Loan Officers: Some Tips for Cold Calling Effectively

Some loan officers stop cold-calling once they build a suitable book of business, while others keep at it no matter how full their pipeline becomes. Whether you don’t have much experience with cold calling, or you’re looking for better results, I wanted to explore a few ways you can give your cold calling a boost.?Here are some tips to cold call effectively:

Research

If the only information you have about the prospect is their name and phone number, you may end up making too cold of a call. This is often where some professionals determine that cold calling just doesn’t work for them. But we live in a time where it’s easy to learn a bit about someone before you meet. A quick internet search may help you identify some key talking points. Even simply identifying their age can give you a sense of which demographic they’re in. Take the time to do a bit of research before your call. Even just a few specific points can help you quickly relate to your prospect. It can help them to feel understood and begin to lay the foundation for a connection. When you’re able to personalize your calls a bit in this way, you keep them from feeling generic and impersonal.

Have a Plan

In addition to investing some time into researching your prospects in advance, it’s also worth creating a plan for your calls. This might be a general outline with a few key talking points. It’s not a script. Instead, it’s more of a framework that you can fill in. Cold calls can be quick, so it’s essential that loan officers know how to effectively share the most important information. What do you want to get out of the call? When you know your goal going in, it can help you better create a map for the call.

Be Authentic

As I mentioned above, having a general guide to keep you on track is a great strategy, but it’s crucial that this doesn’t turn into a script. To make an engaging call or leave an engaging message, you can’t come off as generic. Prospects don’t necessarily want to talk to ‘a loan officer’, they want to talk to a human they connect with. So, be yourself in these calls. Allow yourself to show a bit of your personality. Demonstrate your ability to create value.

Double Down

Email is a great communication strategy to support your cold calls. You might send an email first that introduces the prospect to you and your brand. Or maybe you send one after your call to follow up. This works on several levels. It makes you more memorable. Prospects start to recognize your brand and get to know you. It allows you to be persistent without feeling like you’re being pushy with too many calls in a row. It also gives prospects the opportunity to reach out to you with whichever communication medium they prefer.

I wrote recently about improving your closing ratio (here ), and I think that’s a good companion piece to this article.

Good luck and let me know how any of these ideas may have helped you!

Don

If you’re a loan officer, sales manager, or branch manager considering new opportunities, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Don Riggs

P: 303-249-8274