The Loan Officer should not be the only person taking notes. When you are reviewing credit and presenting your proposal, make sure your customer is doing some note taking as well. Information is retained much longer and can be recalled much easier if your customer writes it down. By methodically painting the picture for the customer, you will allow the customer to be a part of the solution process as well. Ensure your customer has a pen, paper, and calculator every time you get ready to go over a proposal. It is very effective for example, when the customer does the total amount of payments calculations themselves. Finally, actually having the customer write the information down will afford you the ability to overcome objections much more precisely, since they can refer to their own notes to see for themselves how much they are actually saving.

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By identifying what kind of objection you have and placing a value on the features and benefits of the loan you have proposed, you will ease the clients fear of paying too much. Again, you must understand that objections are not necessarily bad, and that the customer just needs more information to make a decision. A lot of sales people are afraid to disclose all of the information about their product or service, and this is usually a fatal sales mistake, not to mention unethical. Always disclose everything to your client and you will find that your objections will be fewer.

Later in this chapter, you will find some common objections with example responses that you as a loan officer can practice and incorporate into your daily sales routine. Learning them and referring to them daily will help you keep your sales skills sharp.

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There are other closing techniques that you can incorporate into your presentation that are as equally effective. One technique is The Ben Franklin Close. This technique suggests that the Loan Officer ask the customer to make two columns. One column lists all the reasons why they should move forward with your solution, and the other column list all the reasons they shouldnt. The key to this method is to assist the customer in filling out the reasons why they should. Use the list of features and benefits you have prepared to help coach them along. After you have helped the list of all the pros, which is the reasons why they should move forward, then ask them to make a list of the reasons my they should not move forward with your proposal. Very rarely will the customer have the ability to derive more cons than you delivered pros. Once you have arrived at the end of this exercise, you might address the customer like this. "Well (Customers Name), it is clearly evident that the pros outweigh the cons, I do not see any reason why you shouldnt move forward with this solution and take the next step."

As you can see, there is more than one way to close a loan. The key to understanding and being effective at closing your presentation is to realize that the close brings your presentation to a conclusion.

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Note: Use the comments section to note information such as if the first mortgage payment is escrowed, what the prospects objectives are, etc. This is an effective tool; do not forget to use it.

Once it has been determined that the customer would like to proceed, there will be a transition from information gathering to the actual loan application process.

This would be an excellent opportunity to give the prospect your direct line, and then tell them about your company and you.

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Go for fact finding. Take the customer through the application process and pull credit to review. Always keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to complete the loan application. A complete loan application is the first step to achieving a closed loan. Every loan that has ever been closed started with an initial loan application.

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The Customer Must Be Involved

At this point, begin to set up the next call. Have the customer obtain the documents needed to submit your deal and have the customer either fax or e-mail them to you immediately. The documents needed for submitting a deal will be different for each customer based on their circumstances, but here is a tip that will save you and your customer hours of time and help the loan process tremendously. Before you begin to detail the list of income documents needed from your customer, ask them to please make sure they have a pen and paper for this exercise. Begin by telling them that this list of documents is essential to closing their loan efficiently and effectively. Have the customer write down each item you go over on a piece of paper. When you have completed your list, have the customer read the list back to you. If the customer begins with the last item you requested, they did not write the items down. Simply let the client know that you know they did not write the items down, to please grab a pen and paper and go through the exercise again. This time, the customer will write it down, and have the ability to repeat the list to you once you are finished. Be sure to ask the client if there is anything on the list that they do not already have in their personal possession. Now is the time to find out these details. Ask the customer to make a copy of these documents and number each page in the upper left hand corner prior to faxing or e-mailing them to you. The purpose of the numbering is to alleviate missed documents and to help ensure accuracy. If you do not receive all of the pages, you can simply request the specific pages you are missing. This will be less frustration for both you and your client and save paper, toner and most importantly time. An example of items you may request:

• W-2s for the last two years
• Most recent pay stub
• Homeowners Insurance with agents name and number
• Copy of current mortgage(s) and account number(s)
• Bankruptcy discharge and creditor list, if applicable
• Last two years tax returns (self employed)
• Bank statements; usually last two statements (All pages)

Once you have received the income documents, it is important to set up an appointment to review the documents either in person or over the phone with all decision makers.

Remember that this is a formal appointment. A professional never breaks an appointment. If you are not ready to review your proposal, call and reschedule.

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If the customer objects, now is not the time to panic or start giving away the farm. Dont panic! Listen carefully to the customers objections. Then overcome each of the objections, one at a time. I have provided a handful of strategic responses to help you handle some of the most common objections, which you will find later in this chapter. After handling all of the objections, summarize again and close. There will be times when you summarize once, and there will be times you will need to summarize four and five times. Each time you summarize for the customer, you are one step closer to the sale.

Obviously, not everyone has access to a fax machine, so if the customer can not exchange information via a fax machine, use other alternatives such as e-mail, regular mail or an overnight service.

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Dont panic when a customer objects to some aspect of your proposal. First, it is important to remember that they are not rejecting you personally. Second, the customer is usually not rejecting the entire plan, just some part of the plan. Listen carefully to the customers questions or objections and then respond. If the customer asks a question that you cannot answer, dont be afraid to tell them you will get back to them with an answer. Never answer a customers question if you are not 100% sure of the answer.

Never hide any information or try to elude the customers questions or concerns when handling objections. Hesitancy and dishonesty are the quickest way to lose a sale and damage your credibility as well as your companies. Honesty and integrity are always the best policy.