Successful People Always Do This to Become Popular!

Alright Girlfriends, let’s talk about something that has become incredibly important over the last few years: your personal brand! I know many of you love to promote the company you work for — that is awesome and you should absolutely do it! But it is just as important to build and promote your personal brand! The more you can convey that you are the all-around expert in your field, the more value you automatically bring to the home buying journey.

Your clients are trusting you with the largest investment of their lifetime — they expect you to be the absolute authority in your industry. One way that you assure them of this authority is by having a well-developed personal brand and digital presence. This helps your audience engage with you as a professional before they even commit to working with you.

Often, people think that they need to connect with their clients through common ground and building rapport. But at the end of the day, clients don’t necessarily need rapport — they want to know that they are working with the expert, the go-getter, the authority. Sure, every client would like to get along and connect with their loan officer, but more importantly they want to work with someone who will meet their needs and protect their future. 

Understand that being the authority does not mean that you have to be perfect or the best at everything in your industry. Being the authority means that you are able to show your audience that you know what you are talking about and make them understand the value in it. Here are a few strategies that I highly recommend for developing your personal brand and establishing yourself as an authority in your field: 

1.Utilize Social Media!  This is the best way to showcase what you have to offer.  Show yourself at closings, share tips, provide valuable insight into the mortgage journey, let them see you having fun with family and friends on the weekends (within reason). Post pictures of you having strategy lunches with your team, coffee with your referral partners, and conversations with all the vendors who help you and your team. This helps your audience engage with you as an industry professional as well as an individual. I have found that this creates a sense of client-loyalty as they view you not only as a business woman, but also as a friend.

2. Become Hyper Local! Support your community! Post about what events are taking place in your area, endorse local companies, be visible at events, volunteer for different organizations in your community to show your support. Not only will this make a positive impact on your community, but it will improve your brand image and show that you are dedicated to promoting a safe and thriving community.

3. Continue to Learn. Study your guidelines, work on improving your processes, seek to always improve.   What you focus on always expands, so focus on your career and your skills.

4. Get testimonials from clients, vendors, employees, and employers, and look for opportunities to share those testimonials as often as possible. If you get a great social review, share it with your referral sources, employer, and past clients. If your client says something very kind, jot it down and ask if you can use it for a testimonial. Even better, ask if you can take a video of them giving you a rave review! This adds immense credibility to your testimonials.

5. Believe in yourself! Assure yourself that you are the expert in the field. Many Loan Officers miss this step, but you have to believe in yourself first before anyone else will. 

6. Be courageous. When people are buying a home, they often are worried and stressed and are looking to follow someone courageous. Be the one to get out of your comfort zone and make things move forward!

7. Never speak ill of the competition.  Meet with the competition and share what is working and what is not working. Masterminding with the competition is a great opportunity to network as well as gain insight into other LO’s strategies!

8. Get a coach! Having a coach to hold you accountable and push you out of your comfort zone is a must-have if you are ready to take your business to the next level. 

9. Take a sincere interest in others.  Get to know more people, reach out and ask to hear their story and what makes them successful. Be intentional about listening and being in the moment. Not only can you learn a lot from other people’s experiences, but clients will appreciate that you are connecting with them as an individual rather than just a customer.

10. Ask for the referral every time! An easy script to follow is “I build my business on referrals and I would love to work with people like you, if you know of anyone who could use my services, would you share their name with me?” If you are completing all of the other steps on this list, you are guaranteed to win the referral every time!