Mortgage Marketing Works? Prove it!
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Ok, this post is for Loan Officer Marketing Lab members. We have hundreds of members who are now spending time and effort on getting their websites to page #1 of Google. While I’ve spent plenty of time demonstrating live how to build a Google friendly website, I have not as of yet spent time publicly demonstrating the effectiveness of proper SEO.
Today I want to change that. If you’re a member of the Loan Officer Marketing Lab, here’s your chance to publicly call me out and force me to PROVE first hand, how to get front page of Google rankings. How does this work? Simple – There’s a form below you can enter your info, and the keyword you think I should target. As a Lab member, you should already know how to do proper keyword research right?
Find a keyword, or even 2 or 3 that you think I should rank my site for. We’ll count the requests, pick the most common keyword, and you’ll get to see us rank the site live! In other words, you get to follow every little step we take (Isn’t that a song?) in the SEO process. No, not just screenshots, you’ll get to see what we did and why, and then see the impact that each step had on our overall rankings.
Why am I doing this? Because while I believe that instructions and verbal steps are great, it’s 10 times better when you can see something in action. Wouldn’t you agree? No mystery, no hiding behind curtains, no smoke and mirrors – You call the shots on the keyword we should target.
My initial guesstimate is that we’ll be ready to kick this off in February, so please submit the keyword/keywords you’d like to see us target:
Remember – The keyword needs to be related to Mortgage Marketing topics, as this is what my site is about. Also, these training sessions will be displayed in the Members Only section of www.loanofficermarketinglab.com
Ready to Give Up on that Prospect?
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
Psychology and Mortgage Marketing
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Have you ever heard someone refer to sales and marketing as both an art and a science? It’s easy to dismiss such a statement without really diving into the true meaning behind the words. With all the smoke and mirrors and disinformation on the market today, it’s easy to view sales as this mystical beast that can never be conquered.
While it’s true that no one can close 100% of the people 100% of the time; if you contemplate the science behind the sales process, you can most definitely tip the odds strongly in your favor.
A great place to start is the brain. (This is going to be fun) The sheer amount of data that must be processed each and every second of your day is staggering. Your mind is assaulted with visual input, audio input, touch, smell and so forth.
How big is this item in front of you - is it a danger? What color is it? What direction is it headed? Is that a baby crying in the distance? Wow I love that song I hear coming from that car as it drives by… It goes on and on.
In addition to the flood of sensory input entering your brain, the average consumer is also hit with thousands of sales messages every day. Thousands… Billboards, radio ads, Gas station signs, television commercials, spam, banner ads, pop-ups, the list is endless. If you had to consciously consider the relevance of each of those advertisements, how much time would you have left in your day?
Not much! So what happens, is your brain has created a rating system, or filter if you will, that helps place a level of importance on specific activities and input. For example, if you received an email right now that contained the subject line: “This is very important!” would you be concerned? If it was from an unknown person, and likely a piece of spam, you would delete it.
Now, if a family member called you up, or even sent you an email with the same line, how important would that email be? You would instantly recognize this email as urgent, and open it right away. Let’s stop here for a moment.
In the above scenario, did you even have to think about what course of action you would take? No, you didn’t ponder the situation, and think to yourself “Hmmmm… I wonder if this is important?” No, you simply took action.
This happens because your brain has assigned family as important, and will instantly give priority to anything of concern relating to family.
So why is this important to a loan officer or real estate agent? Because somewhere buried within each of your prospects is a list of buttons that are also labeled as “important.” Each one of his has specific topics that will cause us to sit up and take notice. Have you ever seen a formerly dull or quiet individual open up and blossom when speaking about something he/she is passionate about?
The key is to stop marketing or selling your services the same way your competitors are. Instead, take a look at a list of core values that your ideal client is likely to have, and build your script, marketing campaign, and follow up messages around these core values.
Chris Hallmark – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
Your Two Options for Success…
By · CommentsIn a difficult market, the smart loan officer (And reale state agent) will take a step back to review his/her options. No matter how difficult things become, the fact remains that millions of loans close each and every year. You have two options available:
1 – Improve your conversion ratio and make more out of the database and leads you already have
2 – Find a reliable way to generate more leads
It’s that simple. You either make more money with what you have through improved sales skills and follow-up, or you find more sources of quality leads. Regardless of how simple this concept is, no one said it would be easy. There’s a reason it’s called work.
