The Lost Art: Submit a Letter

In the past days, before Zoom or Microsoft team, and even before (GASP) emails… this strange thing is attached when the guarantor submits the account to the guarantor underwriter: Submit letter! ! ! ! The letter will basically tell a story about the account being submitted, providing information about its background, who the owner is, and ideas about their future plans and goals. The letter does not replace in-person meetings, but it will provide context for other information submitted, such as financial statements, bank letters and contractor questionnaires.

Nowadays, amid the crazy hustle and bustle of instant communication, the submission letter has disappeared. You still see it occasionally – like the white rhino in a nature reserve, it is there, but it is so rare that it is almost extinct. Agents these days are so busy from one fire to the next that sitting down to write the letter seems like a waste of precious time. As a one-time agent, I am proud to be able to make this letter for my account. I have the opportunity to talk about their past achievements in a clear, concise way and not lose their abilities in all other information.

When the underwriter sees a submission letter, I promise they stop and get attention, and may even be surprised to sprinkle the afternoon latte. The first thing a letter said to the underwriter is that the agent has invested in this account and actually knows it. Well-written letters will weave all the standard information from the submission. What is really said in the financial statements? What is the meaning of the contractor’s questionnaire? Although financial statements and questionnaires can provide a lot of good information, they rarely provide any backstory or explanation why things are like this. Submitting a letter should provide that background or explanation.

Submitting the letter will also tell a story about the account, such as who started the company and its age, which can feel the type of experience the owner has in the niche. Are they spin-offs or new companies? Does the owner have a lot of experience, or just a lot of effort? What kind of projects did they work in the past and what type of owner jobs do they work in?

Submission letters can provide a lot of information about the account in a concise way and, most importantly, set the tone of the underwriting process. Letters with reliable background information and honest backstory will put everything else in a positive light. Compared to emails with several quick comments and 15 attachments, the submission letter transfers your submission letter to the top of the heap instead of submitting it to a folder in the underwriter’s inbox.