10 Real-World Scripts for Mortgage Advisors

This is part 1 of our 3-part series. Click here for part 2 and part 3.

I speak to mortgage pros and branch managers all the time who ask me for the best scripts that reduce rate shopping, reduce pricing exception and optimize lead conversion. And new Mortgage Coach members ask me if there is anyone I might be able to connect them with to help with scripting and sales training. We have several expert interviews that are perfect for helping new mortgage pros get started using or improving their sales skills, but 3 areas in particular are ideal for first-time Mortgage Coach users:

1. Borrower Scripting. Todd Duncan calls this the High Trust Interview and some call it the Hopes and Dreams conversation.
2. Sales Strategy and Process. I call this going from price to advice.
3. Realtor scripting, questions and strategies. This is perhaps the biggest opportunity, because if you can use Mortgage Coach as part of your value proposition with agents, you can 2X your referrals from partners.

We’re creating a 3-part series to cover each of these, and in this first one, we’re starting with a focus on effective borrower and Realtor scripting. I’ve built this article and this training session around my interview with industry leaders Tim Braheem, Jeremy Forcier and Danny Horanyi. This is one of the all-time best Tuesday Interviews, and I hear from mortgage pros and even new loan officers how this interview helped them win more business and close more loans.

Whether it's a first time home buyer looking at a Total Cost Rent vs. Own Analysis on their mobile phone or a one-on-one meeting with a family in your office or a Realtor meeting in their office, it’s key to have your scripting polished and to use the best sales process talking points every time. While it’s important to tailor your advice based on the goals of your prospect, it’s also critical that you are a master of your scripts and how you position and walk a client through your borrower presentation, also known as your Total Cost Analysis (TCA) conversation. 

At the end of this post are some sample scripts (TCA Conversations) from this interview that you can use for inspiration and to upgrade your scripts and TCA conversations. But first, here are a few summary tips from all 3 speakers:

1. Keep your opening conversation simple. “How can I help you?” Then stop and listen.
2. Keep the opening conversation to 15 minutes.
3. Keep your scripts conversational and know them by heart. Do not read them.
4. Show them how to download the Mortgage Coach app while they’re in your office.
5. Be consistent with your scripting. If you’re delivering a different script every time, you’re never going to be great at any one script.
6. Guide the client through the process; don’t let the client dictate the tempo.
7. Proactively explain your ‘trusted advisor’ position against the competition and be prepared to counter objections.
8. Set monthly goals and measure your success.

Finally, I want to emphasize something Jeremy said:

“Great scripting is more important than marketing; it’s more important than anything and here's why. If I can give you a script right now that will increase your batting average by 100 points, so from, say, 82% to 92%, we're talking about an entirely different income bracket if you're talking to enough people every day.”

In other words: Great scripting is the foundation to any growth goal you want to achieve.

So I want to encourage everybody to please take the time to watch the below interview. Also, click here to access our ‘Getting Started’ guide which includes a half dozen scripts you can use.

Take notes and then practice your scripting. Practice it on your team, your branch manager, your spouse, your friends. It’s really important to get your scripting right because it could mean not just the difference between getting the loan and losing the loan, done right, you’ll have hundreds of clients for life.

Please let me know in the comments below how helpful these scripts were for you, and whether you have any scripting questions you would like addressed in future interviews.

And then stay tuned for parts 2 and 3, which are going to be on:

Part 2: Sales Strategy and Process.

 Part 3: Realtor scripting, questions and strategies. This is perhaps the biggest opportunity because if you can use Mortgage Coach as part of your value proposition with agents you can 2X your referrals from partners.

Thanks all, make it a great day creating clients-for-life with the Mortgage Coach Total Cost Analysis.

Below are a transcription of all the scripts from the one-hour interview with Tim Braheem, Jeremy Forcier & Danny Horanyi #MassiveValue #LearnFromTheBest

1) How Danny Horanyi finds out what customers’ hopes and dreams are:

“Please share with me what your goals are so that we can see if our team is going to be a good fit for you.” That does two things, one, it allows them to speak. You stop talking and let them just say whatever is top of mind because that's very likely going to be the most important thing to them because they were really anxious to share it.

It also pre-frames the TCA conversation around us potentially not being a good fit for them. We're interviewing them as much as they are interviewing us for whether or not we're going to be the partner for their home buying process or the refinance process. Then the remainder of the call is really to create anticipation for the consultation.

After we find out what their goals are, I'll say something like, “Well, it really does sound like our team's going to be a good solution of you. Our goal is to make sure you have all the information you need to make a good decision around your options. You’ll spend about 15 minutes with one of my team members to gather up the information we'll need to analyze to come back to you with options. With that, we'll have a side-by-side comparison of the main options we recommend that you take a look at and we'll review those together.”

