Why Loan Officers Fail Miserably at Marketing to Realtors and How You Can Avoid the Same Mistakes Mailing postcards, handing out flyers, giving out your business card, and referring people to your website are forms of marketing activity, but does that mean it s effective? Do you have more business than you can handle? Or do you have a lot of activity that s leading nowhere? Being effective at attracting more Realtor-referred business first means understanding how the marketing process works. Otherwise you re practicing the definition of insanity Doing the same thing repeatedly, each time expecting a different result. The Marketing 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 Realtors where most of the purchase transactions occur daily. Or perhaps, you ve tried marketing to Realtors before only to become frustrated with the results. You had to deal with difficult and demanding Realtors, customers referred to you who were not worth the effort for the time and money involved. And worse case is Realtors had the gull to request that you lower your fees, believing you were earning too much from the transaction, although they didn t flinch when it came to them earning their full commission.
There s hope. The good news is that in the process of building a strategy that s smarter and easier it isn t nearly as difficult to attract the quality relationships you seek. The core of marketing is actually simple. It s about communicating value of what you offer to those Realtors who can benefit from it the most. But that can seem like a daunting task too, if you don t know where to begin or how to get there. A Proven Formula Since 1999, I've been specifically working with dozens of mortgage companies and hundreds of loan officers to help them attract more clients by improving their marketing strategies to beat their competitors and win more Realtor referred business. The key to producing a winning marketing strategy that works becomes much easier when you have learned the fundamental principles and have a proven formula to follow. Once you master the formula you can apply it to every marketing aspect of your business to attract more clients overall. Definition of Agent Magnet Being Recognized as an Expert so Realtors Chase You for Your Services The proven formula that I created and use with my members is called Agent Magnet. It begins with your way of thinking. Many loan officers think of marketing as an activity, mailing flyers, handing out business cards, emailing newsletters, when it s more than that. This guide is the companion to AgentMagnet.com - my membership site. The guide gives you the outline of your marketing strategy and the membership sites fills in the gaps, provides tools and support for implementing and executing your strategy. I hope you find this guide helpful and wish you the best as you set about on a better way to earning more income, adding greater stability to your business and bringing more security for your family. Be Bold. Make Things Happen. Jeffrey Nelson Salesachievers, Inc.
Not an Agent Magnet? Here's Why Some loan officers think of mortgage marketing as a tactic. They mail a few bushels of postcards to a zip code and wait for the phone to ring. Others think of it as advertising. Still others consider it to be one's identity. Instead of loan officers learning that mortgage marketing is an entire strategy, they go about it wrong. For instance, they mail flyers filled with jargon of a new loan program, or postcards teasing low rates, or brochures boasting to close loans on time. And then they sit back and wait for the phone to ring, only to become disappointed with the dismal results. You can change all that when you realize that mortgage marketing isn't a tactic, it's a way of thinking. You'll learn to shape your thinking, how you view your business and how to make it attractive when you understand the fundamentals of mortgage marketing to realtors. Let me share a powerful illustration of marketing: "If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying, "Circus is coming to Fairgrounds Sunday," that's Advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk him through town, that's a Promotion. If the elephant walks through the Mayor's flowerbed, that's Publicity. If you can get the Mayor to laugh about it, that's Public Relations. And, if you planned the whole thing, that's Marketing!" -Author Unknown
Why Some Loan Officers Attract More Than Others Foremost, they view their business differently than other loan officers. Their goal is to create symbiotic relationships with Realtors. And from it they enjoy greater loyalty, less stress, and are treated with higher respect by Realtors. They achieve this by being passionate and educated on the fundamentals of marketing to Realtors. Understanding the P s to marketing is how you can learn to stand above the competition so you get easily noticed and become recognized as an expert. These P's are the central basis for what marketing to Realtors is about. Planning Simply stated, "What you choose to attract, you will." That's where many problems for loan officers begin, they don't plan specifically what they want to attract. So instead of enjoying the benefits of a quality partnership with a Realtor, they get headaches and grief. Planning is the foundation from which you build your marketing. The process helps yield decisions on how you can compete best. By taking the time to properly plan you can avoid many of the common mistakes loan officers make in creating an overall marketing strategy. Do you know? - How many originations needed daily to achieve your financial goals? Is your plan producing results? - How many relationships with Realtors you need to reach your daily originations goal? - What it costs to produce one closed loan? - How to collect marketing data so you know how to improve your service? - How to use demographics to attract the right Realtors? Without the right plan, you're like a pilot flying nowhere. You don't know where you're going, have no idea where you are when you arrive, and upon returning, don't know where you've been.
