Can you be yourself on social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?
I sure hope so, because I've made a point of it for quite some time now. So often I see personal facebook pages that seem to display nothing but listings and mortgage loan programs. I'm certain these items are of value to a person's business. I am after all, a partner at LeaderOne Financial Corporation; a mortgage lender. I do post items that I feel will be of importance to my clients, business partners and employees. However, I still have friends out there and social media is a great way to keep in touch! I really don't want to manage more than one Facebook or Twitter account, nor do I want to water down my personality in order to impress the public. So, what is the answer? Sure, I have a business fan page, but I tend to market my office on there completely separate from myself as an originator.
The answer for me is simply to be myself. I think people are aware that we have lives outside of work. I also believe that our friends are aware that we have business lives. There was a point in time that I had "groups" set up on facebook and hid certain posts from friends and others from my business associates. However, I have completely changed that tact. I no longer have my contacts categorized into "friends" and "business". I have decided that I have a unique opportunity. I am not running for public office, so I have no need to be "politically correct". Before the advent of social media, I always made it a point to work with people I like. I am a military veteran and have many friends who are either active duty, retired or prior military. I do a lot of VA loans and can comfortably say that I'm an expert on the topic. I very often post VA Mortgage related articles and they are read by industry professionals and laymen alike. Then again, I'm also a fan of Tosh.0, UFC, NFL Football and College sports. I like to make political commentary as well. I like to laugh and rather enjoy making my friends and family members laugh. I never go too overboard, but I'm not afraid to make a tongue in cheek comment from time to time. I'm simply not afraid for my business associates to know what I'm about outside of the office.
A good friend of mine who is a motivational speaker and CEO of a business consulting firm came up with a theme for this year in business called, "Care Enough To Be Unreasonable". For me this means that being a professional and knowing that I am quite possibly the best option for a mortgage for my friends and family members, I make sure they have the same opportunities to take advantage of my knowledge of the industry as my clients and referral partners. There is a tremendous cost to working with the wrong company. Some friends may not like seeing my business posts and they're free to ignore them. Some business folks may not enjoy my reposts of adult humor, but they can also ignore what they don't like. Some may even "unfriend" me. I think that's okay. We should all strive to play well with others. After all, the real estate and mortgage industry is a smaller sandbox than people would think. However, we spend far too many hours working to not enjoy it.
I truly love what I do and I work very hard to be good at it. I enjoy the people I work with and most of my business relationships ultimately become friendships. I'm not one to sell a bill of goods. What you see is what you get and I'm not going to change that any time soon.
Jeremy P. Stump - Assistant Vice President
LeaderOne Financial Corporation- Colorado
http://www.leader1.com/jeremy-stump
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jpstump
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeremypaulstump
Business Page: http://www.facebook.com/leaderonecoloradosprings
The customer is always right...or at least that's what I was told when I started work at an auto parts store in San Bernardino, California as a teenager. Could this still be true today? Since my days of peddling quarts of oil, I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two about customer service. Actually, I'd like to believe that I haven't forgotten anything about customer service.
Today, I am a partner in a mortgage company. We are a lender working in what some feel is one of the most difficult markets the industry has faced in generations. In this type of environment and as competitive as the mortgage industry is today, you'd think that customer service for the sake of client retention would be at the forefront of everyone's business model. However, this does not seem to be the case.
The number one complaint that I hear from consumers who have worked with another lender prior to working with us at LeaderOne Financial is that their Loan Officer wouldn't call them back. Really? Yes, really. It is true that we cannot help everyone, but at least every client and the parties involved in their transaction deserve to know as soon as possible whether or not they can be helped and in what period of time. However, this is simply not the norm. This is a very disturbing practice and is not unique to the mortgage industry.
Last weekend I had what I have been calling, "the worst customer service weekend ever!" I was mistreated at a major retail chain and had my massage cancelled with no notice...twice!
Monday I watched the news and listened to reporting about the decline of customer service then read more about it on facebook. I watched as literally hundreds of people commented on poor customer service experiences and how they're essentially giving up on the idea. Wow!
I refuse to give up on the idea. LeaderOne Financial's motto is, "We're Committed to World Class Service". I believe we do a good job of this but we consistently train and lecture on the value of customer service. As I read through hundreds of feedback letters from our past customers, it seems the experience means more to them than the product. Our service levels seem to be the most frequently mentioned item in all of the surveys. I suppose that is why the vast majority of our business is repeat and referral. Had we not taken care of our customers and had they not felt that customer service was important to us, I wonder what our numbers would look like.
We are actually holding a "Customer Love Event" next week and inviting people from all industries to take part in training and discussion on the resurgence of customer service.
Customer service is such an integral part of the sales process that it cannot be ignored. It cannot be separated from any part of a business. Customer service in a mortgage company begins with integrity, continues with proficiency and doesn't end at funding.
For more discussion or information about our process at LeaderOne Financial, look us up at http://www.leader1.com/colorado-mortgage. You can also find me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leaderonecoloradosprings.
Jeremy P. Stump - Partner
LeaderOne Financial Corp. - Colorado
719-592-9339 x15
LeaderOne Financial is a mortgage lender licensed in Colorado and several other states. For a list of states in which we're licensed, go to http://www.leader1.com
Colorado Lic. #LMB100023515
NMLS#193265
For License Verification: http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate
LeaderOne Financial Corporation is a direct mortgage lender and we are in the central part of Colorado Springs right off of Garden of the Gods Rd.
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