Mortgage Marketing Hurdles and the Value of Personal Involvement

There are hurdles with loan officer marketing and also with real estate marketing and, well, marketing itself. Huh? It’s true. I’ve written several articles on this subject, most notably this one on Marketing Truths and Roadblocks and How To Avoid Them.

While there are a few different strategies that one could employ to gain more client reach and increase one’s sphere of influence, not everything works the same for each market and/or industry. Our focus here at Exodus Marketing is on the mortgage and real estate industry, and my favorite is Mortgage Marketing. Therefore, it’s probably best to keep it in the proper scope, no?

One of the biggest hurdles is the person who stands to gain the most benefit from a good marketing strategy. What I experience often in talking to potential and even a rare handful of existing clients is the unwillingness to share themselves, share their knowledge, and become family.

This is fascinating, as I’ve never spoken to anyone who actually believes the marketing and advertising that they’re exposed to all day long really speaks to them. Never have I heard someone I’ve spoken to feel as though advertisers could care less about who they are or what they represent, but only to sell them something.

It’s a head-scratcher and I have to ask, “Why then would someone NOT want to be involved with their clients on some level?” Those that are disingenuous and have no concern for their clients say nothing to them, share nothing with them, are not part of their client’s family, and typically their marketing efforts stick out like a sore thumb in the midst of blatant insincerity.

My goodness, while I was typing this, I got an email from a company that says, “Put your lender marketing on autopilot!”

To not be involved is to let your business be run by strangers. It’s like letting others make decisions for your future without any real loss. Hell, if they can sell you, they can sell someone else. In sales, keeping up with attrition is the name of the game. Does this sound like someone who has a stake in the game that’s more than short-term? It’s unbelievable! And yet…

That hurdle is pretty clear, and here’s one more that is fully justified by the first one. And that’s FEAR! Fear, you say? Oh yeah, fear of not knowing what to do or say. “What can I possibly say to these folks on a regular basis? Nothing I’ve spent time and money on before really taught me anything, other than not doing that again. Talk about the ‘bump into method.’

What to say and how to say it is the easy part. Sharing yourself, sharing your knowledge, and becoming family is the simplest thing of all, at least it is for us here at Exodus. If you don’t know how to do it, you’re in luck; we not only help you to communicate realistically, but we teach you how to do it for free!

Communicating with your clients in a realistic way has been proven to create ambassadors and meaningful relationships! Clients who not only work with you lifelong but refer others to you. Many would rather not bother and use the set-it-and-forget-it method or method of non-involvement.

Another way to look at the effectiveness of communication is to consider the following: Imagine you send your customers a newsletter telling them how much you hate the business, worry about its longevity, and how miserable it makes you. What type of impact do you think that would have? Doing the opposite takes on a whole new meaning when put into that perspective.

Having been in this business through both good times and bad, I can tell you without fear of contradiction: Realistic communication works and it works every single time.

People do business with those they know, those they like, and those they trust. Only sending an email with disingenuous intentions is NOT the same as sharing yourself with your clients.

That leads to a couple of good questions: How much should I share? What should I share? All valid questions and we’ll touch on those in more detail next time.