Archive for Mortgage Training
Endless Purchase Leads Via the Internet!!
Posted by: | CommentsWhat if I told you that there is a massive crowd of hungry buyers that are looking for your services? What if I then told you that this huge list of loan officer/Realtor leads went ignored by nearly 90% of mortgage brokers and Realtors? Would you believe me?
It happens every single month, and will continue to happen for quite a while. So what exactly does this mean to you? This means that there is a relatively untapped market just waiting for you to jump in and dominate! So what is this mystical market that no one has ever heard of?
The internet… You heard me right, the internet! According to Google, (There’s even a way to verify this information) each month, even a medium sized city in the U.S. will get over 200,000 searches for real estate! Let that sink in for a moment! Over 200,000 searches every single month for homes for sale!
While we already know that most of those individuals will not buy a home for any number of reasons, even if 10% of that number is serious about buying within the next 6 – 12 months, you have a gold mine just sitting there on the web right in front of your face!
Yet, despite these hundreds of thousands of searches each month in city after city, more than 90% of loan officer’s surveyed reported that they close 1 or fewer transactions per year from their websites! Talk about missing the boat! There’s more than enough loan officer or Realtor leads flowing through the web to keep any loan officer busy as can be, yet most are going broke in today’s market.
So what’s causing this strange phenomena? Simple. Most loan officers subscribe to the “build it and they will come” method of online marketing. They purchase a ‘pretty’ website, and then sit there to wait for business to roll in!
Sorry guys! The web is such a large place (Total websites now number in the billions!) these days, that if you don’t actively market your site, there’s no way your hungry prospects are going to find you! It’s akin to building a McDonalds in the center of a Rain Forest! How much business will you get? None!
All is not lost. There are simple techniques that can place your website at the top of the search engines so that home buyers can find your site, and ultimately end up in your pipeline. Since most loan officers never take the time to learn these techniques, this means that there are just that many more loan officer leads waiting for you.
If you’d like to see first hand how to find out just how many leads you could develop in your own home-town:
The All-Important Autoresponder
Posted by: | CommentsCredit goes to Chad for piecing together one of the best autoresponder summaries ever…
When most lenders/Realtors hear the word “auto-responder” they think of a pre-written message that is given the lowly task of informing your contacts “Sorry, I’m gone for the day and will be back on…” Not much more than an online answering machine when you think about it. This is not the auto-responder we’re discussing today. Not even close.
A true email marketing autoresponder comes with the following features:
1. Groups
2. Pre-set delivery intervals
3. Auto – subscription
4. SPAM check tools
So what are all these features for? Let’s have a look:
1. Groups
What is it: Most true email marketing systems allow you to set up multiple “groups.” A group is simple a list of people you want to email to, that all share something in common. Such as realtors may be one group you email to, while “past clients” may be a second group. Obviously you don’t want the same drip emails going to other business contacts, as you do your past clients, so you create 2 seperate groups. I recommend that you have at least 5 groups:
1. Past Clients
2. Deals in process
3. Prospects
4. Realtors (Or at least 1 other referral source)
5. FSBO prospects
2. Preset delivery intervals
This one iss pretty straight forward. You want your auto-responder to have the ability to pre-set the delivery of your email campaign at regular intervals. Day 1, day 15, day 30 and so forth. This means that you setup your campaign once, and let the machine do the work for you from that point forward. Sounds nice doesn’t it? So where are all the mortgage marketing tools that convert sales for you? Can’t wait until they invent one of those!
3. Auto-Subscription
This feature allows you to capture names and phone numbers (Along with any other relevant info you want) right from your website. A good auto-responder will make this a simple step as well. Place the form on the proper pages, ads, or blogs and voila – a new source of leads!
