Sales Tips for Mortgage Lenders: Social Media, Direct Mail and Advertising

No matter how long you’ve been in the business, your most valuable tools are your sales techniques. Let’s take a look at some helpful approaches that could help you fine-tune your approach and ultimately increase your business.

Traditional Advertising

You’ve heard the age-old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This saying couldn’t be more perfect when it comes to broadcast and print advertisements. These approaches are old, but when it comes to generating business, they still exist because they work. Print and broadcast have the ability, when done right, to introduce you and your services in a memorable way. When using these approaches, you’ll want to focus on what sets you apart from other mortgage lenders.

Partner Up

Advertising can be expensive and very time consuming; however, you don’t have to take on this responsibility solely. Find someone that you work well with and trust to split the process with you. Estate agents are excellent opportunities for partnerships because you have the same prospects at different levels of needs. You can bounce creative ideas off each other and produce copy that helps bring in clients ideal for you both. Partnerships also show your potential customers that you have an established network of experienced professionals ready to work for them and create a worry-free experience.

Define Your Best Sales Approach

Not every loan officer conducts business the same way. Each person must determine the sales approach that best works for them and capitalize on their strengths and comfort zones. If you know you provide great services, perhaps you offer fees and rights slightly above what other lenders are offering. If you are quick to keep up with negotiations, then you can effectively exchange lower interest rates for additional up-front costs. Consider all your options and then come to the table with several plans to see which one is right for you.

Refinancing Opportunities

When interest rates begin to drop, there’s no better time to sort through your list of people with current mortgages. You can create an opportunity to reach out to them about refinancing. Staying abreast of the current trends and news in your industry allows you to relate your services to your clients. Not only could you open up new business, but your clients will appreciate the insight and value you as a professional resource.

Venture Online

It’s no secret that online advertising & social media is more important than ever. Not only does it provide a less expensive alternative to other marketing mediums, but also it allows you to reach a large amount of people, quickly. These campaigns must be carried out correctly, or else you run the risk of annoying your potential customers. For example, you can use emails to alert your potential customers of industry news or a current promotion you are running. However, an email everyday will lead customers to unsubscribe from not only your email list, but your business as well. All online efforts must be done with the customer in mind. If the information you are providing is not of value or relevant, it’s not worth sending out, period.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company. 

Mortgage Broker: Using Your Website to Make a Statement

In the mortgage industry, your website should be a source of information and education. Customers are most satisfied when you keep them filled with information about real-estate terms, credit score do’s and don’ts, and other ‘universal’ information that would benefit them when thinking about their mortgage situation. This information tends to be more generic and less personal, but still essential for your readers.

But one place that should be personal and customized is the content on your home page. Why you ask?

⦁ This is your one chance to impress a site visitor and share with them why you are themortgage broker they should work with.

⦁ It may be the only page on your site that they visit.

⦁ It gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

⦁ Search engines will rank you higher if your content is more unique. 

A personalized home page is a must. Here are some tips to make it the best.

⦁ What is your brand? Start with three things that you want your clients to know. This is your chance to define yourself through your messaging. How many loans have you closed? Brag about it. Do you specialize in specific financing markets? Talk about each one. Are you great to work with? Let them know why. If you don’t tell your readers about the things that make you unique than they won’t know.

⦁ If you have taken our ‘We’ test than you know the importance of making your customer the subject of your content. This is no different when it comes to your homepage. People like to talk about themselves, and they like when you talk about them as well. Avoid using ‘I’ and ‘We’ in your content. Instead use ‘You’ and ‘Your’ to identify with your customer. Talk about their problems and how you can help.

⦁ Don’t waste their time. When someone visits your site, you only have seconds to capture his or her attention. A ‘welcome to our website’ is not going to help you prove to them to stay on your site. Instead, something along the lines of “With 15 years of customer-focused mortgage experience, ABC company can help with your mortgage needs’ would be better and more to the point.

⦁ Use keywords in your content. If your prospective clients are searching for your services, what type of words or phrases would they put into a search engine? Are these words and phrases on your home page? If they don’t fit naturally into your messaging, be sure to include them in your page’s keywords.

