Getting Commitment To Proceed

Getting Commitment to succeed

What is commitment to proceed?

It is agreement from your client that they will go ahead with the mortgage when you come back with their proposal.

 Why do we need it?

Commitment to proceed is generally only really relevant if you operate a two, appointment system. If you are the type of advisor who sources the mortgage in the first appointment and writes the business there and then, getting commitment is not as essential though I have found that a lot of the subtle phraseology has come in useful at all sorts of different points in an appointment.

If you use a two, appointment process and charge fees then getting commitment is absolutely essential or you may have wasted all the time you have already spent with that client.

You may have the client completely enthralled on your first appointment. They may have taken a lot of value from your presentation and warmed to you as a person.

…But, by the time you return for the second appointment, a lot of water will have gone under the bridge! They will probably have discussed it between themselves and one of the couple may not be as enthusiastic as the other. They could have mentioned it to completely unqualified friends who tell them the only mortgage they should get is the same xyz mortgage they currently have. They may even have talked to their current lender or other advisors.

So, the mortgage you thought was completely nailed on is suddenly looking less likely. Of course, sometimes going through a broker is their only option due to poor credit, self-employed without books etc but a lot of the time, mortgages can be sourced by the client, provided they have an idea what they are doing and can be bothered to do it. That being the case, it is important we make it plain that we are going to be doing a lot of work on the clients’ behalf in the interim period so you expect them to proceed when you return with their proposal.

So, how do we get commitment without frightening them off?

I like to do it in stages and I break it down into four parts, the first part being very gentle and then increasing their level of commitment with each part.

In the first part of the first appointment, I tend to have more of an informal discussion, explaining anything they are not sure of regarding mortgages, such as different types of interest rates, the mortgage term, pro’s and con’s of consolidating debt etc. Then I will go into part one, which of course can be adapted slightly to fit your speech patterns. Do not however change it very much as the wording has been specifically designed to achieve maximum commitment.

This is part 1.

“I asked to see you today to show you how to reduce the cost of your mortgage. That’s the first part of our meeting. Would you like me to stay for the second part, to help you to benefit from what you have seen?”

“I would like to make it absolutely clear, I can only proceed from this point at your request. Are you sure, if it’s possible to implement what you have seen here today, you would like to become a client of mine?”

As you can see this was fairly mild. What I have done is got commitment from the client that they like me enough to want me to stay and look at their specific circumstances.

I have made them feel comfortable by putting them in the driving seat, so to speak…they are requesting that I stay to help them.

The third paragraph is my first real commitment from the client: in effect, I am asking, if I can, will you?

Sometimes a client will say something like, ‘Well provided it does what we want.’ The beauty of knowing all four parts, verbatum is that I can bring another phrase forward from another part as my answer, “Great, so as long as it does include what you have requested, will you be happy to proceed?”

Then when I have permission to proceed I will start gathering all the soft facts on the fact find, name address and so on. During this process I will be building rapport, generally having a good bit of banter so they continue to warm to me.

Directly before I ask for hard facts, ie what they want to achieve with their new mortgage, term, type of interest rate, raising capital etc, I will go into part two.

This is part 2.

“Before we complete this section it’s extremely important that you understand that whatever you tell me you want now will be prepared in your proposal. Therefore, it is imperative that what you request, is exactly what you have decided to proceed with. Is there anything you would like to ask me before we start?”

This is bringing their mind back to the job in hand. I am subtly reminding them how important it is to get this right.

You will notice that I use the phrase “decided to proceed with”. This is building on their prior commitment.

Then I relax them a little and give them a chance to ask questions.

Once we have gone through exactly what it is they are trying to achieve with their mortgage then I will go into the most important part of commitment to proceed, part three.

Before I show you this part, this is the part that new advisors always skip!

Why?

Because it makes them feel uncomfortable. I was guilty of skipping this for many months when I first started writing mortgages and I missed many sales because of it. I took months and months before I had the bottle to try it and found it made a massive difference to my sales conversion ratios.

