Posted by Troy Harrison
I’ve been talking a lot lately about the need for salespeople to be memorable. Last week, I was reminded of a funny thing that happened several years ago. I was in a business networking meeting, and we got to the point in the meeting where referrals were passed around. It’s a group of professionals from different (non-competitive) industries who get together once a week to network and further each other’s business.
To protect the innocent, I’ll not mention any names – but the insurance salesman turned to the mortgage broker and said, “I have a lead for you. One of my customers wants to refinance his home. He bought it a year or so ago, but he thinks his credit situation has improved, so he wants to see if he can get a lower rate. He didn’t know any mortgage people, so I gave him your name. Here’s his information.” Comedy ensued.
Mortgage broker takes one look and says, “Hey, this is my lead to you! I passed this guy to you six months ago.” Immediately, there were two embarrassed faces and twelve laughing ones around the table. Most of us were glad we weren’t the mortgage broker right then. Turns out, he had written the customer’s home loan.
How does this happen? Six months ago, the mortgage broker had a relationship with the customer – or at least he thought he did. Now, the customer doesn’t even remember him. Is it possible for someone to forget the person that helped them get a home that quickly? Well, yes. In fact – as has been demonstrated numerous times – it’s possible for a salesman to think that he has had a “great” appointment with a customer, and the customer to not even remember the salesman’s name the next day.