Reverse originators are leaving business on the table. Every time we forget to check in with a satisfied customer, or communicate with those who helped influence their decision to move forward with the loan, or fail to ask former clients for referrals, we pass up the opportunity to get new clients.

We have all heard that past clients are our greatest sales tools, but for some reason folks in this industry don’t seem to embrace them.

You know how it goes: You get the clear-to-close on a client’s loan, you schedule the closing, the day of the signing goes great, you follow up with a phone call on funding day to be sure the money is in the bank, and you forget to ever talk to that customer again. You probably mean to call them, but maybe you don’t get around to it. You think about sending a thank-you note—maybe you send one, maybe you don’t. You have good intentions, but your follow-through is not what it needs to be to harness this incredible piece of residual business.

Remember during the application process your clients were telling you about a friend of theirs who might need your help but you forget to follow up? You’re so busy chasing the next warm lead from your referral partner that you forget about your past clients, their friends and the professionals who help them, and neglect to ask them for more business.

I feel so strongly about client referrals from previous customers that I truly believe you can get an additional 12 self-sourced loans per year via a formal follow-up and follow-through. A regimented process of tracking calls, mail and email touches, and quarterly postcard mailing to all previous clients throughout the year will keep your services top-of-mind. When a friend shares concerns about their ability to retire, your former happy customers will know whom they should call.

If you’re a successful loan officer, you never forget about happy clients from your past who loved you, loved your professionalism, loved your tableside manner, and loved how you improved their retirement plan. If you were to call a past customer one or two years after origination and talked to them at length about their experience or how their quality of life has changed, you would be touched. Most will tell you what a valuable, long-term impact you had on their finances. You have changed their lives; this is something not everyone in sales gets to experience.

Ask any Realtor worth their salt and they will tell you that most people who sell a home will probably buy another in five to seven years. So they keep in touch to be sure they are still top-of-mind when it comes to listing the home they once sold. Realtors I know send “just sold “and “just listed” postcards around the neighborhood to let others in that community know that they are helping their neighbors. Why aren’t reverse mortgage professionals more like that? We could send “just applied“ or “just closed” postcards around the neighborhood in our senior-friendly markets to let folks know that we are working locally to help folks in their neighborhood change their lives with a reverse.

It’s also important that we not forget to ask to connect with past clients’ family, neighbors and friends who may need our help. I closed a loan with a client recently who invited me to speak at his Kiwanis club. He was so pleased with his transaction and wanted me to pass this information along to his friends. I also invited a past client from a previous year to a lunch event to give a testimonial about my assistance and how a reverse changed his life.

Think about this vast resource that is your previous client database. Call them, email them, mail them a postcard or offer to take them to lunch. Don’t be afraid to ask for additional sources of referral business. Ask what events and civic activities they are attending this year, what’s happening in their neighborhood, neighbors who might have issues or repair needs, etc.

Our best advertising comes from past customers, but few of us take advantage of this free marketing and ask for more business from former clients.