Kelley Ayotte
We sat down with Women to Women Network member Kelley Ayotte of Mortgage Solutions Financial, and here's what she had to say…
Who are your clients/customers?
I can serve anyone who needs a home loan for a purchase or refinance. I specifically like working with teachers, engineers, and self-employed people because we have similarities in our daily jobs. For example, I want my clients to have all the relevant facts. Like an engineer, I will dig into the details with them. Lastly, I work for a company, but the business doesn't come in if I don't go out there and get it.
How do you help your clients/customers?
I help my clients understand the process. As the loan officer, I help borrowers understand exactly what they want or need and what the result can be. Even the basic lending process is not general knowledge, so I help people understand each step along the way. Whether you're exceptionally financially literate or someone just learning, I'll identify where you are in that spectrum and join you there to build up your knowledge. I had a borrower recently who was buying his third home, and he said, I have never had anyone explain this in such detail. I took it as an extreme compliment! Taking the time to explain rather than say, "Sign here, sign here, sign here." is really important. I treat people the way I'd want to be treated.
What brought you to this line of work?
I was headhunted by a lender my husband had repeatedly worked with. I was working as a pastry cook at the time. I had been a realtor decades ago, and I was always in sales before I started working in pastry. The lender said, "Your wife would be good at this." I gave it a shot, and the first two loans I did, covered 40% of what I would get working a full-time job doing pastry. Ice cream, croissants, and tarts are great, but whoa, it just couldn't be denied. Plus, it's such an important job. You're dealing with a very significant part of someone's financial life, so I have fun doing what I do, but at the same time, I'm dead serious about it.
What brings you joy?
When something first gets started, and a client decides that they want to work with me to purchase or refinance a home. The preparation and initial discussion of goals is the best! It feels great to earn my client's trust. When we begin, I am like a sprinter off the blocks. Training is over; it is time for the race!
The next best part is the end of our time together when we close the loan. I'm fairly unique in that I attend the closings at the title company. It’s great to be there to grab that positive energy and leave a final impression with my clients all the way to the end. They sign the last paper, sit back and get a bit giddy. Who would want to miss out on that?
What defines you and your business?
I'm extremely honest and transparent but fun at the same time. I just lay out the facts. It is silly to put off the hard conversations about what might be in the way of a quick and easy loan application. Some clients have challenges, and it’s my job to sort them out and provide a viable timeline of when it will work. People simply fascinate me! It drives me to get to know them and helps me understand how to best help. My clients have told me that when I ask a question, they know I sincerely want to know the answer. So I bring that to my work.
I'm very passionate and enthusiastic about what I do. My role in working with a client on a loan is similar to a doctor following a heartbeat on a medical rom-com show. The monitor starts with a steady beep, beep, beep, then the drama of a flatline comes. The doctor jumps into action, knowing it's nothing they can't handle! When that drama comes in working with a client in a unique situation, I just stay calm and work through it!
What's the most important thing you want people to know about you and your business?
I will see things through to the end with them. I am there for the highs and the lows, the smalls and the bigs. I want people to know they can count on me to give them the facts and show them a path to success, not sell them a lofty dream at the beginning with little chance of working. You can feel when someone's selling you an idea or a product, so you put a wall up. It's important to me that I don't come across that way. I try to be genuine in everything I do.
Mortgage Solutions Financial