With this in mind, let’s take a quick snapshot of 3 skills that every loan officer should be working to improve to accomplish at least 1 of the goals listed above.
1 – Writing: The fine art of writing is one that is neglected by most in the sales field. I’ve always been stumped by this because there are many instances where a customer will move forward, or go elsewhere based on what he/she reads. You website, your emails, blogs, follow-up letters, advertisements and more all demand a well thought out message.
On the web, with thousands of other options only one mouse click away, the potential borrower will form an opinion in mere seconds based on what is read. A large majority of originators seem to rely on canned text from website service providers.
Sure, much of that text sounds glossy and professional right? In my own personal opinion, within this industry, “glossy and professional” might as well be “large and faceless.” Most people want to do business with a human, not a large and untouchable organization that conjures images of endless voicemail navigation just to reach someone.
Why not add a personal touch and let your personality shine through? Show your prospects that there is a person behind the ads, websites and emails. This doesn’t mean you have to become a professional writer. Rather, spend a few hours refining your writing skills. Even a minor improvement can equal a much higher conversion ratio. Sounds good to me!
2 – Sales: Yes, I do realize that I’m playing Mr. Obvious here. Sales skills are certainly needed in todays market. The sad truth is that the average sales professionals in the U.S. spends more time planning their vacations each year than they do on improving their one major professional asset!
As a top loan officer, I ask nearly every originator I meet how they rate themselves on a scale of 1 – 10 when it comes to sales ability. It’s rare to hear anything less than an 8 or a 9! So are we all just that good, or are we just afraid to admit that there is room for improvement?
No one ever said that we all need to be ’super closers,’ but if you choose a career where your primary function is to sell, then how can you go wrong by giving this area some much needed attention? It’s time to stop assuming that people buy the logical choice, because it is simply not true.
Emotion, timing, calls to action all play a major role in who goes home happy with an extra loan in their pipeline, and who just goes home. If you improved your closing rate by 10%, what would that do for your paycheck?
3 – Follow-up: I consider this category a bit of a hybrid. It involes sales, writing, technology and more. I couldn’t leave it out of this list though, as there is a gaping hole in most lenders business plans that tends to treat follow-up as an after-thought.
Sure, it’s easy to knod your head and agree that follow-up is important, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Most loan officer’s follow-up ends as soon as they find out the prospect is no longer a prospect for an immediate closing.
Anywhere from 10 – 15% of your standard database will need the services of a loan officer each year. Refi, purchase, debt consolidation. There’s a lot of need out there, and unfortunately, most loan officer’s are not there at the right time simply because they failed to follow-up at regular intervals. A drip email campaign, occasional notices, a phone call placed at strategic time periods all would drastically improve the average loan officer’s closings per year.
Who wouldn’t want that? Give a little extra attention to these critical skill-sets, and you will find that great things can happen even in a “down market.”
Chris Hallmark – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
Welcome to 2010
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Hello there! Chad Weber here to welcome you to 2010! All I can say is “WOW!” I distinctly remember sitting at this very same desk early in the morning as I typed out this post here: http://loanofficermarketinglab.com/blog/how-to-get-mortgage-leads-in-2009
It was still a few days before 2009, but I was scrambling looking for a great image to place on that post with “2009″ on it. I finally found the image using the photo Stock Xchange. Free images, and a great resource for anyone who blogs. Anyhow, I really am finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that 2009 is done and gone.
The holidays are over and it’s time for me to get to work on making 2010 better than 2009. Throughout 2009 I heard a lot of loan officers ask me if I”timed” my entry into the training industry because I knew things were going to get rough in the mortgage industry. That’s a thoughtful question, but there is one major point that is being missed: I’m still in the mortgage industry. That’s right,my entry into the training industry full time had absolutely nothing to do with me gazing into a crystal ball, and everything to do with me identifying my strengths and my passion.