At that time, the company I worked for charged large fees. The client was expected to pay up to an additional ￡3,500 for our services. Without this part of commitment my conversion rate was around 40%. With it, it rose to a very healthy 98%.

This is Part 3.

“As you know, our meeting today was without obligation. However, both myself and the company I work for will now have to spend a significant amount of time, energy and cost. Therefore, I believe it is entirely appropriate that we make a mutual commitment.

My commitment to you is that I will not return with a proposal unless it includes what you have requested.

The commitment I need from you is that if it does include what you have requested, you will proceed at that point.

How do you feel about that?”

“Are you happy with the commitment I am prepared to make to you?”

“In that case, are you prepared to make your commitment to me?”

“Can we proceed on that basis?”

You will notice that the language here is much stronger. I am changing the tone in the first paragragh and making the client fully aware that we are now starting work on their behalf and require commitment from them.

Always give before taking – I am giving my commitment first that if I can’t include what they have requested, I will not be coming back. The word “include” is important. I may not be able to do everything they want, but can do part of it, which is covered by this.

I am checking their reaction to this by asking questions. This is the section where you may have to overcome an occasional objection, but better here that refusing to sign on second appointment when you have already done a lot of work. I have only ever had two clients who didn’t give this commitment – well one did but rang the next day to cancel, one wouldn’t as they admitted that they had their brother’s advisor coming to see them the next day and were predisposed to do business with him!

After that I am getting all the paperwork together and then casually throw part four into the mix just for clarity. I may even go for a referral script first. Exactly what you say will depend on your own processes and what is charged when, so you will need to adapt your script accordingly.

This is Part 4.

“My final point this evening, is how soon would you like to receive the benefits of your proposal?”

“In that case, let’s arrange an appropriate time to implement your proposal.”

“When I return for our second meeting, I will explain the benefits and complete the proposal paperwork for you.”

“You will both need to sign the proposal and only at that point will I need a cheque for …..(the service fee, valuation or whatever).

Have you any final questions?”

“Are you happy to proceed on that basis?”

So, here I am giving clarity. You notice I am using the assumptive, “complete the proposal paperwork for you” as they have already given me their commitment to proceed.

I am also confirming that they will both (if it is a couple) need to attend the appointment as well as reminding them of any funding that will need to be made available.

So, there you have it.

Here are all four parts again:

Part 1.

“I asked to see you today to show you how to reduce the cost of your mortgage. That’s the first part of our meeting. Would you like me to stay for the second part, to help you to benefit from what you have seen?”

“I would like to make it absolutely clear, I can only proceed from this point at your request. Are you sure, if it’s possible to implement what you have seen here today, you would like to become a client of mine?”

Part 2.

“Before we complete this section it’s extremely important that you understand that whatever you tell me you want now will be prepared in your proposal. Therefore, it is imperative that what you request, is exactly what you have decided to proceed with. Is there anything you would like to ask me before we start?”

Part 3.

“As you know, our meeting today was without obligation. However, both myself and the company I work for will now have to spend a significant amount of time energy and cost. Therefore, I believe it is entirely appropriate that we make a mutual commitment.

My commitment to you is that I will not return with a proposal unless it includes what you have requested.

The commitment I need from you is that if it does include what you have requested, you will proceed at that point.

How do you feel about that?”

“Are you happy with the commitment I am prepared to make to you?”

“In that case, are you prepared to make your commitment to me?”

“Can we proceed on that basis?”

Part 4.

“My final point this evening, is how soon would you like to receive the benefits of your proposal?”

“In that case, let’s arrange an appropriate time to implement your proposal.”

“When I return for our second meeting, I will explain the benefits and complete the proposal paperwork for you.”

“You will both need to sign the proposal and only at that point will I need a cheque for …..(the service fee, valuation or whatever).

Have you any final questions?”

“Are you happy to proceed on that basis?”

Hope that helps anyone struggling to get commitment on their first appointment. Might feel a bit daunting to start with, but it really does make a difference.

Be back tomorrow

Penny