BY DALE VERMILLION
January 2005
In our last article, we covered value as a stage in the Triangle for Success. Value is created through monetary benefits (payment, cash, tax, term and deferral) not through price, products or programs.
However, value alone will never get you the deal; it only gets you the application. Why? Because if you offer benefits alone, no matter how good they are, the customer will take those benefits and shop at a lower rate with your competition.
To ensure the deal, you need to connect value to the other two components of the triangle: relationship and differentiation. In this article, I will cover the second stage in the triangle—REALationship.
Let me start with a quote I have used for years: “Value first, REALationship second. Value creates a desire to buy, but REALationship creates a desire to buy from you!” In other words, when you show customers the benefits (the value) of your loan, you put them into the market. You create a desire in them to get those benefits.
However, that doesn’t mean they are going to get them from you. This is why REALationships are so critical. REALationships don’t just create a desire to buy, but a desire to buy from you! In essence, they take the customer out of the market.