See, if I were looking at the crystal ball with anything other than shades on, I’d have seen that logically speaking, jumping from originating to training originators would not be the wisest of career choices if I were trying to avoid being impacted by the changes in the market – seeing as how my primary clients – Loan Officers shrank dramatically in 2007 and 2008. Just to give you an example of how this impacted my business, I’m going to show you what my archives say I had in my database of loan officer leads at the beginning of 2008:
January 13 2008 – 13,641 loan officers (These are loan officers who had requested information from me, or to be on my newsletter)
December 4 2008 – Out of those 13,641 loan officers, I received 4,907 emails throughout the year telling me to stop sending the newsletter as they were leaving the industry. That’s more than 1/3 of my database just zapped and gone in less than a year do to loan officers leaving. That was not a fun turn of events for me at all. Especially if I viewed this as an ongoing trend. National statistics also showed that mortgage professionals exited the idustry that year at an incredible rate!
My point? That this turn of events allowed us to go back to the drawing board and refocus our marketing efforts. The result is that the Loan Officer Marketing Lab has continued to grow and each year has been better than the last. This isn’t some ego-maniacal horn trumpet blowing here. This is simply a real live example of using your know-how, brushing up on what gives you an edge, and doing a whole lot of ignoring of the media!
In 2009 my most successful marketing effort was the Loan Officer Project. Prior to launching this, I was advised by no less than 5 other trainers to avoid doing this, as “it would never work!” I was told that I was giving away too much, and people would take advantage of that. You’re darn right they took advantage of it! That was the whole point! I rebuilt my email database of loan officers to the largest it’s ever been, and I did not spend a single thin dime on advertising to do it. Worst market ever in recent history? Maybe, maybe not… Sure wouldn’t know it by looking at my email list!
So to all of you reading this, please take a look at yourself and the business you want. Let’s make this year count. Let’s get busy, and let’s get profitable. You can make it happen. There is absolutely no one who can stop you but yourself. I know the market changes, I know certain rules and regulations seem to make things harder than they need to be, and I know that interest rates will likely go up this year based on what we’ve heard so far.
But you know what? There will still be millions of loans closed this year as well. What marketing plan do you have in place to capture your piece of that pie? Let’s make it the best 2010 possible – Before it’s gone like 2009…
PS – Did you miss the free Loan Officer Project Marketing series? We resume this month – January 2010! Register HERE
A Word about Free Advertising and the Internet
By · CommentsBusiness owners and entrepreneurs know that success breeds success. When you surround yourself by successful people and do what they do, you increase your chances of being successful. You become almost successful by association yourself. And what do these business owners have in common? They all use the Internet! There is a saying that goes: “If you’re not online, you’re out of business”. This couldn’t be more true, especially today. I remember back in the early 1990’s ( I was like 8 years old haha) people were considered “special” if they had a website. Now, if you don’t have one, customers will look at you like you’re from the stone age.
The Internet has EASILY replace costly newspaper advertising. Newspaper ads these days can cost upwards of $200.00 for one 4 or 5-line ad! Ridiculous, being as how less and less people are using them. There are so many FREE mortgage marketing and real estate marketing resources online, who WOULDN”T want to use them?!?! You’ve got articles sites, blogs, forums, the list just goes on.
One reason the internet is such an effective marketing tool is your ad contains a hyperlink to your website. So, when people read your classified ad, they can immediately go to your website to learn more. Newspapers do not have this luxury. The customer cannot instantly click to get more information. They have to physically pick up the telephone and call, or boot up their computer to email you, NOT cool at all! Convenience goes a VERY long way when you are any type of business owner. People enjoy a pain-free experience.
There are many internet classified sites where you can post free classified ads. The idea is to use sites that show up on the first page of Google when people are searching for your product or service. The hottest classified sites today are Craigslist, BackPage, Kijiji (owned by eBay) and Hoobly You can find many more sites just by doing a Google search for “free classifieds.” You will literally get TONS and TONS of search results when you do this. You can even make your own mine websites on Wetpaint and Weebly. Forums are also totally FREE to join, and are great places for mortgage and real estate marketing. Or type in “mortgage lead generation” and see what comes up. TONS of free resources right before your eyes!
Post as many classified ads as the site allows. Change the headings to use different keywords and market areas that you service. Experiment with your working in different ads, and trach which ones pull the best. An easy way to do this is with Google Analytics. You need to track your marketing efforts in order to make any progress, other wise you’re just spinning in circles.
Newspapers and other “traditional” or conventional forms of advertising have all but totally lost their luster. They are just not “sexy” ways to advertise anymore. Albeit, every form of advertising does have its place, but the Internet has pretty much taken over as the preferred method of advertising. The customer wants a better shopping experience. In fact, they downright DEMAND it! Out with the old, and in with the new!
