Track it! TRACK TRACK!

I can't remember what I ate for breakfast most days, but I can remember every conversation I've had on any file I'm negotiating. I also TRACK and record in my software what has gone down on a file. I have drilled this into the heads of everyone that works for me.

Today, I got a call from one of the lenders we've been dealing with. THEY are ROTTEN with communication. I get a call from a negotiator, introducing herself, and telling me she left me a message last week and *I* didn't respond. I immediately state, "No we did speak, and you told me you were going to review the file because customer service was looking for updated bank statements and a 4506-T form date change, and you told me that you didn't care what customer service was requesting, but that you would go through the file and see what was needed. I also have your irect fax line, and email that you gave me last week. You also told me that I could email you, but you wouldn't email me back" She was FLOORED. She had stumbled her words after that and then admitted, "You clearly took better notes than me, because I have no notes in the system" - WHICH IS EXACTLY why I TAKE good notes. It's also been par for the course with this lender. Every time I call in there are no notes.

The moral of the story is no matter how good my notes are the file is still sitting on a desk collecting dust, even though I've escalated, written to the president of this lender, etc. I will have an excellent timeline in case my seller ever sues this lender though ;)

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Permalink Reply by Wendy Rulnick on January 19, 2012 at 2:25pm

Smitty - I completely agree! This is a great philosophy and there is a reason for doing it. Good illustration of why it's important!

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Permalink Reply by Corinn on January 19, 2012 at 4:40pm

ha ha. I've had that happen before too, Smitty. Good notes can make a big difference. Great post!

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Permalink Reply by Bryant Tutas on January 22, 2012 at 8:08am

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Permalink Reply by Tara Semtner on January 22, 2012 at 9:13am

Absolutely! I also grab their number from the caller id as it is often a direct number that gets answered. This is invaluable when I get caught in the automatic message loop and cannot reach a person.

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Permalink Reply by Kimberley Kelly on January 22, 2012 at 9:54am

Date it, write it down and update it..constantly..every single time. I put the time as well..

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Permalink Reply by Thom Colby 888-391-5245 CA Brkr on January 22, 2012 at 11:35am

I agree - Every morning the first thing I do is open Top Producer so I can take notes on every call. TP date and timestamps every entry. If the conversation is not so great, I play an announcement and (audio) record the call (using Ring Central). That recording goes into my file for that transaction. Just like you Smitty, I take great notes and my file is going to be full and complete if/when we need to go to court.