Active listening

Any successful sales person has 1 key trait above all else, active listening. What is active listening? Active listening requires you to listen attentively to a speaker, understand what they’re saying, respond and reflect on what’s being said, and retain the information for later. This keeps both listener and speaker actively engaged in the conversation, and it’s an essential building block establishing trust and rapport with the client. They will tell you what their problem is that’s need to be solved. They may not come out and directly say it, it’s up to us as sales people to “read between the lines” of what’s being said to get to the root of the issue. This goes hand in hand with our next topic first impressions…

First Impressions

The second most important aspect of engaging the leads is during the handoff. As discussed in your Product Demo and Pre Launch Call, every lead that has verified and gone through the process is put through a hand off process consisting of an introduction email containing contact details as well as an introduction text to the number provided. This is where the deal potential to close can either go up or down exponentially. In the handoff for example most people will take up the text and reply to it. Knowing how and when to reply to this text is crucial. Responding promptly simply asking to discuss their situation vs sending a wall of text and asking for an application are going to lead to wildly different outcomes. In the former the client feels heard and respected. In the latter, the client feels as if they have just been matched with someone while seeking some additional information who has then moved into immediately trying to get something from them without providing anything.  This ties into our next topic rapport…

Trust/Rapport

If people don’t trust you or have rapport you won’t win the business, period. As this relates to Financevine’s leads, the lead doesn’t owe us anything. They have submitted an inquiry form (not an application) and may have filled in several that day with different mortgage providers/lead generation companies, exploring different options. If for example the FinanceVine broker doesn’t actively listen to the lead’s needs and the next person does. That business will go to the person who actively listened. This is a real differentiator in the market and so many salespeople simply don’t do it. Being cognizant of this fact will absolutely lead to a high closing %, more funded deals and higher ROI

How it relates to FinanceVine

Active listening is not just a useful tool in sales. It can be reflected in all aspecst of life. Let’s use a comparison example:

You match with someone on a dating app. You’ve arranged a first date and when you go to meet up, you’re already planning the wedding. This will obviously turn people off and ensure that no second date will happen.

This is comparable to our process. We match you with someone who has shown some interest in the specified product. We then offer several ways for the lead to reach out to you (text, call and email). If the client is reaching out via one of these methods (ideally 50% or more) we can assume that they are actively looking to have their needs solved in that moment. This is the most crucial moment in engaging with these leads and cannot be understated.

As an example the client says they would like to be contacted by text and you offer to call, ignoring what’s being said. This demonstrates a lack of care and no active listening. That lead will be lost. First impressions matter and ensuring the client’s feels like they’re being heard is crucial to leaving a lasting impression.