Mortgage Lead Generation

I want to talk about the process of mortgage lead generation today.  I’m sure you get tired of hearing all the crazy claims don’t you? There’s so much hype out there, you’d think that any loan officer could trip and fall into a lead generation campaign that will make him or her the happiest loan officer in the land.

But that’s not reality is it? Reality is one mean associate. Kind of like the guy who laughs in the face of a little kid while he pops his balloon! (Wait, am I the only one that’s happened to?)

But on a more serious note, you know that you need a plan. You need something that’s going to work. Regardless of what method of marketing you choose, the bottom line is that you need a set of guiding principles that will help your mortgage lead generation campaigns produce results, instead of disappointment.

Mortgage Lead Generation Principle #1 –

Stop interrupting people

This is my favorite marketing principle. I hate being sold to. I really do, and I bet you do too! Few of us get excited when a telemarketer rings our house, so why do the same to others? I changed my entire approach of marketing to stop with the blatant hard sells, and instead focused on marketing to those who already expressed an interest.

Who is easier to sell to? The person you call up and interrupt with a cold call, or the person who calls you? We already know the answer. If you attended the Loan Officer Project webinar, then you already know that there are thousands of people searching for mortgage loans every single month, in most medium sized cities. Thousands… How many loans do you need to close each month to improve your bank account? I like those odds…

Mortgage Lead Generation Principle #2 –

Capture email from everyone

I went house shopping again from October – January. During those 4 months, I looked at around 3 dozen homes. At every new construction, I filled in their little cards, and even gave my real phone number and my real email address. I was genuinely interested and exploring all options. Know what happened? After meeting with more than 9 sales people and builders, and meeting 6 separate agents during these 4 months, only 1 person bothered following up with me. 1 out of 15!

Yet I’d be willing to bet that many of these people complain that there’s no business out there anymore. Of course not – Not when you let truly interested prospects slip right through your fingers! The one agent who followed up got my business. He sent me listings and links to new homes on the market, and within 2 weeks I signed a buyer’s contract with him. Email is a wonderful tool. If you want more interested prospects, then you should be asking every single person you speak to in the course of a day (Prospects) for their email address, and permission to send usable updates and information.

By the end of the year, you may have 1,000 or more to email to. Having a bad month? Send a little blast to that list and watch what happens! It’s exciting to have a ready source of business at your fingertips!

Mortgage Lead Generation Principle #3

Work with Realtors.

I know there are a lot of negative feelings between these two camps. My best advice? Get over it. Sorry to be gruff, but we’re all professionals here and harboring resentment towards a group of people based on past experiences with a few “bad apples” won’t do you any favors.  With the proper marketing plan, you can cherry pick the agents you want to work with.

Make it your motto that you’ll only work with agents you click well with, and you’ll quickly forget all about those past bad experiences. Just like any group, you’ll find both good and bad. (Same with loan officers right?)  But you’re not here to waste time either right? Because of this, I want you to target higher producers. More than 70% of all real estate agents close fewer than 3 transactions per year. If you spend time marketing to “just anyone” – you’ll quickly burn yourself out with nothing to show for it.

But just 1 or 2 high producers (I focused my efforts on agents closing 5 million or more per year) can do wonders to your pay-check! Think about it. These agents are already marketing heavily to the same group of people that you are. Why wouldn’t you want several agents feeding you pre-sold referrals each month?

There you have it. 3 core principles that I used to build my own marketing plan. Have you looked at your own lead generation activities this month? I hope this post has helped.

NOTE: This article focused on the “why” not the “how to.” If you’d like to learn the steps needed to enact what you learned above, then please visit: www.loanofficermarketinglab.com and fill in the form at the top of the page. This will register you for our next FREE webinar series.