Want to Maximize Your Relationships with Referral Partners? Learn to Listen Better
John Gardella
Branch Manager and Senior Loan Officer NMLS #305669 at CrossCountry Mortgage NMLS# 3029
One of the key skills that can help you improve your relationships with referral partners is both incredibly simple and often overlooked — and that skill is listening. You may not place much emphasis on your ability to listen better, but if you want to maximize your referral-partner relationships, it should be a high priority.
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One of the first places to look if you want to assess and improve your listening skills is some of the common, bad listening habits that we can fall into. If you find that any of these apply to you, then you can begin to make adjustments.
Do you interrupt? When we’re eager to share what we know, or if we’re in a hurry, it can happen. The problem is, it can make the other party feel like we’re not really hearing what they’re saying — or worse — that we don’t value their input.
Another bad habit I see frequently is thinking of what you’re going to say next while the other person is still talking. When we’re caught up in our own thoughts while the other party is speaking, we’re not giving them our full attention, and they can often see that. It also decreases our ability to get all of the information that we need to strengthen the relationship with that referral partner, and it also lessens the clarity of the information we’re taking in.
After you’ve uncovered any bad listening habits and begun to address them, it’s time to start thinking about what else you can do to be a more effective listener.
The easiest and most powerful strategy you can implement is to ask more questions. The more questions you ask, the better you can get to know your referral partners and the better you can demonstrate your interest in what they have to say. Another good thing to do is to pay attention to your body language to ensure you’re making eye contact, maintaining an open posture with your arms uncrossed. The other party should have no doubt that you’re present and engaged.
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Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your thoughts!
John
If you’re a loan officer, sales manager, or branch manager considering a move, don’t hesitate to reach out to hear about some terrific opportunities.
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John Gardella
Regional Manager — Supreme Lending
615.439.2569