4 – SPAM Check Tools
Spam filters have gone crazy these days. It seems a higher and higher percentage of messages are labelled as spam. If your messages aren’t getting through, then they’re likely not getting read. Not a good situation. A good auto-responder will scan your email message prior to delivery, and warn you of potential spam red flags. There are dozens of words, and phrases that can set off spam filters these days. Not to mention font size and color amongst other things.
What Do You Do When Something Isn’t Working?
Posted by: | CommentsAnother great article Chad shared with me recently…
When things go wrong, what do you do? When something isn’t working for you, how do you respond? I cannot count the number of times loan officers or Realtors call me up begging for a solution to their lead generation problems, but in the same breath they tell me all the things they have tried that don’t work.
I hear things such as:
“That doesn’t work here”
“Realtors are different here – they won’t work with me”
“I tried marketing to fsbo’s – that doesn’t work”
See where this is headed? Me being the ever-curious individual that I am, I cannot help but dig a little further. It takes a little pressing, but usually I find that these same loan officers and Realtors who are complaining that “nothing works” are usually trying something out for all of 2 or 3 weeks and then giving up!
This is not what I call commitment guys! Tossing something aside because it didn’t yield results in 2 or 3 weeks is a guaranteed way to fail. Even those who stick it out a bit longer are usually so convinced that they are doing everything right the first time around, that all the blame for the failure goes to the marketing plan, and not to themselves.
But let me ask you a pointed question. How many of us could pick up a guitar and hammer out an AC/DC solo the first time around with no practice? Not I! (I’ve got the earplugs to prove it!) Let’s try something simpler. When you first learned to drive a car with a manual transmission (Or even an automatic for that matter) – Did you hop in and head out for a cross country road-trip?
Of course not, it took a bit of practice to smooth things out and make it a habit. So how come so many originators assume that they’re doing everything right, and point their fingers at “realtors” “lazy loan officers” ”fsbo’s” “the market” “the marketing plan” etc?
When your mortgage lead generation and/or real estate efforts go a little “haywire” take a step back, look a little closer at what you are (and are not) doing, and apply some common sense. More often than not, you’ll find that there are several pieces of the puzzle missing, or in desperate need of tweaking.
Chris Hallmark - http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
These Statistics Are Proof…
Posted by: | CommentsChad Weber here from the Loan Officer Marketing Lab. Thought I’d share something exciting I read online today. The 2009 National Association Of Realtors Profile Of Buyers And Sellers report was released in December 2009. This is a yearly compilation that the NAR sells on their site for real estate professionals to get a good idea of how the industry is doing, and what has changed in the past year.
Well, I found a great blog post that summarized some of the more important statistics found in this 125.00 report. (See? Reading my emails just saved you 125 dollars! – haha) I found 3 of those statistics useful for loan officers:
In 2009:
- 90% of home buyers used the Internet to help find their home
- 78% of buyers purchased through a real estate agents
- 85% of sellers used an agent to sell
What’s the big deal about these stats? Well first of all, we can go back to previous year profiles released by the NAR to see the growth of the web and how it plays an ever increasing role in how buyers shop. Last year the statistic for those using the web to find a home was 87%. Prior to that it was 84%, and it shrinks little by little the further back you go. (This figure was 2% in 1995, 74% in 2004, 77% in 2005 and so forth)
In other words each year, more people are using the web to shop for a home. This also means that your opportunity to capture home buyers (Who will obviously need a loan soon right?) has gone up year after year, so long as you know how to effective use the web to market yourself. Think about it. You have 90% of all home buyers last year who went online, identified themselves by using search engines, and ultimately spent time actively searching for a home. What if it was your name, or your website that showed up first when these buyers performed a search?
Even though you don’t sell homes, how difficult would it be to work hand in hand with local real estate agents to place homes, or links to homes for sale onto your site? Think about it for even a moment, and you’ll begin to see the opportunity that exists here for enterprising loan officers.
The statistics above also tell us that most buyers and sellers are also using agents to represent them. This means that there is still a huge opportunity to work with high producing real estate agents, and benefit from an avalanche of referrals. Imagine having just 3 or 4 high producers sending you their referrals… What impact would that have on your income?
