If it isn't, and the borrowers insist that they received a different quote from you, the customer-service representative should contact you. The last thing you want is for the representative to blow off your clients' concerns or worse, blame you for giving them inaccurate information.

Question No. 2

Another important question to ask is: What are your procedures for dealing with loans that are about to adjust?

Once the loan starts creeping closer to adjustment time, many lenders see it as the perfect time to start marketing to borrowers about refinance options. If your lenders do their own servicing, they probably include statement stuffers or send publications to your borrowers about loan options.

For borrowers who aren't paying attention to their loan's adjustment period, this can be a good thing -- a handy reminder that it might be time to consider their choices. If your lender is responsible, the call to action in these marketing messages to borrowers should always be to call their broker for more information.

Unfortunately, some lenders see it as their opportunity to steal the relationship away from their brokers by marketing directly to borrowers to refinance their loan with them.

Question No. 3

Finally, ask your lenders: How do you respond when borrowers contact you for additional business?

Again, many lenders see future transactions with your clients as fair game. When your clients call the lender directly and ask for information about another purchase or refinance transaction, the lender may feel completely comfortable cutting you out of the transaction. If you want to retain that customer for return business, you must ensure that your lender is your partner, not your competitor.

Lenders that value their relationship with you will not steal your business -- instead, they will look up the callers' account, see that these borrowers came through you and refer the borrowers to contact you directly for additional services. Ask your lenders what they'd do in that situation. If they flunk this test, you might want to flunk them as a business-partner.

The best way to avoid many of these pitfalls is to be sure that you're in a business relationship with a lender that wants your repeat business. It may be wise to talk to some smaller, community-based credit unions, banks or financial institutions that are in the business of doing what's best for their wholesale brokers and their borrowers.

There are many other factors to consider when choosing a commercial lender to suit your clients' needs -- from products and rates to convenience and speed. But you should also keep an eye on your long-term customer-retention needs. Otherwise, you could be throwing away one of your best sources for future business.

Courtney E. Cox, assistant vice president of marketing for Technology Credit Union (www.techcu.com), oversees the company's creative services and channel marketing efforts and has written many articles for marketing and mortgage-industry publications. For more information about Tech CU's commercial (five-plus unit) apartment/multifamily loans, mixed-use loans, apartment lines of credit, and business loans and products, e-mail ccox@techcu.com.

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