When you receive  a senior prospect, by now you know many are not ready to move forward with a reverse mortgage on the first contact.   How do you make sure they don’t cross over to the dark side and do a reverse mortgage with your competition?   The solution is simple.  Nurture! 

This morning I was talking with a REMALO Member who had most recently purchased  my Lead Nurturing Content package.  During our discussion I was explaining how to utilize the content package to maximize it’s effectiveness.    

Through the discussion I told him not to forget about my KIT - Keep in Touch program.  He mentioned he had never seen this program.   I apologized and explained the KIT program  isn’t posted on any of my products or on our  the web site.   Actually, my KIT is imbedded in one of my tools we use daily.  

What is the KIT?   The KIT  (Keep In Touch) is an additional 12 month campaign we use once a prospect goes through the my initial 60 days lead nurturing.   The cost for the campaign is less than $12.  Just think;  if you could harvest just one extra deal out of 10 KIT’s, do you think that would pay for itself?   You bet!  The really neat part is your KIT is done automatically for you!   

There’s even more.  I have developed another 10 campaigns that are seamless and done for you automatically.    I even have the follow up scripted  ( to tell you what to say) and it’s all done for you.   Very G!

Would you like to know  how you could close more loans using our KIT and other campaigns?  If so, give us an email  info@remalo.org .   We’ll contact you and show you how it works?  Plus, we are going to give you a Free gift in return.  

If making one extra deal per month is important to you,  just email us info@remalo.org

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.

Register now, this is free for all REMALO members: http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=11/11/2009
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Has this happened to you on  a call?

When you make a call to prospect, do any these objections sound familiar:
*Not today.
*I want to think it over.
*I want to talk it over with my husband.
*Send me some literature.
*I never make up my mind on the first call.
*I need time to sleep on it.

These objectiions are nothing new and have been heard from the beginning of time.  Most of the time these are excuses and you just haven’t been able to convince your client to move forward.  Keep in mind, your client is not rejecting you, they are merely delaying their decision.  The only thing standing between them making a decision and not, is a reason why they should act now.

Your job is to find the reason why?  You must get to the bottom of “why” the senior client should make a decision now, rather than later!  Until you do this, then your senior clients will continue to act as if they are uninterested and put you off! 

No matter how you slice it, selling over the phone is still and always will be important.  Yes, you will always have some objection to overcome for as long as you are in the sales consultative business. 

I put together a “Selling over the Phone” package to help you with your calls.  It also includes a method for mailing out packages and an easy to follow system to make sure you review the application process with your client in a systematic and logical manner. 

Working on good telephone skills is a constant self improvement program and one you must commmit to in order to be successful.

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.

Dr. Collins I presume?  No, I’m not a doctor, but the designation does have a certain ring to it.  However, I do have a  PHD from the School of Hard Knocks.   But, seriously, professional designations do have an impact, especially when it comes to your senior clients. 

Our most recent survey of REMALO members showed that over 76% of you believe a professional designation was important to you and your business.

Consider this question:  “Do you think your senior clients are somewhat pessimistic, guarded, defensive or a little cynical?”   Of course they are and there  are several reasons.  Everyday the newspaper or television  is having a story about seniors being swindled, financial  mismanagement, stocks and other financial institutions doing something inappropriate with monies left in their care.

Bottom line, having as many designations behind your name is not such a bad idea.  Professional designations add confidence, credibility, and instill a trust factor with your senior clients.  The latter are the most important, but professionals who take the time to acquire a CSA designation actually earn more money!

Our workshop guest this week is Ed Pittock, founder of CSA, Certified Senior Advisors.  You don’t want to miss hearing  Ed  @2:00PM EDT on Wed. November 11th.  Just go to the REMALO events calendar to register for this Free workshop or click on the link below.   This is an event you want to attend.  Bring your note pad and learn from one of the masters of the senior world.

Here is the link: http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=11/11/2009

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.

Every now and then I find myself getting discouraged with my business.   I work hard, but sometimes, no matter how hard I work there are some senior homeowners I just can’t help.  When this happens I find myself taking it personally.  With the recent principal loan limit formula changed,  I am finding more and more of my senior clients do not qualify, because of a shortfall.  

To bring myself back to reality I recall several stories of those seniors lives I have impacted.  I would like to share one such story with you.

I Just Want to Have Coffee with my friends!

I first received a call from Mrs. S’s, son, Tony.   Tony said he heard that our company did reverse mortgages.  He wanted to know more about the program.  His Mother, Mrs. S. was 78. 

Tony said he and his brother were trying to help Mom as best they could.  Tony knew his Mother’s house needed some work, but prior to his Dads passing, they had taken out a home equity line of credit to do some repairs, but it wasn’t enough.  With his Dad’s passing his Mom’s social security benefits had gone down dramatically and she was having a tough time making ends meet, even with help from him and his brother.  Both sons’ were willing to help, but they also had growing families to support.

