Playbook: Inquiry Alerts

Among many alerts that we provide at MonitorBase, one of the most common and consistent alerts we offer is the Inquiry Alert.

To trigger this alert, a contact in your database must meet the minimum credit criteria set by your organization and have their credit pulled for a mortgage in the last 24 hours.

The contact might have started an application with their bank, local credit union, or online lender. Generally, borrowers begin to work with what’s immediately available and presented to them. If you have worked with this contact in the past or have a trusting relationship with them, this is the perfect opportunity to reach out and capture their business before they settle with your competitor. You can stand out by recognizing the relationship and offering information that others don’t think to offer, such as 100% financing or down payment assistance programs. 

The beauty of this alert is that the contact is already in the market. You don’t have to try to predict it or sift through potential home buyers. The credit inquiry is a sure sign that they are ready to begin the mortgage process. 

Once you reach out, there are a few possible outcomes:

• The contact is in the market and glad you called.
• The contact is in the market but not looking for a second opinion (yet).
• The contact has already had their questions answered or they changed their mind.

If you play your cards right and reach out, follow up, and follow through, the process will become optimized and lead to consistent results. 

The Inquiry Alert is a disposable tool in this process and if you nurture the relationships and communication, you will see progress and results in the future.

Below is a step-by-step script to utilize for your initial outreach. As with all our scripts, modify them for your relationship and position. Watch the video for more tips, tricks, and methods that utilize the Inquiry Alert!

Script: 

"Hi (First Name),

It's (Your Name)" 

As with all our scripts, Make the Connection: You want to remind them of how you know each other.  This will change the tone of the conversation from a cold call to a warm call.  

For example, if you helped them with financing to buy a home two years ago, bring that up.  If this is a contact that an agent provided to you, let the client know the connection, 

for example:

"We worked together a couple of years ago to purchase your home..."

OR 

"I work closely with (Agent Name)'s clients..."

OR

"We met at the home buyer seminar I held a year ago."  (you get the picture, right?)

Now that the conversation has relevance, it's time to start talking about them...

"You may have seen the letter or email from me recently; my system periodically reaches out to clients that may be in the market, and your name popped up, so I thought I would just give you a quick call and see if I could answer any housing market or mortgage related questions for you."

Let them talk, and ask follow-up questions that will get them talking about their future plans, for example... 

"Have you been looking into buying a home or refinancing your current mortgage?"

"Would you be interested in having me email you a quote as well, just for comparison?"

"Has someone let you know about your area's (down payment assistance) programs?"

Give Value: Let the conversation continue from here, with you asking questions about them.  Let them tell you how you could help them.  Remember, selling and buying a home is a complicated process. People don't want mortgages; they want homes.  The more value you can give, in the form of insight or answering questions, the more likely they will open up and have a meaningful discussion.  

Differentiate Yourself: Talking about rates and terms will put them to sleep.  Rates and Terms will sound very similar from one lender to the next.  Tell them how unique you are compared to other lenders and focus on your individual programs compared to the standard products available.  

If they don’t answer: 

1. Leave a voicemail using the above script as an outline.
2. Send a Text, if you can, with similar messaging as the voicemail.
3. Send a follow-up email.
4. Set a reminder to try again in 1-2 weeks