⦁ Break up your content with bullet points. No one wants to read paragraph after paragraph of information. They want to be able to quickly scan your website to determine if it’s worth their time to stay and learn more about you. By using bullet points, you help your reader digest important information about you more quickly.

⦁ Use images and graphics. People are naturally drawn to pictures and it helps break up content. Make sure the images are relevant to your business and include them on your home page.

⦁ Review your home page and then have someone else review it. Have someone that you trust to give honest feedback, both good and bad, look over your home page. They don’t have to be mortgage experts either. The more people you have look at your site, the better it will be.

⦁ Make your home page a continuous project. Customizing your homepage is not a one-time gig. You should come back to it often and re-evaluate its relevance and appeal. You don’t need to make changes every week, or even every month. But don’t assume that just because it worked in the beginning that it will work all the time. Keep your look and information current to ensure you are representing yourself accurately.

If you follow these simple tips, you are one step closer to engaging with your prospective clients and proving to them that you are the best to work with.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company. 

Testing the “We” In Your Marketing Materials

You have spent hours, days, maybe even months perfecting your marketing materials. You have different pieces geared toward different audiences. But are these pieces truly focused on ‘them’ or have you fallen victim to creating materials that are full of ‘we?’ Most of your target audiences only care about how you can help them solve their problems. How can you speak to their pain? If you want them to do more business with you or send you more clients than you must be focused on them. The words in your marketing materials, whether they are an advertisement, flyer, postcard, or website will prove how much you are really focused on your customers.

Below, follow the steps to determine if your materials are customer focused or if you are talking more about yourself. If can be a painful discovery, but a necessary one for bringing in new clients.

The ‘We’ Test

⦁ Start by grabbing a piece of your marketing postcard or literature. Try to choose one that has more content, so you can truly measure your message. There are two types of words you are going to test your message for: 1) customer-focused words and 2) self-focused words.

⦁ Count how many times you see the words you, your, yourself, you’ve and you’re throughout your marketing piece. These are your customer-focused words.

⦁ Now, count how many times you use the words I, me, my, mine, myself, our, us, and the name of your company (if mentioned). These are (gulp) your self-focused words.

⦁ Now for the moment of truth…first, tally up both totals for your customer-focused words and your self-focused words. Then divide the total number of customer-focused words by the total sum of both customer- and self-focused words. This will be the percentage of customer-focused words represented in your material. Now reverse this calculation to determine your percentage for your use of self-focused words.

Let’s break this down in an example. Let’s say your total number of customer-focused words is 12 and the total number of self-focused words is 28.

⦁ Customer-focused words (12) / sum of customer and self-focused words (12+28=40) = 30% customer-focused rate.

⦁ Self-focused words (28) / sum of customer and self-focused words (12+28=40) = 70% self-focused rate.

If this were an accurate representation of your marketing material, you would have just discovered that you speak about yourself almost 2 ½ times more than you speak about your customer. This would be a major red flag to edit your messaging to be more customer-focused.

If you proved that you are indeed more customer-focused with your marketing-congratulations! You really do focus on your customer and their needs. If not, now you know what you must work on going forward. It might be tough to swallow, but you are already on your way to turning your marketing around and bringing in more clients.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Social Media: Seven Ways to Let the World Know You Exist Online

You've worked hard to make your website the best representation of your business and brand. You've written content that sells who you are and why potential clients should work with you. You've provided material that is engaging and informational. You've done all the necessary steps to ensure your website is a successful marketing tool. But does anybody know about it other than you?

Website marketing is not a sit-around-and-wait-to-see-who-visits type of marketing. Like anything else you do, you have to work hard and put in the time and effort to see results. Below are seven ways to let everyone around you know they can find you on the web. Having a strong social media presence is essential in today's business.

⦁ Your website needs to go everywhere. If you advertise any part of your contact information, your web address should be included as well. Think classifieds, business card and even your email signature.

⦁ Use offline methods to promote your site. Some examples could include:  marketing postcards, door hangers, car magnets, and other marketing material.

⦁ Get other websites to link to your site. Reach out to your contacts such as colleagues, appraisers and realtors, attorneys, etc. and ask them to link to your site (and in return you can reciprocate the favor). This will not only be another way to promote your website, but it will also help improve your rankings in search engines.

