You’re an independent loan officer that works from home, but you still want to sell like you’re backed up by the Big Dogs. That is not so hard when you know how to market. Sure, if you could market with XYZ’s big-time budget, then you could get more leads and close more loans. But, what if you don’t have that kind of marketing budget? There is still a way to get those leads; you just have to get smart about it – like the Big Dogs.
It all comes down to RESEARCH. The hardest part is figuring out what to sell to whom. A one-man band with 30 different products to sell needs to know HOW to promote, WHAT to promote and WHO to promote to.
1) Research which product you need to market.
When you start researching, you cannot go off of assumptions because you know what they say about a-s-s-u-m-e (makes an ass out of ‘u’ and ‘me’). What you have to do is go through your client list and tabulate what product you sell the most of. First calculate what product you sell the most of and then calculate what product you make the most money on. Those are the two products that you start with. However, if what you sell the most of is what you make the most amount of money on, then that is pretty fantastic – but not likely. You’ll probably find two products. Usually, you really have to do a sincere survey. You are looking to market the product that makes you the most income the quickest FIRST. “Thinking” it is a particular product rather than “doing” an empirical study is not marketing smart – because you may be wrong – believe it or not. When you are working from home, you need to be twice as smart when it comes to your marketing.
How you do it?
Make a spreadsheet and go through all of your past closes over the last few years. List them out: Product A, B, C, D – get every close you made over the past few years and mark down what the product was and what you earned off of it.
Example:
Product A earned 1%
Product B earned $900
Product C earned ½%
Product D earned 1500.00
You will be able to “see” exactly what product you are selling the most of and what product you are making the most money on. Then you can start marketing to your bread and butter first. Once you have consistently marketed that product for a while, then you can supplement your marketing strategy and market the other product, the one paying the biggest commission – while keeping the campaign continuing on your bread and butter. Marketing smart means marketing first what you sell the most of, the fastest. That is an important datum – it sums it all up.
Now that you know which product to start with, you have to know who is going to buy it, which comes to our next step.
2) Research to find who the audience is that you are going to sell to.
Not all audiences are the same. Take for example the Will and Grace Show. Not everyone would want to watch that. Just like there is a totally different target audience for The Lawrence Welk Show. (If you never heard of these, then more than likely you aren’t their audience.) Case in point: you have to determine who your audience is, which is called a “market”. A “market” is a type of audience, a type of user. So, figure out everything you can about that particular market that buys your bread-and-butter product. And you already have access to all their data – age ranges, credit scores, credit rating, income, etc. Tip: do another spread sheet.
Once you have the demographics of the people that buy your “easiest-to-sell” product, then get a list of that particular type of audience. You can go to a list company that you feel good about and have gotten recommendations for, and buy a list of people within that criteria.
The reason you want to do such a thorough job of finding out who you are selling to is that 40% of your marketing campaign’s success (success meaning whether or not you get a good response) is dependent on your list. Besides, it is your list and the postage that are going to be the most expensive parts of your direct mail campaign. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good list – it makes all the difference between marketing smart and…well, if you are not targeting your public, you aren’t really marketing at all.
After you research out who your target market is,
3) Figure out what to say to them.
The thing about people in a certain profession or a certain industry is that they have been in their industry for so long and know so much about their profession that they start to think that people know as much as they do – or should know as much as they do. Most people are not educated in your particular product. Most people do not know there are all types of rates and products that are available to them depending on their credit, income, etc. And these people are not necessarily illiterate hicks from Country-Bumpkinville! They are educated people, but they have lots of other things they deal with everyday that take up all their time, e.g., picking up the kids from school, dealing with the boss at work, etc. Not everyone is watching Alan Greenspan every day!
Another thing you need to know, before you decide what it is you need to say in your message, is that it is very hard to educate people – they don’t want to be educated necessarily. You need to find out what the “button” is that people will respond to, that will get them to come to you for loans or refinancing or what-have-you. A “button” is a word, phrase, picture, etc. that elicits emotional response. People may not understand “No PMI”, but they understand “fast cash”. What is it about them that would make your message mean something?
It is all analysis. To figure out what you want to say, you have to figure out what people will respond to. You don’t really want to say, “I’m the best broker ever that can match up any product with any customer!” although that may seem like a good idea. First of all, a lot of people don’t even know what a mortgage broker does!! So don’t say that. You have to market differently to different types of people.
