One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "I hear direct mail works but I have tried it and got a very poor response." Instead of trying to break it down and discover why, most people just give up and say "Direct mail just doesn't work." Most then move on to the next shiny magical lead generation tool that hits their inbox.
In this article I want to share with you the five biggest reasons most originators have not gotten optimal results from their direct mail campaigns and the quick and easy way to fix them so you can start generating some big commissions consistently.
Mistake No. 1: Mailing Only Once. Those of you who know me have probably heard me ask "Who ever gets married on their first date?" No one, right? Well it's the same with your direct mail campaigns. The big mistake here is mailing to a group one time and then deciding if direct mail works or not.
If I gave you a budget of $5,000 and told you that you had two choices. First you could mail your piece to 5,000 people once. Or, you could mail to 1,000 people five times. Which would you choose?
Most would mail to the whole 5,000 and that's a big mistake. People require a little direct mail dating in order for them to respond. You will get a much better return on your investment by mailing five times instead of just once.
Big Idea: Don't listen to people who tell you that you should be getting a 2% response on your direct mail efforts. Here's a better way to judge it. How much did I invest? How much did I earn in commissions? Really all you need to care about is your return on your investment. If you got 20 people to respond but didn't close any loans your return is zero!
Mistake No. 2: Not Fishing in the Right Ponds. This is a very common mistake. I'll keep it short here for space reasons. It's just as easy to do a $500,000 loan as it is to do a $200,000 loan. So mail to people that live in the higher income zip codes which are closest to your office. Even if you are in a rural area there is typically a high end area with 30 or 40 miles so no excuses here.
Mistake No. 3: Not Having a Message Which Matches the Market. You must have a message that fits the market you are mailing to. No one wakes up each day and says "Gee, I really need a mortgage. No one wants a mortgage; what they want is a nice home so they can spend time with their family. Or they want to refinance so they have more income each month to spend on things they like or need.
You must try to reach your prospects on an emotional level. That's the level we all buy in. So your message should show them how they can get the benefits of your mortgage, not the terms of the loan or rate.
Here's some examples:
STOP MAKING YOUR LANDLORD RICH Enjoy the American Dream now while rates and home prices allow you to finally live in that dream home you've been thinking about!
WOULD AN EXTRA $300 a month help you during these tough economic times? (This is a refi headline.)
ARE YOU MAKING YOUR LOCAL BANKER RICH WHILE STRUGGLING JUST TO GET BY? (Another good refi headline.)
Lastly you want to make sure that you are targeting people with a list who are actually the ideal prospects for what you offering. Sending college students a marketing piece for reverse mortgages won't work and offering seniors a first-time homebuyer program won't either.
Mistake No. 4: Not Tracking Your Results. We often tend to use the phrase "throw it up against the wall and see what sticks" when it comes to our marketing and mailings. As I mentioned earlier you need to make sure that every penny you invest in your marketing is trackable and accountable to you.
Our money is really tight right now for most so you must make sure that every dollar you invest is trackable and accountable. That means you need to know what results you got from each campaign.
Here are the tools I use:
Let me explain about free reports. Think about what you do everyday. A client calls and you give them your rap (your sales speech). You tell them why they should use you instead of the competition and convince them to apply after you answer their questions. What if instead you put it all in a report they could read.
It would have the answers to all their questions.
It would have testimonials of all your past satisfied clients.
It would explain why they should use you instead of the competition (your expertise, not your price).
It would tell them what to do next.
It would allay their fears.
Someone you have targeted that fits the profile for the program you offer responds to your ad or marketing piece. They go on-line or call a toll free telephone number to get a free report. The free report is really your sales message so they now call you already sold on using you!
That's important for a couple reasons. First it allows you to get your message out to the right people without spending all the time you now take trying to convince them. Next, each ad or marketing piece has a different toll free extension number and web address. That way you can track every penny you are investing and make sure that you are getting the proper return on your investment. That's the beauty of emotional direct response marketing.
Mistake No. 5: Not Having a Deadline and Call to Action. The people who read your marketing pieces need you to tell them what to do next. Your ad or marketing piece must have a reason for them to take your desired action now!
If you give them the chance to put your piece down so they can "think about it" they will never respond. You must get them to do something now!
One way to do this is to offer a bonus for meeting with you like a gas card or other incentive. Give them a deadline such as "you must respond by." Or, it could be a quantity incentive, like "I have set aside gas cards for the first ___ who are ready to achieve the dream or home ownership or lower their monthly payments."
Now that you have these mistakes under control go ahead and start mailing and tracking those results. You'll see a major improvement in your results quickly.
By the way - the first thing most companies and originators stop doing when things get a little tougher is their marketing. Look in your own in box and mailbox and you'll notice very few solicitations from mortgage companies. Now is the best time for you to start mailing since there will be less competition for your prospects attention. So go ahead and review these tips and get your campaign going. This topic is so important that I have dedicated an entire module of samples and almost two hours of training on just this topic of direct mail at
Brian Sacks is the CEO of
