The mortgage and real estate industries have been on a bit of a rollercoaster in 2020, and it’s not the rollercoaster we expected. These highs and lows have been driven mostly by the arrival of COVID-19 and the ever-changing restrictions for operating that go with reopening businesses. One thing that’s for certain—your realtor and referral partners need you, their trusted loan advisor, now more than ever.

They need to know they can count on you for loan status updates, on-time closings, marketing support, and the things you’ve always done to earn their business in the past. Times like these can cement long-term relationships with your realtor and referral partners. Here are some ways you can show up strong during these unprecedented times and moving forward.

Prioritize Purchase Business

First, it’s important to prioritize your purchase business, even though you likely have a large backlog of refinances to get through and have more on the way. At APM, we’ve made the commitment to prioritize purchase business for your realtor partners, and they need to hear this from you.

Realtors need to know that they can rely on you to make sure their purchase loans close on time, every time. This is something many lenders have struggled to do in recent weeks. If you aren’t able to close the loan on time, there’s a lot of extra work and worry for the realtor and their client. By contrast, if you’re the lender who is closing purchase loans on time right now, you’ll likely earn more business.

At APM, we’re doing our best to adapt our company policies and guidelines to the current environment to help you close purchase loans on times. Our outreach and communication are to give you the what, the why and sometimes the how so you are informed and can take applicable action to best manage your business. We are ever committed to living the values of transparency, respect and scrappiness during these unprecedented times.

Keep Relationships with Referral Partners Growing

These record-low interest rates mean that we’re all scrambling to get refinances done. With all the refinances in your pipeline, it may feel hard to focus on anything else, much less generating any kind of new purchase business or maintaining existing referral relationships. Don’t let relationship-building activities go by the wayside—make them a priority.

Stay consistent, show up like you were doing before (or more) and ALWAYS pick up the phone! Don’t put off contact because you’re too busy. If you don’t maintain these relationships now, it will cost you later.

Realtors are relying on you to stay connected and provide them with accurate information about what’s happening in the mortgage world and with their clients. Don’t leave them wondering! If they don’t hear it from you, they will hear it from someone else and it could cost you a relationship that you’ve worked long and hard for. Now is the time to fight for your purchase business, not let it fall by the wayside!

Hold Virtual Lunch and Learns

Virtual lunch and learns are a great way to stay connected to your realtors and referrals in a convenient online format. Everyone grabs lunch and meets in a virtual room. Zoom is an inexpensive, secure and simple way to invite people to join you for an online video conference learning event. Just remember that the energy on a call is different than it is when you’re teaching in person, so be engaging and don’t make the event too long—you don’t want people to start zoning out while you’re talking.

Hot Topics:

• Now more than ever, your referral partners need to know what’s going on in the mortgage industry.
• Many realtors are also pivoting their business to an online format for the first time and can use you help! Don’t be afraid to share your expertise and technology resources that can help them during these times.
• Realtors also want to know about changes to financing and options available for their borrowers.

Offer Customized Marketing for Realtor Partners

With all the changes happening in the industry, new restrictions for property showings and an uptick in activity in the real estate market, the last thing realtors have time for is marketing. This is a perfect opportunity for you to offer your support and show your realtor partners your willingness to go above and beyond for their business.

Through APM’s marketing tools, our loan advisors can provide customized, ready-made marketing materials to keep their business going at no cost to the realtor. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Within minutes after a listing hits the market, you can provide your realtor with visually attractive marketing materials for print and social media so they can showcase their listings. Talk about winning their business!

APM Loan Advisors can choose from a variety of marketing pieces, including:

• Open house and listing flyers
• Single-property websites
• Property reports
• Neighborhood infographics
• Pre-listing presentations
• Targeted Facebook posts

Continue Your Purchase Lead Generation Efforts

We know that right now you’ve probably got all the business you can handle, but this heyday won’t last forever and at the end of it, you’ll need a pipeline of loans to carry you through. Don’t take time off from your purchase lead generation efforts. Continuing to build a pipeline of loans is a win for you and your referral partners.

Through APConnect, you can continue to build and nurture your pipeline of purchase business by utilizing our team of trained sales professionals to help support you during this time. And if you’ve partnered with a realtor, this sales team will help nurture their prospects as well. Once a lead is ready for hand off, they will make a warm transition to you, the loan officer, and the realtor. This allows you and you realtor partners to focus on your NOW business while also building your future business.

In summary, make sure you’re prioritizing your purchase business, staying consistent with communication, and making an effort to provide value to your realtor and referral partners. Going to the extra mile now, when many are not, will pay off in the future.

At APM, we value our loan advisors and their realtor and referral relationships, which is why we provide tools and resources that create long-lasting relationships. To learn more about APM, our technology tools and resources, visit joinapm.com.