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Financial sector in India is a diversified sector which is growing day by day both in terms of new emerging entities and strong growth of existing financial servicing firms. The financial sector includes commercial banks, NBFC’s, insurance companies, co-operatives, pension funds and many other small financial companies. The financial sector in India mainly includes the commercial banks. Now, the banking regulator has allowed few payment banks to become operational by adding them to new operational entities in the country. Several reforms are introduced by the Government of India for the regulation, liberation and for the enhancement of the country. With the combined efforts of Government and private sector, India is undoubtedly becoming the most vibrant capital market of the World.
The main aim of financial services sales representatives is to meet with clients to discuss financial goals, investment timelines and risk tolerance. They then recommend the existing financial services and products to their clients as per their needs. These might include different loans like mortgage, loan against property, personal loans, home loans, insurance policies, credit cards, selling accounts, other loans, mutual funds and stocks. They have to constantly monitor the markets and economy and evaluate how the change in finances affects taxes and client situations. Many specialize in particular products, such as mutual funds and commodities. The job is highly stressful because they have to deal with large amount of money and ensure that your recommendations are financially judged well.
The prime importance for financial sales representatives is the customer-service because they have to deal with different people every day. Their skills must bring out information out of financial analysts and listen patiently to client questions and present the basic financial facts. The sales representatives require good verbal and written communication skills so that they can communicate clearly and advice accordingly. Financial sales team must take initiatives as they have to cold-call potential customers whom they’ve never met before. On the technical side, sales team need math skills too to calculate risks and returns and an aim to ensure that they follow all industry and legal procedures.
Aspiring financial sales representative must have at least a bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, accounting or related field. Summer training internships provide real-world experience and prove to be a stepping-stone to a full-time position with the internship company. Advancing to management positions requires a master’s in business administration (MBA). Many employers also provide on-the-job training that focuses on the products, services offered and customer service and company policies. Licensing depends on the type of position and is available from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
There is an interesting psychological reason why people in the Financial Services industry do not consider themselves as sales professionals. People wants to work with professionals when it comes to investments, retirements and children’s education and not a sales person who are being appointed by the company for selling specific investments, mutual funds or stocks. When an investment goes in any unfavourable situation, it is much easier for an adviser to calm the nerves of an investor than for a sales professional to accomplish the same task.
Titles may vary from organization to organization but every successful financial sales professional understands that they have both responsibilities to understand market trends and how to effectively “sell” services to customers. Those being in the financial field do not accept that they are sales professional, usually end up in analyst roles or in a different career field.
A Sales professional has to interact with customers almost for the complete day so good communication and presentation skills are a required for the job. The sales professional should have a good understanding of the bank’s products and services to deal with individual customer’s needs and customize the products accordingly. The major skills and competencies that are required include the following:
Efficient sales professionals are difficult to find and more specifically in the area of financial products. Certain qualities distinguish a professional sales person from others regardless of what product they are selling, wholesale or retail, big-ticket or small-ticket.
The loan officers who specialize in offering financing to buy homes or refinance previous mortgages are known as Mortgage Bankers. They often take cold sales call, attend real estate meetings, home-buying seminars and other events to find new potential customers. Though the regulatory government set rules for the lending process but banks/ NBFC set their own standards to determine whether an applicant qualifies for a mortgage or not. For example, a banker can reject a mortgage application if a potential borrower doesn’t meet the bank’s credit criteria. It’s against federal law for a lender to reject a loan application based on a person’s marital status.
It’s a mortgage banker’s responsibility to verify applicants’ employment status, salary, KYC’s, credit history and other financial information to determine their creditworthiness and ability to repay a mortgage loan. Banker has to ensure that applicant fills the complete application form and provide all the necessary documents required for the loan processing and solve all the doubts of the customer. Mortgage loan officer need to be adaptive at using underwriting software as it iis widely used in the industry to simplify and speed up the loan evaluation process.
Mortgage lenders must provide applicants with a good-faith estimate, which clearly discloses the fees charged throughout the mortgage process. That includes fees associated with obtaining credit reports and home appraisals.
An applicant can ask the Mortgage banker to explain in writing why they declined their mortgage application. Application is also rejected in case if a home appraisal is lower than the amount an applicant wants to borrow. The loan application gets rejected in case an applicant have more debts from other Banks/ NBFC and the current financial situation does not fit in qualifying guidelines of the Bank.
