Banks and How To Handle Them

So over the past few weeks, I have been trying to get a HELOC nailed down which has been consuming most of my time. Lesson learned from this is that you should call the bank every day to get an update. If I hadn’t called every day it would have taken 3-5 days most likely to get told another piece of paper was needed or there is something odd that needs to be taken care. The way I looked at is I didn’t care if I was annoying him, good I hope I was because if he wants me to stop annoying him then he needs to get the deal closed. Now by annoying, I don’t mean making angry, I always speak over the phone smiling that way it is heard in my tone and voice fluctuations that I am happy, not mad and angry. I have noticed that every time I am doing this simple trick I get better results. Also ask how their day is going, every time I did this I got a shocked representative that I wasn’t just some other jerk over the phone demanding, I am sending the message that although I can be demanding at times I will never yell or give you attitude, I will be a joy to work with.

This also benefits me in some other ways too, for instance, I was calling around to different local and regional banks that serviced the Cincinnati area to find a portfolio lender and had a pretty lucky break, but you know what they say the harder I work the luckier I get. Now by simply doing the two things I did above I was able to get the gentlemen to confess he was located in Tampa Bay, since this was an area I am interested in down the road I began to ask questions and came to find out he was also an investor so we went from what should have been a 10-minute conversation to over an hour talking about different lending strategies and different investing strategies in both the mid-west and east coast. Also while doing some quick internet research I was able to find out that the gentlemen I am connecting with happens to be in the top 5 mortgage consultants as far as closing deals for the entire company and frequently holds the number 1 spot. Jack Pot! Even though they weren’t a portfolio lender I guarantee I will be doing business with them.

After an hour of talking I now have the business contact of one of the top closers in the company who also has an investor mindset that can come in handy down the road but I also walked away with his personal contact and was instructed to call him in order to discuss how we could potentially work out a partnership. So let's recap what I get when I am kind, friendly, not straight down to business and treat the other person on the line like a human being.

• 1. I get a faster close
• 2. I get a wealth of information on areas I know nothing about
• 3. I get potential partnerships

Now I know what you’re thinking, “of course treat them like people, I do it all the time”. My question to you is, are you though? I have sat alongside other investors as they are calling banks, investors, contractors, real estate agents in order to learn how to handle business and trying to pick up at least 1 new lesson and I noticed that most of them are very demanding, impatient, and cold sounding. So maybe record your future conversations to truly hear how you sound over the phone.

What tips and tricks do you use when talking business over the phone? 

What has made your life easier and your business more successful?