Chris Hallmark – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
More Mortgage Marketing Website Necessities
By · CommentsCredit goes to Chad Weber for the following ideas. These were some of the first ideas I implemented on my own website, to make it a lead generating powerhouse!
Hey all, Just a few tips you might want to consider applying to your online marketing efforts. If you’ve followed my posts and newsletter in the past, then you probably already know that tens of thousands, and in many cases, hundreds of thousands of searches are performed every single month in large metropolitan areas for mortgage loans, loan officers, and homes for sale. If you’re serious about generating more business online, here’s what you need to consider:
1 – Contact Info – Do they have to hunt you down? In the past year, I’ve personally reviewed over 800 loan officer websites. An interesting situation I ran into while reviewing these sites is most loan officers darn near hide their contact information! Don’t make your prospects work to find you! It’s not an easter egg hunt. Your main phone number should be placed on the home page above the site belt-line. (No scrolling down to find the site) This simple change can have a significant impact on the number of inbound calls you receive.
2 – Lead Capture – My website has 7 lead forms on it. Every major page on my site has a form, and a spelled out reason to fill it in. How about you? I often here: “Well I have a contact us page, that’s good enough.” No it is not. Don’t just take my word for it, go visit the DMA, Marketing Sherpa, Click Z and any of the other major marketing data resources to see that what I’m telling you is true. Just as in selling someone on doing a loan with you may take several phone calls and repeated asking for the business, the same applies to capturing leads from your site. The visitor must see multiple benefits, sometimes repeatedly before they’ll take action and give up their personal information. WHy make it more difficult by hiding your contact forms?
3 – Traffic – Do you know how many people have visitied your site this month? Do you know where these people came from? If the answer is no, then you’re not taking your online marketing serious enough. You need to be on the front page of Google, optimized for local keywords. The only way you’ll get a steady flow of qualified leads is if you get enough visitors to your site. More and more people are using the search engines to find local businesses, can they find yours? If you’re not on page #1 when they search for your ideal keywords (loan officers, mortgage broker, homes for sale etc. – Local region of course) then you’re missing out on a lot of business. No one wants that! (Other than your competition) So are you ready to get serious about your online marketing efforts? These three points of consideration are a great way to get started!
A Reality Check for Loan Officers!
By · CommentsI credit Chad Weber with the following piece that changed my entire reality about how I conduct my business….
NOTE: This article is very direct, and pulls no punches! If you are serious about making a change for the better, you should read the entire article now!
In today’s article we’re going to deal with cold hard facts and nothing else. No opinions, no fluff, and no candy coating the truth or pulling punches! This article is going to give you a close look at the reality of your current situation. Then let’s get started!
With picky underwriters and lenders putting every loan underneath the microscope, it seems almost as if you’re rolling the dice as to whether a loan (Even those with 720+ scores and good appraisals) will be approved or not. When you face a situation such as this, there are 3 things you can do:
1 – Generate more prospects (Of a higher quality)
2 – Close higher dollar loans
3 – Complain about the market (And remain stressed, broke, and angry)
Which would you rather do? If you’re serious about remaining in this business, then you must choose now between closing a higher volume of loans, higher dollar loans, or do nothing? Do you have a preference?
The business of sales is not rocket science. While the process of sales and marketing may be difficult at times, there are only a certain number of challenges you will face, and a finite number of mistakes that can be made. (Often, it’s the same challenges over and over again right?) If you feel as if you’ve tried everything, and absolutely nothing seems to be working for you, then the problem is not with the market, and it’s not with the customers… The problem is most likely with your marketing/sales process. (This can be a bitter pill to swallow – But take heart in the fact that there is a solution!)
It’s that small and elusive 10% that is missing and wreaking all sorts of havoc with your paycheck. Let’s see if we can help you to identify the culprit by reviewing a series of essential elements that absolutely MUST be present within your current marketing plan and sales process. (No exceptions or excuses allowed here. If even one of the following elements is missing, then you are slowing down your ability to close more loans)
Here’s what you need:
- Drip email
- Automated marketing elements (Auto-responder, web forms, etc.)