2) How Jeremy Forcier explains the Total Cost Analysis before forwarding the TCA link:

“Awesome, I understand that you're looking to get pre-approved for a home loan. Here is exactly what's going to happen to ensure that you have the greatest level of success throughout the process. Number one, I'm going to email you a customer questionnaire link. This is literally just a link where you're going to fill out your basic information. It is really, really, really easy to fill out and should only take you about 15 minutes.”

"Once that is filled out, that is going to go directly into our processing system, and then one of my team members is going to be assigned to your file and call you just to clean it up for 10 minutes to make sure we have accurate information. What's going to happen after that is that you're going to get a video presentation from me explaining all the different loan options specific to you. When you get this, you can click on the link whether it's from a mobile device or whether you're in front of your computer. I'm going to lay out several options that are specific to you that you can choose from and I'm going to explain that in a video that will be embedded as well. All you have to do from there is email me back which option you want to move forward with or if you have any questions and we can go from there. Do you have any other questions at this time?" And I stop. That’s what I do 100% of the time, and it works. Eighty-two percent of the time, people follow the process.

3) How Tim Braheem would overcome competitors in his market (who sell on rate vs. being a trusted advisor):

“You know Jeremy, I'm not a fan of throwing a bunch of rates, payments, closing costs, tax deductibility, principle prepayment strategies and things of that nature at you over the phone. In fact, I find it to be really unprofessional when other people that do what I do for a living do just that because I realized that this is the most important financial indebtedness decision that you're gonna ever have to make in your life. It's critically important that you're well versed and extremely well educated.”

“What I wanna do is take the time to put together a very comprehensive spreadsheet (Total Cost Analysis) that is specific to your needs and to the conversation that we just had. Then I'm gonna send it to you in the form of a video and I'm gonna narrate it for you. When you're done watching it, I want you to give me a call so we can go over it to make sure that if there's any confusion, any questions that you have, that I can clear them up for you because this is an important financial choice and it's critically important that you're well versed and understanding of what choices you have in front of you.”

Note: This gives you an advantage with customers who call more than one lender.

4) How Jeremy Forcier competes against other loan officers:

“Tim that's great that you're talking to other people. I think it's really important that you work with the right person, but I wanna share something with you. I'm not gonna offer you anything different than anyone else is. The reality is that all of our interest rates, fees, et cetera that aren't niche products, they're the basic product you're looking for, are really gonna be within an eighth of a percent in interest rate on any given day and $200 in fees.”

“If anyone else tells you different, Tim if someone tells you that they can absolutely get you the best rate better than anyone no matter what, you should run away from that person because that's not how our industry works. What I'm gonna do is give you a comprehensive spreadsheet with a video that's gonna explain all of your options and what they are today. I wanna tell you something else to because I believe in being transparent, is that when you get this, if my rates and fees are better than whoever else you were talking to, that doesn't mean that I'm better than them. That means that maybe I got a better day because these rates and fees change on a daily basis for all of us.”

“So if I'm hired and the other person is as well, keep in mind if you went and talked to your other broker or person you were working with, the likelihood is that they're gonna be hired as well. I believe in 100% transparency and just be on the lookout for, if someone tells you they can do this and it's better than anyone else no matter what and they're gonna beat it, run away from that person. And then, if I am a little bit higher and or lower, just know that you need to work with who you feel most comfortable with because we all have the same stuff.”

5) What Jeremy’s TCA email says:

“Tim,” please click here and see attachment for some mortgage options available to you. Please let me know if you have any questions and we look forward to serving you.”

That's it. I use it that way every single time, 100% of the time.

6) How Jeremy walks a customer through the Total Cost Analysis:

"Hey Dave, it's Jeremy Forcier from Peoples Home Equity. Congratulations on getting into contract. What I've created here for you is a video presentation with three different options that are going to work best for you. There's not a right or wrong option out of the three, but they're just different. They have different cost structures, et cetera. I'm going to go over those with you."

“Look in your upper left hand corner in the summary section, there are three vertical columns there. The first column shows you a $400,000 purchase price with a $100,000 down payment at a 3.625% interest rate. As you can see, your cash to close here is $106,625. That includes your down payment and all of your closing costs. Your payment for this scenario is $2,000.”

“In the second column, we have a 3.875% option. Here, you can see your monthly payments are $2,100 a month, but your total cash out-of-pocket goes down to $102,240. That's because there are less closing costs and fees with this particular scenario, but your payment is $100 more per month. Then the final option I showed you, a 4.125% option. You might be saying, 'Why would I wanna pay a higher interest rate? Why are you showing me a higher interest rate Jeremy?' Well you see, we have to take into consideration the [total] cost always when making a financial decision."

"In this column, even though it's the highest rate, your payment is $122 more per month, but you save $7,000 out of pocket. There's not a right or wrong choice, I have you locked in at all three choices. I can change them at any point in the transaction. You will be getting loan disclosures based on the 3.875% option. We can make changes if you want, but we have to get you those disclosures to order the appraisal. Let me know if you have any questions. Let me know which option you want, and I look forward to serving you. Congratulations.”