People have different agreements and fixed ideas and experiences. For example: Someone that has bought several homes has more experience on that line than someone who has never bought a home. If you found the product you sold the most of was to first-time home buyers , then you know they have little or no experience with mortgages. But everybody wants to own their own home; so what you want to say to them is “You CAN own your own home – it’s EASY!”, or something of the sort. Look at it from a different angle. One person, who is really into boats and is reading Nova Online – Speed Machines, would understand a jet hydroplane with a lightweight composite hull and a jet engine that could deliver 5,500 horsepower with the afterburner lit. But another guy, who has never owned a boat before, may just think it is just another fast boat and all he’s looking to buy is a fast boat – without all the engineering details. You have to get your message across to your target market that is going to communicate to them. In other words, they are going to understand it and RESPOND.
Working out of your home, you don’t have access to the Big Mortgage Bank’s Marketing Department. When you don’t have a marketing expert telling you what to do, you may still need that expert’s help. So here again, do research to get that help or assistance. Go on the internet to find the biggest lenders web sites. Get on their mailing list. Look at their marketing materials so you can see what they send you – not “you” as broker, but “you” as a potential customer. Not only are you researching how you are making the most money, but also research how the Big Dogs are bringing in the clients. What are the materials they are sending to the end-user? There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Find out what is working and do that. A lot of those Big Dogs are doing postcards.
markmanson
plannedparenthood
16personalities
youth
au.reachout
bestlifeonline
vice
search-institute
behrend.psu
amherst
opa.hhs
kidshealth
safesupportivelearning.ed
mind.help
sclhealth
wellness.huhs.harvard
foxnews
nm
help.tableau
brides
nami
psychalive
relationships
liveabout
laravel
relate
mentalhelp
thehotline
zerotothree
goodtherapy
raq
healthscopemag
therapistaid
glamourmagazine
brook
counselling-directory
nhs
healthforteens
relationshipmatters
nationalmssociety
brokenships
twinkl
macmillan
goodhousekeeping
learning.nspcc
m.luton
healthdirect
policyistoluniversitypress
oprahdaily
ingentaconnect
mencap
assertbh
familyrelationships
relationshipswa
webmd
relationshipsnsw
rasa
citizensinformation
acecqa
cmhc.utexas
relationships-scotland
trainingmag
tas.relationships
mongodb
glamour
assetsmpbell
news24
racr
mensline
bodytalk
bdm.vic
getthefacts.health.wa
beyondblue
relationshipmatters
australianunity
interrelate
services.unimelb
families
1800respect
lighthouserelationships
betterrelationships
infothorisationmanager
windermere
lifesupportscounselling
healthywa.wa
guides.dss
frsa
ndtv
urmc.rochester
tonyrobbins
conjointly
optionsforsexualhealth
news.harvard
jsonapi
interpersona.psychopen
additudemag
portdattache
westernhealth.nl
teentalk
cafconnection
wechu
iocdf
qp.alberta
pubs.opengroup
mbopartners
travelandleisureco
magazine.store
dotdashmeredith
travelandleisurewine
clubtravelandleisure
w1.buysub
apps.apple
reallygoodemails
travelandleisureasia
worldmark.wyndhamdestinations
lhw
tlm-magazine
magazineline
barnesandnoble
windhamtravelandleisure
sobelathome
wba.m-rr
freedomwithwriting
meredith
magazines
useline
walmart
lisaunger
asiatravelandleisure
leisuregrouptravel
mccoy.armymwr
townandcountrymag
news.orlando
libguides.library.ohio
book.booktandl
worldmarktheclub
coverbrowser
moxleycarmichael
visitlex
thepointsguy
cgscholar
omnimundi
sportsleisure
sitejabber
seekingalpha
innsofaurora
appleleisuregroup
mlive
brunelleschihotelflorence
basedirectory
merrilledge
morningstar
marketresearchreports
newsstand
groupleisureandtravel
travelandleisureindia
sharecast
wihtl
themeredithstore
uniglobe
webhelp
amdigital
perannum
tripadvisor
smartlocal
brake
thembsgroup
luxurypromotionalgifts
tourismandleisurestudies