See what I mean? This really is exciting! I have no real goal for today’s message other than to share this information with you. Perhaps it will get your creative juices flowing? Have a great one!
NOTE: This weeks online marketing webinar is scheduled for Friday: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/842465875
Why are You Not Working with Realtors?
Posted by: | CommentsThis post was originally written on Loan Officer Unleashed, so kudos to Chad Weber for these words of wisdom:
I want to talk to you guys about something. Networking. If I had to take a wild guess as to how many loan officers (percentage-wise) actually get a reliable amount of business from realtors (Or any affinity partner for that matter) I’d have to guess that number is less than 20%.
There’s nothing scientific about this number, but I’m basing this off the fact that I speak with thousands of loan officers each year and most of them want to know 1 thing… How do I get more loans closed!? Better than 80% of these loan officers tell me they are not working with realtors.
I cringe at this. I cringe because in a market this tough, why would you want to make your job more difficult than it has to be? If you had to get your house cleaned in the shortest amount of time possible, would you rather do it yourself, or have 3 others helping you?
When the market gets rough, and all your prospects seem to be hiding behind parked vehicles when they see you coming, or crawling under rocks, do you want to continue doing all the “hunting” yourself, or would you like some help?
Both you and your local real estate agents are going after the same prospects. It’s time you put together an assembly line of lead gneerators. If you keep hacking at your prospecting efforts by yourself, you’re going to wear yourself down. (A rule of thumb here, not a reference to all of you)
But take a small group of frustrated, yet motivated professionals who are sick and tired of empty pipelines and are ready to make a change… Well, you can make some great things happen! How do you make this happen?
Keep checking back to see what gems we have in store for you…
Stop Wasting Time!
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s unbelievable how much time is wasted each day on non-revenue generating activities. Every week I talk to at least 3-4 loan officers and (Even in California) who are still managing to close 8 – 10 deals or more per month. But at some point in talking with some VERY stubborn professionals out of the bunch, it never fails to inspire at least 1 or 2 loan officers to speak up and object, claiming it’s impossible to accomplish in this market.
My answer to this? Take a look at how much time was wasted in the middle of the boom time… Compare that to what you are wasting in todays market… About the same right? Humans are creatures of habit. We tend to do things the same, even when we shouldn’t!
In a down market, you need to spend at least 40 – 50% of your day in front of people! I’ll say it again: in a down market you need to spend at least 40 – 50% of your day in front of people! What people? Prospects, realtors, fsbo’s, affinity partners etc… Hold teleseminars to save cash, but leverage your time. Network with realtors, host mastermind round table discussions…
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you structure your day properly. You know all that time you’re spending responding to low priority emails, and checking each and every voicemail right away? Yep, that time could be spent making you money…
Chris Hallmark
Your Mortgage Marketing Weaponry
Posted by: | CommentsAmidst all the news and debating about what could/should/will happen with a bailout, I wanted to post a quick reminder of what marketing tools you should have in your arsenal to keep your pipeline flowing. I was going to title this as a loan officer marketing post, but in reality, whether you are a loan officer, or a real estate agent, these tools need to be attached firmly to your “toolbelt.”
Call Capture -A call capture hotline is a wonderful thing. Rarely will you find such a versatile marketing tool that allows you to capture leads, track performance, and even distribute information in such a flexible manner. Why it works: Call capture works because of the mindset of the consumer. Any time information is made available 24/7, and (most importantly) without having to talk to a salesperson…
Well, there’s a winning combination! Mistakes that cause failure: Take a quick look around and you’ll find many mistakes that can kill a call capture marketing campaigns right out of the gate. Often I see real estate ads just “giving away the farm” so to speak. Price, address, all the details you could want are right there on the page for the buyer to read.