⦁ Use your domain’s email address in all business that you do. If your site is ⦁ www.xyz.com, then your email should be ⦁ you@xyz.com. This helps people easily identify the two together and it helps build your brand.

⦁ Enroll the help of a blog. Unique content helps with your search engine rankings, so take advantage of the power of a blog. A blog allows you to offer fresh, relevant, regular content to your visitors. If visitors are attracted to your information, they are more likely to follow future posts, hang around your site and promote your site to others.

⦁ Consider a pay-per-click advertising campaign. Designate part of your marketing budget to various search engines. They will publish your link on relevant sites and web search results and you only pay if someone clicks on the link to your site.

⦁ Word of mouth marketing. Don’t forget how powerful your own voice can be. Tell prospective clients, friends, family, current clients, referrals, and partners about your site.

Don’t let all your hard work go to waste. Utilize all the ways in which you can help promote and drive traffic to your site.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Delivering the Best Direct Mail Piece to Your Prospects

Each week, your prospects are busy receiving mail everyday. Here are seven suggestions that will help your direct mail piece stand out amongst the junk and prove effective.

⦁    Personalization. ‘Dear Stacey’ hits home better than ‘Dear Neighbor.’ Use the word ‘You’ often, and don’t be afraid to incorporate personalized details into your messaging. Something along the lines of… More Corner Pointer homeowners have refinanced through me than…” The more you can relate to them personally, the more attention your message will receive.

⦁    Testimonials. When doing business with anyone, in any industry, trust is key. When someone is looking for mortgage lending services, they want to know they can trust you with their home life decisions. Include testimonials whenever possible. Be sure they’re real people providing real feedback. And always make sure you have a signed release from testimonials first before you make these statements public.

⦁    Use a P.S. In a direct mail piece, the P.S. is one of the first elements read by your recipient. And if it’s not the first thing read, virtually all people will read the P.S. versus the meaty content in the middle of your pitch. Use your P.S. to restate your offer or repeat your call-to-action.

⦁    Give direction. Don’t be afraid to tell your recipients what to do. If you don’t have a call-to-action, your mail piece will never succeed. Instruct your reader to visit your website or return a form, for example.

⦁    Include an opening line. Like the P.S., you can be assured that everyone will at least read your opening line. This simple introduction will determine if your recipient keeps reading or throws your mail piece in the trash. Keep your opening line focused on the reader and make sure it previews your offer. A good opener may sound like this: ‘My notes show that your mortgage payments are due to increase soon. Before your rates adjust, you can get a stable, fixed rate on a refinance now. Read on to find out how.

⦁    Prepare for skimmers. Skimmers are people who don’t actually read your mail piece from top to bottom. Rather, they peruse through your content, sometimes in a random order. Bulleted lists, subheads and call-outs are effective for catching a skimmer’s attention. However, be sure these bullets and subheads make sense and fit the content. If they don’t, they may distract your top to bottom readers.

⦁    Remember your envelope. Some of your recipients won’t read your mail piece, but they will still see your envelope whether they open it or not. Studies have shown that envelopes with hand written addresses with a first class stamp are most likely to get opened.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Mortgage Marketing, Direct mail Postcards, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Established in  1998, Titan List has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Mortgage Marketing: Building Relationships With Attorneys and Financial Planners for New Referrals

For any mortgage business, it’s important to build referral relationships with real estate agents and past clients. And no matter the climate you live in during these winter months, this is a great time to devote extra time and effort into providing some TLC for these existing relationships, as well as cultivating new ones.

When looking to build your referral base, it’s wise to consider mutually beneficial partnerships. Yes, it’s important to work with agents and past clients, but don’t limit yourself. Evaluate the market you work in. Consider partnering with professionals in your area that struggling homeowners contact for help- financial planners, bankruptcy attorneys, and even divorce attorneys are all good prospects when looking for referral business.

When engaging with these professionals and pitching them your services for their clients, consider these tips for your introduction:

Position yourself as providing help to the professional, not (directly) to the client. Remember, this needs to be a mutually beneficial relationship, so what will they reap from working with you?
Speak to their pain. When you work with a homeowner, for example, you market yourself as someone who can help lower his or her monthly mortgage payments. Same concept applies here. If you are looking to work with a financial planner or attorney, what can your services do for them?
With any message you put out there, you must consider your audience. This introduction should be delivered differently than you would, say, a homeowner. By emphasizing clarity and persuasiveness, you will promote a level of trust with them. Attention grabbing stunts or slang in your writing won’t do the trick. Portray yourself as a professional from the very beginning.

