Taking inbound calls from homeowners facing foreclosure is an art. There is no magic bullet and no magic words that you can say that will simply get them to say, “ok, it’s your house, what do you need?” Unfortunately, the only way to really get good at taking inbound calls and converting them well is to take inbound calls. Simply put, you need to speak with the homeowners. You need to get on the phone and make mistakes. What this blog entry will do is help you avoid some of the most common mistakes. It will give you a very good idea on what to say and what not to say. It will help you become a success quicker. Realize this is an abbreviated version of everything you need to know. The complete version is just too large for this blog entry. I’ll still cover the most important parts, you’ll just be missing out on some of the detail.
Ok, first thing you need to do is to change the way you think about the homeowner facing foreclosure. Think of them as your brother or sister. Treat them like your brother or sister. On the flip side, don’t let them take all your time. The typical phone conversation should last between 10 and 45 minutes, depending on how much rapport is necessary with the homeowner. Here is how my conversations typically go.
First off, when they call, they’ll say something like, “I got your letter,” or “I got your flyer,” or something similar. What I typically do next is I say, ok, what can we do to help you? I then let them talk for a second or two, then I say (when it makes sense in the conversation), ok, well let me ask you a few questions about your situation and based on what you tell me, I’ll tell you what we can do to help, will that be ok? They almost always say “yes,” and then I just start going through the script. When you get to the part about “do you want to sell, refinance, or keep, you will be taking a fork in the road. If they say they want to keep, then you just walk them through their options (i.e. explain reinstating, forbearance, and modification). If they have the ability to stay based on what you tell them, then tell them to contact loss mitigation and get started. If they can’t keep, then you tell them their options now are a deed in lieu, sell their house (or short sale), or worst case, the foreclosure.
It’s really that simple. Many people get hung up when the homeowner says they want to keep. DO NOT TALK THEM OUT OF KEEPING!!! They will see through you here. Just explain to them how they can keep. When they realize that they really can’t, they’re going to come back to you because you tried to help them stay, and they will like you for that. Let them come to their own conclusion about selling.
After they say they want to sell, then you explain the paperwork necessary to sell and schedule a time to get together with them.
Good Luck!!!
