach out. As a result, you should be leveraging that communication to build familiarity. When your recipients understand that you’re a person who values their time and energy, they’re encouraged to engage you because you’ve earned the attention that’s essential to building relationships. And you’ve done that by demonstrating what matters to you — them.

Face-to-face communication using video helps emphasize the value, competence, and intent you want to convey to build familiarity and earn attention. It captures all of those unique, human characteristics that get lost in plain-text communication. With video, mortgage professionals like you can stand out in a sea of digital frustration and grab attention as authentic, vulnerable people who have something valuable to offer.

How to Put Relationships at The Center of Communication

Human-Centered Communication highlights four pillars that characterize using video to put people at the center of communication. These pillars lay the foundation for a shift from communicating in a way that serves you to communicating in a way that meets the needs of others through intentionality and value.

Pillar One: Guidance

The first step in putting relationships at the center of your communication is learning how to integrate video into your workflow. Start by learning how to use it, develop new habits alongside and in place of old ones, and ask for guidance.

This can look like…

• Downloading The Video Adoption Guide
• Tapping into valuable resources like Human-Centered Communication
• Asking for feedback from those already using video
• Practicing over time

Pillar Two: Identity

Next, learn to leverage your best asset — you! Embrace all of the qualities that make you the imperfect and remarkable human you are. It’s important to understand that perfection won’t make you relatable to your recipients. In fact, it’ll likely overshadow your humanity and your message. To foster genuine connection, it’s vital to show up as your authentic, vulnerable self.

This can look like…

• Not re-recording videos because of misspoken words or mistakes
• Viewing errors as an opportunity to connect over what makes you human
• Accepting the raw, authentic version of yourself with confidence
• Embracing distractions or disruptions
• Focusing on the value of what you’re providing instead of on yourself

Pillar Three: Verification

After that, to connect with your recipients, they need to verify that you are who you say you are. You can do this by separating yourself from spam, bots, and other digital pollution.

This can look like…

• Sending a personal, one-to-one video that allows your recipient to put a face and voice with a name
• Using an evergreen template to create a one-to-many video to send to multiple people, making it easy for them to identify you
• Communicating with video on social media, in newsletters, and in place of plan-text across various situations

Pillar Four: Engagement

Finally, a consistent loop of ongoing engagement will help you strengthen your digital communication to develop more meaningful relationships. But for your recipients to engage you continuously, they need the opportunity to do so.

This can look like…

• Providing ongoing value by sending content that’s valuable and helpful
• Connecting on important milestones throughout the year
• Personally checking in to touch base and connect

Check out Wall Street Journal bestseller Human-Centered Communication: A Case Against Digital Pollution for a more in-depth look at these four pillars, how relationships are at the heart of this approach, and the study and practice of putting people at the center of your communication.

Building and Strengthening Mortgage Client Relationships Using Video

Once you’ve started to adopt a human-centered approach to your communication, there are some concrete ways using video can help. With video, mortgage consultants can build and strengthen client relationships before, during, and after the transaction process.

Before Commitment

Your first interactions with prospective clients will likely be during prospecting, lead response, or lead nurturing efforts. Building trust is at the core of these initial interactions between mortgage consultants and their prospects. And even for the best mortgage brokers, this can be challenging without genuine connection.

To foster deeper, more meaningful relationships, you can use video to help you…

• Put a face and voice with a name separating you from digital pollution and your competition.
• Generate familiarity during prospecting and lead generation
• Provide value with insight and educational content that establishes you as a mortgage expert and showcases your unique personality with authenticity
• Introduce yourself across various situations with personalized lead nurturing to help prospective clients feel valued
• Remind stalled leads that a friendly, helpful person is there when they’re ready to move forward with the mortgage application process

Watch mortgage professional Chris Brown use an evergreen video template to put a face and voice with his name during lead response…

Commitment

Once a client has committed to working with you, ongoing communication (and even over-communication) influences the partnership’s success and general client satisfaction. In fact, according to a 2020 mortgage satisfaction study by J.D. Power, the more communication borrowers received from mortgage consultants during the transaction process, the more satisfied they were. And customers with the highest level of satisfaction? Their mortgage consultants went above and beyond client expectations by delivering daily updates.

To meet and exceed client communication expectations, you can use video to help you…

• Get face to face and provide value, anticipation, and connection to set and hold more appointments throughout the mortgage transaction.
• Clarify next steps, request necessary documentation (like tax returns or proof of income), and review complex information after meetings using a screen recorder (You can learn more about that here.)
• Convey urgency for submitting time-sensitive proposals and financial documents
• Provide updates to multiple stakeholders at once (like your clients and real estate agents), ask questions, and communicate consistently across the entire customer journey to create a positive customer experience
• Express gratitude for your client’s business after the mortgage loan process is complete.

See how mortgage consultant Amy Remington uses video to update her clients throughout the mortgage transaction personally…

Nurturing Relationships With Past Clients and Referral Partners Using Video

According to National Mortgage Professional, clients only need your services approximately once every ten years in the mortgage industry. And this is why repeat and referral business is vital to mortgage consultants and their success.

Through ongoing, face-to-face communication, you can nurture (and even strengthen) the relationships you’ve worked hard to build with past clients, referral partners, and essential decision-makers in your community.

Stay in touch over time and use video to…

• Request reviews or testimonials from past clients (Seeing your face and hearing your voice will remind them how helpful you were during the home-buying process.)
• Personally invite important decision-makers to events that provide ongoing value (like lunch and learn sessions or educational webinars)
• Celebrate milestones like home purchase anniversaries and birthdays to maintain a strong, human-centered connection over time

Watch mortgage professional Eric Peltier celebrate a past client’s birthday with a personal video message below…

Bonus Tip: Strengthening Relationships in a Down Market

Whether it’s due to decreased demand, industry disruption, or increased mortgage interest rates, a down market inevitably impacts business.

So how can you strengthen relationships with clients and referral partners when they don’t need your services?

On Episode 161 of The Customer Experience Podcast, Adam Contos, CEO at RE/MAX (and one of several experts featured in Human-Centered Communication), says, “At its core, business is about who — not what.” And it’s this thought process that’s fundamental to a human-centered approach to both business and communication.

Adam shares that every business goes through change and disruption. What’s important is how you use that time. For instance, assess what matters, consider how to improve the customer experience, and nurture the connections and relationships you’ve already fostered.

Adam suggests taking a human-centered approach to times of disruption and change to evaluate…

• Who you’re serving
• How you can help them even if you don’t directly benefit
• What’s in the best interest of your clients and referral partners
• How you can provide a better experience

Ready to Enhance and Improve Your Communication?

A human-centered approach to communication focuses on the needs of your prospects, clients, and referral partners. And by shifting your focus from the individual and self-serving to the personal and human, ultimately, you can change the course of your interactions. As a result, you have the power to influence the outcome of your relationships and the success of your mortgage business.

If you’re ready to start using video to leverage human-centered communication with your mortgage clients and referral network, don’t stop here! Try BombBomb Video Messaging with a free 14-day trial.

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