We sent Tony our information package which explains all the ins and outs of a reverse mortgage and followed up with a phone call to make sure Tony understood the material we had sent to him.   After talking with Tony, he agreed a reverse mortgage may be the answer to solving his Mom’s needs and agreed to meet his Mother at her home.

I met Mrs. S. in the middle of winter.  When I entered her  home it was very cold.  I asked Mrs. S. if things were alright with her heater.  She told me, her heater did not work.  She said, “We just add on a few more blankets when it really gets cold.”  My heart sank and I knew we had to get to work quickly to take care of Mrs. S.  

Mrs. S was a proud lady and she did not want to admit she needed help.  I knew we could help  improve her life tremendously with a reverse mortgage.   I assured her, because of her and her husband’s hard work to pay down their mortgage, she was now in a position to utilize their built up home’s equity with a reverse mortgage.

After some conversation I got to the truth about why the house was so cold.  Her oil tank was empty.  She said she had called Catholic charities, but she had exhausted her aid.  Next, I did what I am sure you would do, I immediately went to work to get her furnace fixed and the heating oil tank filled. Within two days Mrs. S had heat.

Within about 3 weeks we were able to complete the reverse mortgage.  Mrs. S. had enough money to make repairs to her windows, install a new roof, replace her kitchen floor,  paint her living room and repair damage from a previous water leak.  The best part is Mrs. S still had enough money to receive a monthly tenure payment, which aided in supplementing her monthly income and expense shortfall.

Mrs. S. kept saying, “I can’t believe it. This whole reverse mortgage thing sounds too good to be true.”  I agreed, many of our senior clients have said the same thing. But, she soon became a believer!

I can still recall Mrs. S saying, “Now, I can have my friends over for coffee.” 

Often,  I have to pinch myself and give thanks for our many blessings and the many Mrs.S’s  we can all help being reverse mortgage advisors. 

Next time you get discouraged, please remember your Mrs. S and keep going.
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Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.
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Last night I received a knock on my front door around 7:00 PM.  I was surprised to see a young man and in his hand he held a pad of brochures.   I knew he was selling something. 

I noticed he was wearing a jacket with his company’s name on the front.  He also had a name tag on the jacket and immediately identified himself and his company.

The young man asked if we were interested in getting a free estimate for any home repairs or improvements.  Ironically, we had used his company before, but his call reminded me that I did have a project for them.

I went on to ask the young man a few questions about himself and how he got started.  He opened up and  began to tell me all about himself and his company.  I discovered his company does a huge amount of business and they did a lot of work for seniors….wallah!
Now you’re talking!

I asked for  the owners name and phone number.   Again, I got it very easy.  So, what do you think is the next step.  Yes, you’re right.  I want to call the owner of the company to schedule a sit down visit to see if we have any synerigies in common.  Next, I want to invite him  to my special group, (more on that later). 

Let me make it clear, I am not advocating cold calling.  What I do advocate is to take some of the experiences  that occur in your life and  turn that experience into an opportunity that may help you and your business be more successful.

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.
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Where do you get most of your leads?  If you said from referrals, give yourself a big pat on the back. 

Today I spoke with one our REMALO members, Mary from Chicago, and she said most of her business comes from referrals.  Mary has a  few of her seniors who are raving fans.  They simply love Mary and they love how a reverse mortgage has improved their lives.

Do you have any raving fans?  If not, I am going to show how you can get them screaming your praises and recommending their friends to do business with you!

This is the perfect time of the year to reach out to your clients.  The event is this Wednesday, so don’t delay!
Register now:  http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=11/4/2009

Remember, keep moving foward to stay ahead in reverse.

Tomorrow on our Nov. 4, workshop, I am going to give you 18 or more ways you can be different and stand out from the crowd in your reverse mortgage practice. 

When you attend our “Nuturing” workshop with my guest, Jim Packard, and our very own Tari Conley.   We are going to share with you how to shower hope, thanks, and gratitude  this Holiday Season to your past, current, and prospective senior clients. 

Here is the neat part.  By attending you are eligible to receive your own Gift Account Free, from me.   Yes,  happy, happy, a few day early.    For me, giving something that impacts lives is a great feeling!  Plus if you like the Free Gift offer, there is even more.  I have prepared two other great bonuses and over 6 lead nurturing campaigns, you won’t want to miss out!

Would you like to have a great feeling everyday in  your life?  You can and we are going to share with you, how you can make it happen everyday of your life! 

Join me and  my guest Jim Packard, the guru of client nurturing.  Learn from the Master this Wed. November 4th, @ 2:00 PM EDT.   

