Whether a borrower is taking out a mortgage for their first home or looking to borrow for their second vacation home, one way you will always be able to establish trust and build a solid relationship is through communication. The key to this is to communicate often enough to leave an impression, but not too often that you seem salesy and pushy.

Here are 3 ways to up your communication game when trying to win over a borrower

1. Be personable

If you are trying to win over a borrower, the worst thing you can do is be robotic and impersonal. You need to be professional, but also be conversational. The more relaxed a potential borrower feels with you, the more likely they will be to take out the loan because you will be establishing trust and a solid connection with them. Your job is to help people accomplish a huge goal by purchasing a home. Relax and be confident in yourself and in your work and the borrower will be confident in you, too. It’s all in your conviction and delivery.

2. Personalize the communication

Make sure every email or phone call you make is personalized. If the borrower is a first-timer, you need to make sure they feel fully comfortable with the process and that you’re paying full attention to their needs. Use their name in every communication. Make sure you are tailoring each email and communication with details specific to what the borrower is looking for so that they know you’ve been listening to what they’ve been saying. Being relatable and personalizing the communication is the best thing you can do for a borrower who is iffy about the decision to borrow.

3. Be mindful of when and how you communicate

You don’t want to scare off a potential borrower by over communicating. Up your communication game by being tactful and mindful of when and how you communicate. After you first meet with the buyer, give them a quick phone call the next day and just go over exactly what you discussed in the meeting, so they know that you are well aware of their needs. Then if they still have not made a decision, follow up with a quick email to let them know you are there to answer any questions they may have about the process or the terms of the loan. Two forms of communication after the initial meeting is enough to keep the connection but not too much to seem overbearing.

As a loan officer, you serve as a partner to every borrower in the process of obtaining financing for their new home. How you communicate can make or break a borrower’s decision and it’s up to you to be personable, personalize the communication, and be tactful in when and how you communicate with these borrowers. By establishing trust and a strong connection with the borrower, you encourage them to want to work with you through this process.