An old-fashioned customer-service technique may generate profound results

Brian L. Peart, president, Nexus Financial Group Inc.

As published in Scotsman Guide's Commercial Edition, October 2005.

Everyone is looking for the next big thing — the next marketing strategy, the next hot product to sell, etc. Still, success is often found not in those “home run” strategies but in the singles and doubles to be had with every client interaction. Hit enough of those, and you eventually will hit the home runs.

About six months ago, I had lunch with a lending officer I met at a church convention. Three months ago, he finally gave me a loan. Sure enough, it was a tough church loan. That loan just closed last month.

One of my secrets for this successful closing? Every Friday I called my referral source to update him on the loan-in-process, and I called the client to keep him updated. Each week, I was not only building their confidence in my ability and keeping them from getting nervous, but I was also asking them for referrals. It is a simple process: Tell your clients the status of the loan (what they want) and then ask if they know anyone else who deserves this level of service (what you want). The beauty of this system is that it is just plain old good service.

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