Removing negative or derogatory accounts from your client’s credit reports is a beneficial service to provide. However, if that’s all you do you are missing a big opportunity to help your client and stand out in the crowded credit repair industry. You should also coach your client on adding positive credit accounts to additionally boost their credit score.
Provide More and Stand Out
The removal of negative items from a credit report only affects payment history which accounts for just 35% of an overall credit score. Even if you’re successful at removing all derogatory items from your clients' 3 major bureau reports, it will not give them the best credit score they could have. Then take into account that in most cases you won’t be able to remove all their negative items. How can you provide a better service and be more competitive against other credit repair providers?
When the vast majority of prospective clients call us, they are focused on having us remove negative items. But we also ask them about the positive accounts or tradelines they have. We want to get an idea of what we can do to boost their credit score in other ways. We educate our prospective client on working on building positive credit as well as removing derogatory accounts. We’re exposing them to a concept they haven’t thought of before. And, we are offering them something that no one else does.
Better Market Your Business. Just Look at the Competition
If you incorporate this into your service offering you can use it in your marketing to attract new clients. Look at your competitors’ websites. Nearly none talk about building positive credit. The message is the same. “We can remove your negative items”. Great, but what sets them and you apart? How can you better position yourself in the market? How can you get more referral business from people in the real estate, mortgage, and other industries? If you’re doing the same thing as 20 other companies in your area, it's much harder.
Coach Your Client on Adding Positive Credit Accounts
Here are just some of the ways you can help a client get the highest credit score possible other than just removing negative accounts.
- You can coach them on paying down their credit card and other revolving credit balances to 30% of their limit.
- You can inquire if they can pay off small delinquent accounts which will give you a better chance of removing the account in the dispute process.
- If they do not use credit cards, encourage them to start doing so. If they can’t get a traditional credit card suggest that they get a secured credit card. You can even find a secured card offering that will pay you a small affiliate fee.
- Offer or suggest a budgeting tool that will also guide them on how to pay down their debt to save the most on interest payments. Many people don’t understand how to pay down debt. They make minimum payments on all their accounts instead of focusing on paying off the account with the highest interest rate. Once paid off, they can then take those dollars and pay off the next account with the highest interest rate.
- If your client is a renter, offer, or suggest a service that will add their monthly rental payments to their Transunion credit report. It is difficult to find a service that will also add it to their Equifax report. Experian doesn’t offer this as they have their own program called Experian Boost.
- You can suggest to your prospective or existing client they enroll with Experian Boost. Experian Boost will add their phone, other utility bills, and even their monthly Netflix payment to their Experian credit report. *Before you do this, I recommend that you learn more about the access a consumer must give Experian to their bank statements.
Get Creative - What Else Can You Add?
There are perhaps other ways you can discover to coach your client on adding positive credit accounts to their credit reports. You may be able to generate more revenue by offering them. But that’s not the best reason to do it. The best reason to do it is to provide a better service to your client and be more competitive.
How We Provide Far More to Attract Client Referrals
We provide 11 credit and financial related services to every client beyond the removal of negative items from their credit report. When I talk to people in credit-related industries like real estate about them referring their credit-challenged clients to me, they are blown away. Think about it. Their goal is to sell a person a home. Therefore, they want to see that prospective clients' credit scores go as high as possible quickly. We give their client the best shot at getting into a home as soon as possible.
If you want to check out what we do visit our Credit Repair Business Opportunity page and watch a 30-minute video. If you don’t have the time or expertise to put everything together that I’ve described above, then maybe a good option is to become an Independent Agent and offer our suite of services.