Positioning A position is a place in the Realtor's mind. You use your position as a communication tool to reach targeted Realtors in an information-overloaded marketplace. By narrowing your focus you can build a position as a specialist in the Realtor's mind. This increases the chances of your message cutting through the communications jungle. Instead of competing with every loan officer in your town, you're creating a niche specialty in which you can become recognized as an expert. And once you've achieved expert status, you'll have Realtors soliciting you. Because when it comes to a loan closing, a Realtor prefers to work with someone with a reputation than working with someone they barely know. Since their personal income is at stake, they want to minimize risk. Positioning is your competitive strategy for getting noticed. One of the most profound statements made on the subject of positioning comes from Louis Carroll's, Alice in Wonderland. When Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which path to take, he responds, "If you don't care where you're going, it doesn't make a difference which path you take." If you don't invest resources, like time, energy and money, into enhancing your position, than you'll be perceived as coming from a multi-headed creature - speaking from many mouths, saying nothing and going nowhere. Do You Look Like Every Other Loan Officer? Realtors have their personal income at stake and won t gamble with it. But when they refer a buyer to a loan officer that they barely know, it's the same as playing Russian roulette. This is why Realtors are so defensive when they meet you for the first time, since you're an unknown, they don't know if they can trust you or not. When you search deeply into your business, you ll discover unique traits, skills and services. With that you can separate yourself from competition and position your business to fill an unfulfilled niche. Answer these four questions to see if you can identify your expertise that will appeal to Realtors:
1. Who you are, what business you re in and whom do you serve? If your answer has anything to do with, I m a loan officer, than you automatically fail. 2. What specific problem(s) do you solve for Agents? If your answer has anything to do with, closing loans on time, than you automatically fail. 3. Who are your primary competitors and how are you different? If your answer has anything to do with I give better service, than you automatically fail. 4. What unique benefit(s) do Agents derive from your expertise? Again, if your answer has anything to do with servicing loans than you automatically fail. How did you do? Did you fail some or all the questions? Most loan officers fail too simply because they don t really know how to differentiate and Realtors see them all as being alike. Keep reading because help is on the way! Packaging Often, it's your materials that prospects come across and gives them a polaroid-like first impression. Perceptions are formed from the quality of your marketing materials that promote your services. Packaging is your opportunity to build a brand identity with Realtors that they'll trust. Are you different? Your marketing plan should account for packaging that has been professionally designed. It conveys that you're established, especially important if you're new in the industry. You can shape a Realtor's perception to increase credibility, give a sense of stability and most importantly - to make your brand more memorable. Do you have a specific brochure designed to influence Realtors? Most Realtors are visual processors and use it to pass judgment. Remember the phrase, "Never judge a book by its cover"? In the real world, Realtors judge your cover with lightning speed. Imagine if you had marketing materials professionally designed? You would be meeting with Realtors who are pre-sold on you. That's the power of great packaging, and the power of great branding.
Promoting Promoting your services is what makes you visible and credible. To attract quality relationships you desire, Realtors must be comfortable and feel that you're trustworthy. If you're invisible, nobody is thinking of you. Promoting is your opportunity to repeat yourself visually. A Grammy winner never won the award from their fans hearing the song one time. They won because their fans heard their song repeatedly. Once you've determined a position within a niche specialty, a major component of your marketing strategy is to promote it through every medium that reaches your targeted audience. You can reach Realtors through many different mediums. Some may involve using your marketing materials and some may involve you personally: Email Open Houses TeleSeminars Webinars Direct Mail Tours Board of Realtor Meetings Networking Events Real Estate Office Meetings Let's face it, most Realtors you meet today aren't ready to do business with you, but by keeping your message in front of them regularly, the familiarity and trust that develop will eventually convince them to do business with you. Just think of never having to chase another Realtor again. Leave Em Wondering How You Got So Good So Fast Congratulations for reading this far. It says that you're serious and committed to your business. How much have you learned just from reading the information? Has it clarified the building blocks you need for better marketing? Has it helped you see the mistakes to avoid? Does it provide inspiration that you can become an Agent Magnet?
Don't stop here keep going because if you want Realtors knocking at your door than you need to take action. Top producers re-invest between 1% to 5% of their annual income toward their professional growth and marketing systems. The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance Ben Franklin You are capable of fulfilling greater potential. You have passion; you just might not be sure how to build the marketing processes that pushes your production to a higher stratosphere. Do you want more Realtors sending you clients? If you answered YES, than do something about it. Give yourself the best tools that can help you change. You can get Realtors sending you more referrals than you can handle so you enjoy the income you want. Make the decision to commit to excellence in your marketing, in your business and in yourself. It'll be the best decision you'll have made, and you'll be glad that you did. Go to http://www.agentmagnet.com/whats-inside/ and learn how you can acquire the knowledge, skills and resources for becoming an Agent Magnet today!