Do you offer superior service, consistently close loans on time and overall are more adept than your competitors, yet you're struggling to figure out the mortgage marketing and advertising puzzle?
For many loan officers, marketing is a real puzzle. Your expertise is in pricing loans, closing them on time and rendering quality service. You're not necessarily an expert at how to attract more new clients, especially from real estate agents, where most of the purchase transactions occur daily.
If your mortgage marketing and advertising strategy doesn't have real estate agents lined up at your door begging to use your services, chances are you're missing the magical ingredient - the ingredient that magnetizes agents.
Too often, loan officers chase agents for deals. And when you chase agents, they'll always feel they have the upper hand in the relationship, poised to take advantage of you or be over demanding in their expectations. Does this sound familiar with any of your past experiences dealing with these kind?
How do you reverse this pattern? What's involved with getting them to chase you?
It begins with relationship building, and of course, that's what your business is about, isn't it?
Ideally, your strategy should reflect the major processes of relationship building; lead generation, client acquisition and client retention. Understanding each of the processes is the easy part, executing them to get the results you want is more challenging?unless of course, you know the magical ingredient.
Most Agents you meet today aren't ready to do business with you because you're a stranger. Remember growing up, the phrase mommy coined, "stranger-danger." You were told stay away from strangers, don't accept anything from strangers.
Gee, is it no wonder why our defensive guard is immediate when we meet someone that we don't know for the first time. Let's not fault Agents for feeling the same way. They're human too, well, most of them anyway.
What's it take to get a stranger to become your friend? The same thing it took when you met your best friend. When the two of you first met you weren't instantly best friends, the relationship grew over time. That's obvious, but what does it have to do with Agents? It's not like we're real anxious to make them our best friends.
It has everything to do with Agents. Both, the Agent and your best friend's needs are similar. Familiarity, comfort, and trust are the seeds to growing a relationship.
So how can your marketing turn strangers into friends, friends into clients and clients into loyal clients (best friends)? Let's get back to learning about the magical ingredient.
Since most Agents you want to attract to your business are strangers, your first goal is to establish familiarity. They have to get to know and trust you before they'll do business with you. Don't make the mistake that every other loan officer commits, by directly confronting Agents and soliciting them, a.k.a. cold calling.
Good, I'm glad to hear you don't like cold calling because you shouldn't do it. It's the most difficult way to attract relationships.
OK, I'm getting to the point, enough dragging this out. The magical ingredient that most loan officers are missing in their marketing is the same ingredient that gets a political candidate elected to public office.
No, I don't mean the lying and cheating part, I'm talking about what they do up to Election Day. They campaign! The magical ingredient to your success in becoming an Agent Magnet is campaigning.
A campaign is a connected series of messages corresponded over time designed to bring about your most wanted response. It's what drives your message, keeps it in front of the prospect, and sustains it long enough for the prospect to take the action you most desire.
Let me briefly cover what a campaign isn't. A campaign isn't sending out a postcard and getting an Agent to pick up the phone and call you, that's called an advertisement. A campaign isn't sending an email message or calling an Agent every once in awhile to check in on how they're doing or learning if they have a deal for you ? that's called desperation.
Now don't lose the wind in your sails. There's more to campaigning than you realize. Campaigning is what moves each process of relationship building forward. Remember the three processes; lead generation, client acquisition and client retention.
You need campaigns to match each process. The three specific campaigns that should make up your marketing strategy include:
- Teaser Campaign
- Top of Mind Awareness Campaign
- Client Loyalty Campaign
Each campaign serves different purposes with preplanned desired responses to move the Agent through the relationship building process. You need campaigns to match up with each process. It's a form of action, nothing moves without action.
Jeff Nelson helps mortgage companies and individual loan officers increase loan originations by developing customized relationship-building strategies that secure quality relationships with real estate agents.
Click here to get a free copy of the Marketing Planning Guide, a 20-page workbook designed to help you outline a strategy to becoming an Agent Magnet.
Visit us at http://www.loan-officer-marketing.com< /a>
"But this won't work" said Steve. "I've tried it in... Read More
Do Crucial Market Research For Free, On Your OwnIs market... Read More
Face it, writing any article can be a tedious and... Read More
I knew this one would get your attention. How can... Read More
You've probably bought a book or two at one of... Read More
It is often difficult to manage to do marketing tasks... Read More
Have you ever walked into a store or business and... Read More
There are many ways to promote your website for free... Read More
The job of convincing your existing customers to spend higher... Read More
Nothing gets people buying products or programs like a special... Read More
CRM?strategic engine or just another technology tool? How would you... Read More
Many professional copywriters estimate that the headline contributes to 80%... Read More
In Part 1, I discussed how traditional marketing is no... Read More
Use a business card as a note pad for recording... Read More
A simple answer to that is: Yes, Marketing Miracles happen!... Read More
Having people go to your website is not always easy:... Read More
The most important, yet overlooked aspect of marketing is an... Read More
Which sale is the most important one you will ever... Read More
Are you looking for a natural way to market your... Read More
In a world that is spinning out of control; with... Read More
Whether you're a former retail store owner known for your... Read More
I'm reading Seth Godin's Permission Marketing and he brings up... Read More
The usual complaint from companies is that Marketing simply does... Read More
Marketing calendars are used by many businesses to help keep... Read More
Information is the lifeblood of the economy. That's especially true... Read More
Let's talk about how to keep your postage costs down.So... Read More
No matter if you're publishing your first book or producing... Read More
Your marketing materials must grab your prospect's attention long enough... Read More
Wouldn't it be great to have a year where your... Read More
So how do you do it?Direct mail marketing. When it... Read More
I'm sure that you've had those Eureka! moments, too. When... Read More
You can make the sale. You know your core message.... Read More
If you're doing any sort of marketing effort, whether it's... Read More
How many times have you been asked to participate in... Read More
Times are a changin'! More women today work outside the... Read More
Here is your C.I.T.T. (pronounced "kit")[Color ? Illustrate? Type ?... Read More
It was the fall of 1998 when I had just... Read More
Have you read anything in the news lately about childhood... Read More
How to sell more and sell quickly online for your... Read More
Sometimes you can use a guarantee effectively in your headline.... Read More
The year is almost over and the last half of... Read More
You muted the commercials on the TV last night because... Read More
Business marketers have a lot of weapons in their arsenals... Read More
Your list of customers who have previously bought from you... Read More
Almost every small business marketer knows that they should gather... Read More
Writing and publishing a successful newsletter is perhaps the most... Read More
Today I've decided to share with you a new word... Read More
Readers spend only a few seconds deciding the fate of... Read More
Last week I took our two boys on an all... Read More
A case study in online "thinking outside the box" The... Read More
"If My Work is Good Enough, I Shouldn't Have to... Read More
Here are some marketing mistakes that take a heavy toll... Read More
With the explosion of the internet and online businesses many... Read More
A successful marketing plan doesn't have to include an athletic... Read More
If you are considering entering a new target market, with... Read More
I went to a networking event the other day where... Read More
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't... Read More
Many times when a trade show is planned for there... Read More
Can you remember the last dozen advertising messages beamed at... Read More
Each and every day those of us on the Internet... Read More
I think selling and marketing today often feels a bit... Read More
A customer relationship system (CRM) system uses technologically-driven strategies to... Read More
One of the reasons direct mail works is the personal... Read More
The key to success in any business relies a large... Read More
Our ego can get in the way of marketing our... Read More
You know who you are and what you want and... Read More
Marketing |