7) Danny likes his customers to come into the office for the explanation of the TCA, but if they can’t make it and he emails it, this is his video script:

“Danny here with the Gaylord-Hansen Mortgage Team at Caliber Home Loans. Dave thank you so much for taking the time to provide us all the information so we could do a really thorough analysis of your options. This presentation details out the three solutions that we feel are going to be the best for your family.”

“There's a lot of information here and as we discussed in our first conversation, the decision to finance a home and purchase a home, it touches so many parts of your financial life that it's really important that we talk about this together to determine which is going to be the best option for you. Please give me a call at your convenience. You can reach me on my cellphone at any time. I look forward to speaking with you soon. Have a great day.”

8) Tim Braheem feels strongly that loan officers should make a recommendation before they end the conversation. Here’s what his might sound like:

“I think all three of these options are very viable, which is why I've provided you with all them and I can make a case for any of them. If it were me given what we've discussed, given the nature of where interest rates are and what they're likely to be in the future and a probability of me being able to rewrite your loan at no points, no fees at some point in time in the next seven years ... I'm using this as an example of course, I highly recommend the seven-year-fixed at no points because I think I’ll be able to get you out of that loan within 84 months.”

He says: I found that when I was willing to have an opinion, people would follow it much more often than not.

9) How Tim Braheem would pitch a Realtor for the first time:

“It occurred to me, I've never really sat down with you and shared with you why it is that you should be referring business to me and what I do differently from everybody else out there who’s a loan originator. Additionally, what I'm even more aware of, is that I've never taken the time to ask you, ‘How is it that you would like me to sell you? What are the things that you as a real estate agent wish that you could say about yourself to a prospective client that you're not currently able to say because it would sound like you were patting yourself on the back too hard?”

“I need to understand what your value proposition is as a real estate agent to be the best possible partner to you. What is it that your current loan officer is doing at point of sale to cement the relationship on your behalf? Are they properly scripted to make sure that they're saying all of the things about you that you'd wish that you could say about yourself? If not, I would like to have an opportunity to be a partner to you that will allow for you to close more transactions on a monthly basis because I'm really cementing the relationship and I'm an extended team member of yours at point of sale.”

The real estate agent then says to you, “Well, you know, I'm really good at renegotiating contracts,” or, “I'm really good at staging property,” or, “I'm really good at marketing. I spend a lot of money on marketing dollars.” And you say, “Wonderful, great. Thank you for sharing that. Let me repeat that back to you.”

“You play consumer, you call me up right now, I'm gonna go ahead and take the initial call. ‘Hi, it's Tim. Oh gosh, how did you get to know Terry? Wow! Well, I don't know if you're aware of this, but she's the top producing real estate agent in our county and I'm so ecstatic for you and for myself that we get to work with her. She's unbelievable at what she does. One of the things that makes her truly unique is that she has a very substantial marketing budget that really allows for her ... I realize that she's got both ends. She's listing your property and she's representing you as a buyer," etc. etc.

Once you've asked them to share with you what it is that they would like you to say about them, then you have the right to say to them, "May I take a few moments to sit down with you and take you through my process? It's the process that every single one of your clients will be going through when you refer them to me. I think that it's really important that you understand the value that I bring so you can share with them in advance of their call to my, why it is that you're referring them.”

10) Tim Braheem’s script for winning customers for life:

“Jeremy, if I'm really doing my job correctly, my job begins when your first loan closes with me because from there it's my job to assist you in managing the largest indebtedness that you'll ever take on in your life. The unfortunate fact is that most people that do what I do for a living may just provide the debt, and then they walk away and you never hear from them again. I'm not going to make that mistake.”

“One of the things that I'm gonna do for you on an ongoing basis is, I'm gonna manage this debt for you by watching market conditions and seeing if there's an opportunity to rewrite your loan in the future. Now, all future refinances that we will ever do together will be done at no points, no fees."

Now, obviously you can't say this to somebody on a $108,000 loan, but anybody on a $250,000 or higher, you can deliver on that commitment very easily with your overage money.

“When you hear from me in the future and I say, "It's Tim. It's time," you're gonna know what that means.”

And the customer says: “Oh my God. I can't believe that you do that. That's amazing."

You say the same thing to the Realtor. And from that point forward, virtually every single client that called me that was referred by a Realtor would start off by saying, “Terry said that I need to give you a call and I need to do my loan with you and that you're going to watch my loan for me going forward and refinance me at no points no fees in the future. Is that true?" "Yes, absolutely it’s true." "Okay, what do we need to do to begin?”

Below is a link to a YouTube playlist with 55 More Real-Word Scripts with Mortgage Coach members.

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