And speaking of being professional…always act, speak and write professionally. Sometimes, being informal with a homeowner will help build their trust because you are ‘talking’ with them, not above them in their time of need. However, with attorneys and financial planners, all stages of communication should be carried out professionally.

Printed materials have better success than phone calls. If you have  not tried you’re hand at mortgage marketing, or a direct mail campaign to help reach new or old clients 2014 could be the year for you to do so.  Also building relationships with Attorneys and financial planners could be a good source for referrals however many are surrounded by gatekeepers. Most likely, an assistant or secretary will determine if you get to talk directly to your prospect on the phone. If you send a simple marketing postcard, you have a better chance of getting ‘in the door.’ Your postcard also may find a home on their desk with your website and contact information displayed nicely until they need it.

Emails work too. In our world of technology, we rely heavily on the aide of our smartphones. Attorneys, financial planners and the like, are always checking their phones. A text-only email may help to introduce you.

As with any referral arrangement, be sure that you follow all guidelines and disclosures set forth by HUD, and mind all mortgage law when doing business.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail,Mortgage Postcards, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Established in 1998 Titan List has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

3 Tactics to Keep from Losing Your Customers to Trigger Leads

You just started working with a new customer and already they are getting calls and direct marketing pieces from your competitors trying to undersell you. While the enemy may seem to be your competitor, the real culprit is the trigger lead. When you pull someone’s credit, the credit bureau may sell your borrower’s information to other brokers or originators. Your borrower becomes a hot lead because they are in the market for a new mortgage.

Buying trigger leads is a personal decision. They are great leads for buyers because they help you target borrowers that are showing real interest in refinancing. These valuable leads are worth the price. However, for the targeted borrower, they can mean cold calls. And let’s face it; no one likes cold calls peddling mortgages. Users conduct some unethical behavior as well. Some buyers claim to be another broker working together with the borrower’s real broker, or they claim to be from the underwriting department and need more information. Everyone doesn’t perform this type of behavior, but it makes borrowers very weary of the practice of using trigger leads.

With all this said, there are brokers that report much success by using trigger leads. They are a hot topic in the mortgage industry, so there has to be some value there. Again, buying them is a personal decision; a decision that must be made for the benefit of your business and clients. But now, we are going to touch on the marketing value in avoiding trigger leads.

Trigger leads could cost you valuable customers. Once inundated with several cold calls and marketing materials, your borrower may blame you for his or her personal information being released. Or, a trigger lead buyer may be successful in coaxing your borrower away from you. So, how do you keep from losing your customers? You can execute the following tactics to prevent loss and earn some marketing points at the same time.

Be up front with your customer. As soon as you begin working with them, explain what happens when you pull their credit and how they could become a trigger lead. Be sure to emphasize that this can happen no matter the broker or originator they may choose to work with. It’s important they understand that it is not you personally selling their information to other brokers. Being honest from the beginning will earn you points and set you above the rest.

Warn them of cold callers using trigger leads. Let them know that you will be calling them for more information if needed, not someone claiming to be affiliated with you or your business. Tell your customer that if someone does call requesting information, they should call you to verify the caller. Explain that brokers buying these trigger leads will go after them full-speed because they are a ‘hot lead.’ Don’t be afraid to tell them that you are working hard for their business and don’t want to see them work with someone else based on a call or mail piece.

Offer to opt them out or tell them how to do it themselves. The website www.optoutprescreen.com allows consumers to opt out of receiving offers for five years online or forever by mail. (This site also allows them to opt in). It can take up to five days for their request to process and up to 60 days for all offers to cease. Make sure your customer understands this wait time.

Trigger leads must be considered individually for your business. If you are on the side of frustration from running from these leads, remember they represent a marketing and customer service opportunity too. Use them to your advantage to earn honesty points and proving to your customers that you have their best interest in mind.

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Established in 1998, Titan and their staff of highly qualified individuals with experience current marketing trends that fit all kinds of companies. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.