In every sales there is an angle to walk a client through their pain.   The key is bridging the gap, to help the client understand YOUR value.  In originating mortgages one of the key conversations I would have with each client was a review of their credit report.  In car sales the same thing, in selling vacuum cleaners door to door it was the spots that had stains that would never come out.  My point is every sale somewhere has an angle that can be pushed to bridge the gap of a need or want for your product or service.

In mortgage origination or even in referral business partnerships the ability to help a end user or client relationship see your value is in bridging that gap of the pain.  Most people have a some blemish on credit, or value you can create by educating them on an item on their credit.  The ART of pushing the bruise a little to help show your value is really part of selling itself.  It helps add to your SOLUTION that you can pitch.  Your solution to the problem or pain that you point out helps pull in the benefit from all the features you have.  It bridges the gap and helps walk them through the pain in a nice way that can differentiate you from the competition.  If you pull credit with a borrower and then just look at the FICO and move on your doing it all wrong.  In fact the review of a credit report with someone in almost any financial service should be an important part of the conversation.

Push the bruise as to why they have the spending habit’s they do, and provide a solution.  When I originated each person I talked too as I took an application got a “free” credit analysis/review and would leave the conversation knowing more about their credit and what to do and what not to do even if I could not do a loan.  Those are the people that referred me to others even though we didn’t do business.  If your not having at least a 10 minute call going through each line item and asking about the credit items on credit to help a client know more education on their financial report card, your missing a part of the sale.  Car sales, mortgage sales, heck anything that involves you pulling a credit report.

Some tips I’ve learned along the way about credit that I went over with everyone I talked too:

1. Review the FICO and let them know all three scores. Below the FICO score is typically codes you can go over with them that highlight the reason’s they are being marked down.
2. Think JUMBO guidelines.  Credit is an evaluation of how you manage debt, not that you pay off a bunch of cards every month.  So the best FICO’s typically have a history of having 2 installment loans, (1 mortgage/1 car), and at least 3 other trade lines that are revolving.
3. Revolving debt and the way a FICO is established.  The key again is to show the bureau’s you know how to manage debt.  So when you have a line of credit of 1000 you should be always 50% or less revolving from month to month.  The minute you go above that ratio your score is marked down.  In fact where you want to be is 30% or less of the overall line limit from month to month and you can actually increase your score.  You can hurt your score paying it off every month, as that doesn’t show the bureau’s you are managing a balance.
4. The pulling of credit in the financial arena doesn’t affect a FICO IF… that is IF that person whom pulls credit is registered as a financial spot for Car or Mortgages.  There is a shoppers law that is out there.  Not so sure the exact name of this, theory or law, but it exists.  And it has to do with protecting a client that wishes to “shop” for a car loan or mortgage loan.  If that vendor is registered as a financial institution and more than one pulled a credit report within a two week period (may have changed) then that pull is looked at as one pull affecting the FICO, not multiple ones.  This is where it differs from Banks to Broker’s I’ve found in that Broker’s can sometimes have a different vendor code that doesn’t recognize them as a financial institution and that affects their score being pulled every time.  Again consult your vendor for the credit pull on how your credit inquiries are labeled.

Just by going over these simple things and educating a client, not only verifying the debt, it can be a way to help uncover a need or want that you can potentially fulfill.  This is the art of pushing the bruise, and later in your pitch that you can help them see value in what you’ve done or going to do for them.

Sell Well – JUICEMAN