When I first started as an originator (long ago) I looked around at what everyone else was doing to get new business and I started doing the same things. Seems logical, doesn't it? Maybe you did the same thing? I'm sure you have had advertising people bombard you with ads telling you "You need to get your name out there so when people think of mortgage they will call you." This is the advertising salesperson's standard pitch.
They want you to put your face on restaurant place mats, on billboards, on shopping carts, on radio, TV, newspaper ads, etc. It seemed logical to me too, so that's exactly what I did. The only problem was that it didn't work. When I confronted these sales people, I found out that they must hear this a lot since they all have a standard reply, "You have got to give it time. Keep running it and you will get responses. Remember, the key is getting yourself noticed and getting your name out there."
WRONG!
Sorry to be vulgar, but that is pure bull crap. The only one who gets rich in that scenario is the ad salesperson. Think about it for a minute. If they were so smart, they wouldn't be selling ads, they would have their own agency or even better, they would be selling their own products. Don't fall for it. You need to be able to track and account for every hard-earned dollar you spend. ESPECIALLY NOW !
Why in the world would you want to spend money on advertising that wasn't working? Even worse, when things get rough out there, the first thing people stop is their marketing which is a big mistake. Just look at your own e-mail box and mailbox. There are hardly any pitches from mortgage companies.
Just a short time ago, you couldn't open up your email without a ton of spam e-mails from mortgage companies. Then you would go home and find another two or three pounds of letters in your mail from other mortgage companies. It's not so anymore, which means now is the best time to ramp up your marketing and advertising since you are guaranteed to get noticed without all the other clutter and competition around.
The key is you must use what is known as Emotional Direct Response Marketing that is highly targeted only to the prospects you know you can help. More importantly, it will allow you to track where your business is coming from.
That means you can start eliminating what is not working and pour that money back into ads and marketing strategies that you know are working. Doesn't that make a whole lot more sense? It took me many years to learn Emotional Direct Response Marketing even existed and a few more years to master it, but the result has been a seven-figure difference in my annual income and it will have the same impact on your business and bank account.
In your next Loan Officer Formula Marketing Tip I will talk about the idea of hoping!
Brian Sacks is the CEO of