scmp
nasdaqomxnordic
simplexitytravel
simon-kucher
franchisedirect
andrewsolomon
roboworx.eclerx
earlymetrics
businessesforsale
zinio
magnet.me
e-marketingassociates
curiositystream
artsandleisuretours
concreteplayground
gbnews.ch
straitstimes
salom.tr
qigroup
stat.fi
environicsanalytics
cbre
asia.nikkei
fodors
harvestportfolios
brinknews
trvesting
grupoexpansion
free-muenchen
magzter
kspaintravelandleisure
travelandleisuregroup
investinspain
warrenstore
tarsus
axesor
sabiogroup
bpi
morningstar
ca.rbcwealthmanagement
erasmushogeschool.be
id.me
tapinto
nomabid
offers
apollotourism
travelandsports
m.petersofkensington
researchportal.scu
lizardisland
tripadvisor
blt
mozo
clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations
businesseventscouncil
paypal
ipl
collectivehub
racv
auvesting
au.sitejabber
executiveedge
panoramaco
theaccommodationbrokers
travelandleisuregroup
onvista
finanzen100
boerse
ishares
hk24
justlanded
united-kiosk
panoramaglasslodge
presseplus
tradingbrothers
tinamica
john-taylor
transcom
welcome-to-rlp
morningstar
lyxoretf
ite.sg
ludwig.guru
ls-tc
crunchbase
mysubs
chumbak
tripadvisor
infinitimall
zaubacorp
nasdaq
franchiseasia
englisharchives.mathrubhumi
harpersbazaar
tripadvisor
hilldickinson
travelandleisuregroup
thomasmore.be
information-age
bochk
21fss
brownsgroup
grouptravelshow
hawaii.armymwr
talentandpartner
johnpaul
john-taylor
parsintl
tripadvisor
lyxoretf
boursedirect
visihow
wickinn
phantomcreekestates
lussier
pursuit
winecountryontario
westcoastfishingclub
bwrevistas
terra
robertajungmann
humphreys.armymwr
dailymotion
autonews
automotive
bar
caranddriver
coxautoinc
automotivetouchup
proautomotivema
newatlas
arm
ti
bergstromauto
bellinghamautomotive
hendrickcars
karmaautomotive
berglundcars
cargroup
autosinnovate
autocare
lutherauto
ihsmarkit
cochran
new.abb
skyworksinc
analog
venturacollege
tu-auto
aiag
automotivelinux
jabil
te
dupont
harborfreight
na.panasonic
nsk
autofair
automotiveworld
sonicautomotive
youngautomotive
group1auto
asashop
infor
petersen
lowes
larsonautomotivegroup
hbfuller
schumacherauto
boucher
ase
wardsautoforma
northtownauto
tifluidsystems
gknautomotive
automotivehalloffame
mullenusa
wsutech
xilinx
acehardware
napaonline
nalleycars
sae
saffordauto
zautomotive
cbac
renesas
europetonews
smmt
am-online
imaginationtech
automotiveip
eutomotive.panasonic
worldbenchmarkingalliance
boconline
atos
tatasteeleurope
linklaters
osram
3m
reply
cars.mclaren
twi-global
tomtom
coxautoinc
allianceautomotivegroup
worldsteel
industries.veolia
morrislubricants
automotivelogistics.media
bgautomotive
just-auto
sterling-automotive
wsp
tide.theimi
amrc
automotive-technology
gordonmurrayautomotive
matthey
ringautomotive
automotivevehicles
davidbrownautomotive
caci
sabic
borgautomotive
ajg
windriver
automotiveblog
lander
group1auto
bpf
automotivedirectltd
nqa
hydro
sheffcol
infineon
reeto
endeavourautomotive
apcuk
dailysabah
osd.tr
anadolugrubu.tr
doganholding.tr
turkeytomotivemeetings
hirschmann-automotive
vda
walser
orhanholding
emea.tr
akka-technologies
novelis
trwaftermarket
fischer-automotive
schaeffler
automotive.arcelormittal
automechanika-istanbul.tr.messefrankfurt
madeinalabama
kongsbergautomotive
meha-automotive
horiba
allegromicro
boschaftermarket
aba-automotive
automotivemanufacturingsolutions
aldautomotive.tr
marklines
automotive-iq
seha.tr
grupoautomotive
mwcbarcelona
aldautomotive
varta-automotive
aceato
societegenerale
clepa
zf
ctag
uvict
osram
rymeautomotive
vodafone
5gaa
benteler
cieautomotive
fujikura-automotive
agc-automotive
marshmclennan
al.world
constellium
leggett-automotive
gjautomotive
rheinmetall-automotive
broadcom
witte-automotive
articles.sae
nexusautomotiveinternational
aicenter
discover-cee
logisticautomotive
dracautomotive
automotivesuperstore
boxhill
thegordon
tat
skillsforaustralia
aaaa
eagersautomotive
gud
tonkin
vacc
fcai
sjautomotive
clovellyautomotive
envyautomotive
avrautomotive
sydneytools
aftermarket
mccarrolls
peterwarren
aada.asn
wakelingautomotive
apawa
amv
aag
burtonautomotivegroup
amvautomotive
macarthurautomotive
allpointautomotive
saicmotor
iame