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How bond originators can get more out of working from home

Operating in a work-from-home world can be challenging for those whose work incorporates a lot of face-to-face interaction, but a professional approach to modern technologies can help surmount those challenges.

Article summary

  • Rely on video conferencing calls as a substitute for face-to-face interaction.
  • Dress professionally, minimise distractions, and remain focused on your clients, as you would in a face-to-face meeting.
  • Follow up with clients with emails and telephone calls to keep yourself top-of-mind, and demonstrate that you’re invested.

In this new ‘work from home’ world, it can be difficult for people whose work incorporates a lot of face-to-face interaction. For a bond originator, building relationships with buyers and estate agents is an important part of the job. As such, working from home introduces some challenges, but those challenges can be surmounted. All it requires is a change in approach.

 

5 Tips to best engage buyers

Engaging with buyers requires bond originators to be able to cut through the online noise, and build a relationship based on trust without being able to interact with the client in person.

Here are five tips for achieving that:

  1. Make use of video calls as much as you can. The first meeting should definitely be conducted by video call, so you and the client can start off with something close to a face-to-face interaction.
  2. Follow up on the first video call with meeting minutes, so as to assure the client you are invested in your communication with them. Include a link to your online profile, such as a website or Facebook page, to establish credibility.
  3. Spend more time communicating via video calls or telephone before moving onto more impersonal mediums like emails and texts.
  4. If you have an established relationship with an estate agent that the buyer has a rapport with, get that estate agent to make the introduction, which will go a long way to ensuring your relationship with the buyer starts off on the right foot.
  5. Build credibility with the client by offering references of previous buyers’ experiences.

 

4 Tips to best engage estate agents

Much of a bond originator’s work involves dealing with estate agents as well as buyers. They are your gateway to the world of property buyers and investors.

You need to have methods for dealing with estate agents online as well as clients. Here’s a few tips:

  1. Stay in touch with your existing partners in the estate agent industry. Ensure you remain at the top of their mind by checking in on them with frequent video calls, telephone calls, emails and texts.
  2. Look to add value to your communication with an estate agent, rather than just constantly looking to sell. Do some research into their industry and the neighbourhoods they operate in to see if there’s useful information and insights you can offer them.
  3. Maintain your professional etiquette — don’t go into video calls wearing your pajamas. Dress professionally, and prepare as you would for professional face-to-face meetings. Minimise background interference (such as barking dogs or kids).
  4. Make sure your cold-calls to agents utilise video conferencing as much as possible, so they can see what you’re about. Cold-calling to agents who have not yet partnered with you can be tough when you can’t do it face-to-face. Plan the structure of what you want to cover in your discussion, dress professionally, take notes, and follow up with a mail, all as you would have you met them face-to-face.

 

Video conferencing tips

It’s evident you’ll be making use of video conferencing technology a lot during this period, to substitute for face-to-face interaction. For some extra video conferencing tips, try these for your next call:

  • Test your technology ahead of each and every call, including the sound, camera and internet connectivity. The fact that it worked the last time doesn’t guarantee it will this time. Technology is fickle, and you don’t know how any software or hardware changes you’ve made in the meantime could have affected it.
  • Dress the part — as you would for any face-to-face meeting. Don’t try to get away with, for example, not wearing suitable pants just because the upper part of your body will be the only part visible.
  • Minimise distractions and background noises, and make sure your background is neat. You don’t want dirty dishes or drying laundry visible in the background of your call.
  • Stay focused — ensure the people on the video call have your full attention. They’ll be able to tell if you’re doing other things, like finishing additional work or reading emails, while on the video call.
  • Avoid yawning, stretching, roaming eyes or other actions that make it look as if the meeting doesn’t have your full attention.

So in summation, treat video calls as you would a face-to-face meeting; act and dress professionally and remember you’re engaging with people who are important to your business, and the image you present to them will reflect on your company.

Though the lack of face-to-face interaction is challenging, it can be overcome with proper use of the technologies we have at our command in the modern world.