With all the details there, this person has everything needed to make a decision, and there is no reason for them to call. Marketing is about “dangling the carrot” a bit. Sure, give some useful information, but leave a bit of mystery while you’re at it, or hint at something great they can learn by calling in now. Next, I often see the call capture number posted as just another 800 number…
This is a terrible abuse of the call capture line! The primary motivation to call is the ability to collect recorded information without speaking to a live party right? If you leave out the words: “Free Recorded Information 24/7″ then you’re effectively cutting your calls in half or even worse! Ouch!
Overall, there are plenty of great things you can with a call capture line: – Advertise listings – Market First Time Buyer seminars – Host teleseminars (Great for marketing to FSBO’s) – Market special financing options – Host a 24/7 question hotline See? With a bit of creativity, there’s plenty of lead generating activities you can partake in. I’m sure you can easily double the size of this list. Just imagine what you can do with a blog, your call capture line, and a blank piece of paper… (I’m leaving that one to your imagination) Make it a great one!
I know it’s turbulent out there, but it’s critical that you let the news remain just that… The news, not a significant part of your day. It’s easy to waste hours each day watching and reading, and discussing. But at the end of the day when it’s time to pay the bills, which activities do you want to reap the rewards from?
Chris Hallmark - http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
The Value of a Great Email List!
Posted by: | CommentsAre you a consistent marketer, or do you just try something then give up on it right away? Do you have a good email list to rely upon?
A good Internet marketer knows the value behind having a sound database to contact whenever they need more business. It can’t just be any old database though, it has to be CLEAN and highly TARGETED!
What I mean, is that you will need an “opt-in” subsciber list so you don’t get a reputation as being a spammer. In addition, you wnat the highest possible ROI and return on your time and effort. And the only way to do that is to build a highly targeted, accurate list. Or it may be an offline list of postal mailing addresses, telephone, or fax numbers. Just make sure that you gather any contact information, in an ethical manner 
The first thing you should do is make up a list of….the people you know, who like and trust you. Perhaps all those people you’ve already done business with over the years. How about THEIR family and friends. Think of a hot demographic that you can target. It’s not that complicated.
As long as you KNOW your audience, you should be fine. DO NOT EVER send mass emails to people you are trying to solicit for the first time. That can get you black listed very fast!
Here are five benefits you get from developing a highly targeting email list:
1) It takes a lot of time and effort to build a huge, effective list. Customer acquisition is one of the greatest marketing expenses. Many marketers toss this investment out the window by selling one thing to a customer, one time, and forgetting about them forever. A good list, on the other hand, lets you advertise for virtually no cost whatsoever.
2) Additional sales to previous customers are often easier to make and more profitable than the initial sale. A relationship of trust has been built, provided the customer is satisfied with his/her purchase, and the service received.
3) You gain leverage. When you approach others to arrange joint ventures, for instance, ownership of a sizeable, properly targeted list is a powerful bargaining asset. It’s a great way to find business partners and such.
4) You can share your list with other marketers (for a price) People will pay for solid information these days. Just make sure that it is a clean list and that it has been scrubbed for misinformation.
5) Repeat business is crucial to the success of virtually all businesses. Good lists turn into longtime customers that will keep coming back for more 
Chris Hallmark
Are You Diversifying Your Mortgage Marketing Methods?
Posted by: | CommentsDo you have an online marketing strategy? The web is becoming more and more ingrained in our society as a marketing tool/source of information and recommendation. How have you prepared yourself for this? Yes, I know it can be difficult to motivate yourself to learn all the important “moving parts” of internet marketing – it seems there is so much to learn!
- Seo
- Sem
- Articles
- Blogging
- Video
- Podcasting
- PPC
- Social bookmarking
- Social networking
- Classifieds
- Autoresponders
- Lead capture forms
- Mini-pages/landing pages
It’s mind boggling that this form of marketing has grown up so quickly. If you’re not taking advantage of this form of marketing, then you are missing out on a great source of business. I’m sure you are already familiar with the statistic that stated more than 84% of all individuals who purhased a home in 2009 used the web to help search for that home.