Just go to this link to register and get ready to have the best Holiday of your life! 
click here =>
http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=11/4/2009

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.
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The hits keep coming!
Next week, Nov. 11 you are going to get an unusual and rare treat to hear one  of the premier senior adocates and proponents of  seniors wishing to maintain their independence. Our guest will be Ed Pittock, President and founder of CSA, Certified Senior Advisors.  Go to the events calendar and register to join our CSA Workshop with Ed Pittock.

Sam Collins

When search engines rank your web site a major factor considered is linking.  So the more people who link to your web site, the better.  However, it’s important to have quality versus quantity.  Your link sites must have a certain quality or the poor image will reflect on you.  . 

The big advantage of linking other web sites to bring traffic to your site.  You may want to consider trading links with others.  Obviously, you will want to focus on the sites that are relative to you.    These are the  places you use are Google, www.google.com, Yahoo, www.yahoo.com, or open directory, www.dmoz.org.    Sites listed here usually have high rankings.    Once you find this information, organize it on a spreadsheet.  Organize the headers, like this:  Keywords, Owner or Webmaster, URL (web address), comments (why you want to link to this site, date (when you first contacted), etc.

Next, consider sending a personal email to each link partner.  Make it easy for them to say yes.  Provide the link partner with a sample link and explain exactly where on your site you will place their link.  It’s that easy.

Be sure to thank those who agree to link with you and offer to send them a copy of your logo to their site.  Some or most will not respond to your first email,  just try again with a follow-up.

Say you don’t have a web site yet?  Why are you waiting?  If you say it cost too much, you haven’t seen this offer;  http://www.srtkn.com   or  I don’t know how to build a web site?  Those days are gone, you can have it done for you; see the demo:  http://www.srtkn.com

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.
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November Training Workshop

Nov 04, 2009
Seniors Love Holiday Gift Cards . . .
During this workshop, you will learn the secrets to nurturing senior client by showering them with gifts and cards.

Mark this date on your calendars! Check your local time zone below:
2:00 pm EDT 1:00 pm CDT 12:00 pm MDT 11:00 am PDT

Go here to register:
http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=11/4/2009

Today I went on a reverse mortgage appointment. Putting it mildly the appointmentwas a real tough one. The client was a 70 year old man.

Here is how the appointment went =>

I arrived promptly on time and went to the front door of the house. I immediately noticed the front stoop had a large hole and I was unable to enter the house. However, I was able to knock on the door. A voice shouted , “come to the back”. I proceeded to the rear of the home to enter. When I entered the home there was so much stuff in the house I had no place to sit.The homeowner, then proceeded to tell me he had no running water, his water pipes were broken, he had one electrical outlet that worked, the roof leaked, he had a $15,000 home equity (he did not tell us about), he owed over $38,000 in credit card debt, his title was questionable, and the house might be (once repaired) worth about $60,000.

So, what do you do in this case? Quite frankly by its appearance the home needed much repair or maybe even condemned. The living conditions were unsanitary and dangerous.  I advised the homeowner to contact the State Division of Social Services for assistance, plus our state has a program that could assist him with repairs.  Sadly, this is one of the very few homeowners that I had no real answer that a reverse mortgage could help them. 

What is the lesson? First, no matter how bad we want to help, there are some situations that just won’t work.   Second , you cannot count on Google earth to tell you the condition of a home.  Third, today’s property market value is never a constant. Fourth, there are times when you must visit the homeowner to access the real situation and finally , take a deep breath, don’t get discouraged, and proceed on to try to help someone else.  Oh, and tell your client where they might get some assistance.

Have you ever visited a home like this?  I am sure you have, if not you will at some point in your reverse mortgage career.

Here are some tips to help you when you talk and meet with your senior clients.
click on this link :http://www.remalo.org/members/94.cfm

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.
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Please check out our calendar for our next two November Workshops:
http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&cmonth=11/1/2009

Our next event is November 4th.

Today more than ever your key to survival and profitability is getting the best results, highest returns, and in the most efficient manner.

This month our guest will provide you with critical information on how to improve your lead generation.  Best of all this workshop is free to all REAMLO members.

To register go to this link: http://www.remalo.org/public/mgcal.cfmcalID=1&caldate=10/28/2009

October Marketing Workshop
 
Oct 28, 2009 Join us on Wednesday, October 28th at 2:00 p.m. EDT

This month’s guest will be Felicia Hodges of Alesco. Felicia is an expert in database management. She will discuss with you several ways that will help you to improve your lead conversions by addressing how to get the proper database.

You won’t want to miss this very informative workshop.

Check your local time zone below:

2:00 pm EDT 1:00 pm CDT 12:00 pm MDT 11:00 am PDT

Remember, keep moving forward to stay ahead in reverse.

If you are not a member, you can now join free:
go to this link:  http://www.remalo.org/public/425.cfm