If people buy from people, brokers need to be more human in the growing world of AI – Knight
Recently, I reviewed over 100 broker websites. Some were great. But most missed one key thing – the human element.
For years, I have heard the expression: ‘People buy from people’. Yet if people buy from people, why do so many mortgage broker websites still feel too corporate, and too similar to each other?
In the world of artificial intelligence (AI), it has never been more important to be human.
What did I find looking at websites?
Lots of corporate language and jargon. Long sentences and paragraphs.
I found a lot of stock photography – or maybe AI-generated images. Particularly smiling families and skylines.
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There was plenty of talk about ‘us’, but very little sense of the actual people behind the business who deliver the solutions and services.
So if people really do buy from people (and I believe this adage), perhaps the answer is simple: Be more human.
People buy from people they can find and trust
I like to expand the saying ‘people buy from people’, because people will buy from those they can find. If they can’t find you, they can’t buy from you.
Brokers need to ensure they can be found and trusted. And this is built through what you say, what you show and what you do.
One useful way of thinking about this is the Trust Equation, developed by Charles Green and Peter Maister. It suggests that trust is influenced by four things:
Credibility + reliability + intimacy, divided by self-orientation.
In simple terms:
- Credibility – Do I believe you know what you’re talking about?
- Reliability – Will you do what you say you will do?
- Intimacy – Do I feel comfortable sharing my situation with you?
- Self-orientation – Are you interested in me, or mainly in selling to me?
For a mortgage broker, all four matter.
Show who you are
Show your face(s), not just your logo. People build relationships, not logos. A stock image doesn’t build trust – you do. So be visible. Put photographs of you and your team on your website. And not necessarily corporate headshots. Show some personality. Of course, this will depend on your positioning and how you want to be perceived.
And don’t hide behind ‘About Us’. Be on your home page. Show and tell people who they are going to be dealing with. Because before someone becomes your client, they are asking themselves a simple question: “Do I feel I can trust this person?”
Your face is a good place to start.
Now tell your story
There is a reason you became a broker. Whatever that reason is, share it.
It is unique. It is more interesting than you think. It makes you more human. Stories are more memorable than facts and give people something to connect with. And don’t worry about making it sound corporate. Your story doesn’t need to be a carefully crafted brand narrative.
It just needs to be your story, told in your words.
Tell client stories
A lot of case studies are dull. Emotionless. Because they tell facts, not stories. Maybe stop calling them case studies and call them client stories. Then tell the story.
What was the client’s problem? How did you solve it?
Write the story in the same way you would tell it to another broker.
Write how you speak
Read your website out loud. Would you actually say those words to a client sitting across the desk from you? If not, change them.
To be human, you need to write how you speak. Don’t get hung up on perfect grammar either. Be authentic. Writing in a human way that other humans understand is the key to successful copy. Being human doesn’t mean informal or unprofessional.
Simple doesn’t mean simplistic.
Make things easy
If you are going to be more human, then you are also going to be helpful. One way is to make things easy for website visitors. This is one of the simplest things you can fix.
Someone has read your website. They like what they see. They trust you. But what happens next? Do you make them work it out?
‘Contact us’ is okay. But sometimes you can be much more helpful.
- Want to know if you can get a mortgage? Start here.
- Ready to talk? Book a call.
- Not sure where to begin? Send us a message.
- Already have a mortgage with us? Here’s what happens next.
Think about the questions running through someone’s head at each stage and make the next step obvious. And give clarity about what happens once they get in touch.
Human contact
When it comes to ‘get in touch’, be more human. Give people options. And give them a human email address – not an info@company.com.
Give people the option to call you or send a WhatsApp message. Everyone is different. But make contacting you human.
Building that trust
Think about every interaction as an opportunity to build trust.
Share your knowledge and expertise – that is why people seek you out. Answer the questions people are actually asking, rather than generic FAQs. That’s credibility building.
Do what you said you would do. Be reliable.
Create human-to-human content. That builds intimacy.
Be helpful and nurture. This keeps self-orientation low.
Human brand
The strongest broker brands are the ones where you can see, hear and feel the people behind the business.
You know who they are. You understand why they do what they do. You can see that they have helped people like you. You understand what they actually do.
So if people buy from people, be more human.