There’s 2 respnses to this information. On one hand, you can think “wow, that’s amazing” and go about your day. Or, the second option is to do something about it. Why let others benefit from all this low hanging fruit? Marketing on the web does not need to be complicated. Just as with any new skill you are learning, start slow, and start small. Celebrate your victories, and move to the next level.
Before long, you will find that you have just 1 more reliable source of business. No matter what career choices you make doown the road, the internet will continue to play a large role in lead generation, customer development and more. In other words, any time you spend on learning how to harvest more business from the web will be time well spent. Of course this doesn’t mean that traditional sources of business should be abandoned.
But there’s a lot to be gained by marrying both online and offline marketing methods. Why not take a closer look at what you can do to improve your online presence?
Chris Hallmark
Ready to Give Up on that Prospect?
Posted by: | CommentsAbout 2 years ago I became fascinated with tracking my sales and conversion metrics. We are all aware of the fact that the truly successful sales professionals track their numbers and watch them closely. It only makes sense right?
If you don’t watch your numbers closely, how can you tell what works, and what is a waste of your time and/or money? Moving on, I started out using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and entered not just my sales and prospecting efforts for the day, but I also included notes as to how many calls were first time prospecting efforts compared to follow ups.
A funny pattern emerged when I sat down at the end of the quarter to review my efforts. Nearly 89% of my sales required 9 or more follow-up calls to close. Now before you throw your hands in the air thinking “That’s it! This guy is the worst salesman on the planet!” let me explain.
Selling to loan officers, real estate agents, or any other business to business call efforts is often an uphill battle. Calling someone at work is naturally a hit or miss operation since the person will likely be busy. Tracking my numbers, I found that out of my 9 call average, 4 of them were listed as “no answer” or “got the voice-mail.”
But, (Now we’re about to get to the good stuff) the remaining 5 calls were littered with notes such as “wants me to call back tomorrow” or “too busy this week, call end of month.” At first glance, many of us would look at these statements as delay tactics, or put offs from a person who is too afraid to say no.
Yet, it’s amazing just how often I have not heard from someone for 3 or 4 weeks, who originally claimed they were itching to buy, then suddenly a phone call lands me on the phone with this prospect who is now telling me “Oh yea! I completely forgot about this! Let me go get my credit card…”
The point here is that I’ve seen so many loan officers and real estate agents get discouraged when someone they thought was a good prospect suddenly blows them off. Hey it’s human nature to be disappointed right?
But please, do yourself a favor and step back to view at the bigger picture. Life is so unpredictable, you can go from having the best week of your life on Monday and Tuesday, to a living nightmare on Wednesday and Thursday…. and back again!
Your prospect may have just received bad news at work, or is smack in the middle of a family emergency.(I once was in the middle of taking an order when my client asked me to hold… He returned to tell me he had to go as he was just informed his son passed away…)
Life is hectic, and despite our thoughts to the contrary, more often than not we are not the first thing our customers think of when they wake up in the morning! As difficult as it often was for me to accept that all these prospects kept “forgetting” about our phone appointment, or that they promised to place an order this morning and didn’t, the bottom line is that they quite likely did get caught up in the rush – rush atmosphere of daily work.
How many times have you and I forgotten an appointment, a phone call, or to run an errand? Since these appointments mean the difference between a paycheck or not for us, it is definitely a level 10 priority for us. For a buyer, he/she will move forward at his own pace.
So what am I getting at with all these examples and analogies? Mainly this… Follow up, follow-up again, and follow-up some more! Of course you want to apply common sense as to who you spend time with, and who is a priority, but if you have built an automated follow-up mechanism for yourself (Auto-responders for example), then you can set your drip marketing campaigns in motion with very little time or effort on your part.
Chris Hallmark – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
