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Here's an interesting little exercise that's well worth your effort.

Make a list of all the different ways your best friends and family members can make contact with you? They can call your home phone. They can call your cell phone. They can call your business phone. They can email you (you may even have given them a few email addresses from which to choose). They may be able to use a form on your website. They can message you at MySpace or some other social networking site. They may even be able to catch you on your favorite instant messenger. Of course, they can always stop by your house. Or, they can send you a note or letter via the old stand-by...snail mail.

Yes...for your friends and family you're easy to find and always extremely easy to contact. This is how it should be. With today's tools and technology it's not at all difficult to set up alternative ways to communicate and keep in touch.

Now, how many ways can your mortgage customers and business associates contact you?

Review your list. How big was the gap between the two? If it's too big, you're making a really huge business mistake.

The idea of being accessible might be a little disarming for many of you, but it is one of the best and easiest things you can do to grow your mortgage business. If you're limiting clients to finding you with a web page form, you're inviting customer problems while discouraging new people from doing business with you.

Your business accessibility produces confidence. People will feel a whole lot better about working with you if they know they can reach you when necessary. Now, most of them don't have any desire to call you unnecessarily. In fact, most of them will never utilize your alternative contact options. Having them in place, however, creates an aura of accountability and helps drive up your presence and credibility, which is a great way to boost sales.

Your accessibility quite simply makes people feel totally comfortable, more secure and less vulnerable.

Your accessibility averts disaster. Some people, through no fault of your own, will have a problem. They may have complaints. They may not understand something. Regardless of the whys, they want to get in touch with you. If they can't, their attitudes can sour even more. A vaguely disappointed customer who just needed some advice can quickly turn into a raging customer monster if he or she can't get an answer fast.

No, you don't need to hand out your home phone number to everyone you meet. You do, however, need to be totally accessible. Give your mortgage customers and associates multiple ways to keep in touch with you.

To put things in perspective, many of these people have just given you very detailed personal and financial information about themselves and their families. A simple list of alternative ways to contact you really is asking very little and will go a long way to improving your mortgage business.