[berniecmps]

While training several people over the past couple of years, I have run into a high percentage of people who lose clients during the application phase of the loan. Quite honestly, I have seen people lose a client in the first line of the conversation. Here is why, I think, they lose this business:
Introduction Statement is too "sales-like"; trying to close the client too soon
Capacity of knowledge
Confidence
Pace and Control of the Application (how fast, and who controls it)
Closing Lines or statements in application
Between these 5 issues, I have seen at least 20 leads per day get thrown into the "follow-up" bin because the application wasn't taken.

What I want to do, is open this discussion thread and really dive into what you do for these 5 areas in the application. What do you say that makes you stand out when taking an application either in phone or in person? What is different in your opening lines? How do you demonstrate your industry knowledge? How do you exude confidence? How do you control the application process and/or control the pace of the application? And, How do you close the application process?

Personally, my into line (after I have told them my name and company) is, "Tell me about your current situation". It's Open-Ended, vague, and almost forces the client to tell you how to "sell" them.

I can't wait to hear some of your ideas on what makes you different in the application process.