- Network of referral sources (Realtors for example)
- A minimum of 2 self-generated sources of leads (Not purchased leads, but self-generated)
- A database/lead management/CRM
- A way to establish credibility and differentiate
- A call to action you can add to your marketing
Now let’s see what you’re giving up if any of these elements are missing:
Drip Email
More leads are lost through lack of consistent follow-up than any other reason. If you do not have a drip email campaign in place for your database, past clients, current clients, realtors, FSBO, and any other niche you may be marketing to, then you’re leaving money on the table. It’s as simple as that. Email is quick and free.
Most common reason this element is missing: Procrastination, lack of confidence in writing an effective series of messages, lack of time management, lack of technology. (These should be automated, not delivered manually)
Automated marketing elements
You’re a busy person aren’t you? Chances are you don’t have a spare 10 – 15 hours available each week to complete the tasks necessary to create an effective prospecting, touch point, and follow-up campaigns needed to increase your closing ratio by 20 – 30%.
However, even with an average auto-responder or lead management system you can delegate those tasks to your PC so that a huge chunk of your day to day marketing activities get done even when you’re at your busiest. It’s like having a personal assistant that never takes a break!
Chad Weber – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
Generate Local Mortgage Leads First
By · CommentsThe best audience to go after in the beginning of your mortgage marketing venture, is to target those who are local to your county or state. You need to incorporate the following mortgage marketing tactics to get the attention of everyone local, seeking a mortgage loan:
1. Get a Website
The Loan Officer Marketing Lab can help you create a website for FREE! We know exactly what the consumer wants to see in a mortgage website. And we know how to properly optimize it so you can generate a truckload of mortgage leads!
We can also help you start a WordPress.com blog. It’s free and Google Search loves blogs. By adding new content to your blog on the regular, your mortgage marketing and mortgage lead generation efforts will increase exponentially!
Another advantage of having a blog is managing the customers’ expectations. Online customers often want the opportunity to engage and interact with businesses before they call or buy. A blog allows you to demonstrate trust, personality, and give the customer some value before doing business with you. This is mortgage training for the customer!
2. Get Listed in Google Local
Google Local is like the yellow pages online. TONS of Internet searchers turn to Google Local because they prefer to work with a local business, rather than a company that is halfway across the country.
Joining Google Local takes only 5 minutes and you can be up and running in no time flat! You can target a pretty nice radius, so don’t worry about not having enough “reach” with your customers.
3. Submit Your URL to Local City Directories
Local city directories are also often neglected, but very powerful local search results.
Submit your website to local directories. Directories are not totally dead yet 
They still have value, but DO NOT pay to have your business listed, as there are too many FREE resources to get listed in. If you do a simple search for business directories, you should get LOTS of results that come up. But first, go with the names you recognize, such as the Yellow Pages or Localism.
4. Put your URL EVERYWHERE!!!
Your website URL should go everywhere you advertise. If you want to generate traffic, you need to advertise in all possible places. Your email signature, your e-fax, text message footer, I mean everywhere. Try to make it a local household name.
Chris Hallmark – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
Every LO Needs an Autoresponder!
By · CommentsEvery serious Realtor, Loan Officer doing mortgage marketing, or salesperson in general should have an email autorespnder in place. An autoresponder is a pre-written email, often times a series of emails, saved online and then used when someone opts in to your website. The purpose is to utilize it to stay in touch with you clients. an autoresponder can be used to broadcast TONS of emails to your target audience, with out have to do it all manually. Talk about efficient mortgage lead generation!
Often times, the emails that you send will be “touching base” types of emails. You can list facts, market conditions, reports, special links, virtually anything you want, in your autoresponder emails. Just make sure that you use solid information and add VALUE, otherwise your cleints will OPT OUT.
Always be sure to include an unsubscribe link in your emails. You don’t want your contacts to opt out of your emails, but you do need to provide the option to stop receiving autoresponders from you. It is now a RULE that you have to have an unsubscribe link in your emails, or you can be banned form certain companies or servers and get put on a “blacklist”.
Having a good autoresponder campaign is like having clients work FOR you, without having to pay them. Imagine having to manually touch base with them all the time? You would go insane. Autoresponders take all that pain out of the equation for you. You can not only use emails, but also set up text message autoresponders.
In order to really harness the power of autoreponders, you should get a professionally designed autoresponder program. There are many out there. Some allow you to pay a monthly fee. Others charge per email and/or bulk email. Still, there are companies where you can purchase an autoresponder “script”, and have it installed on your server, with only a one-time setup fee!
Chris Hallmark – http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com/chrish
