Several resources are available to help mortgage loan originators increase their production. In addition, a number of practices can generate business to varying degrees. But some resources and strategies are more productive than others, and originators can spend much time sifting through them.
A recent conference presentation addressed the 10 best ways to engage clients and referral sources, and the most costly methods didn’t necessarily produce the most successful results.
The presentation, Top 10 Ways to Engage Clients & Referral Partners, was made at the NAMBWest Loan Originator Conference by Sue Woodard, president of Mortgage Success Source. The conference was held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5.
Woodard highlighted how marketing messages often get lost in the clutter of “information overload.”
Among the ways to get the attention and engagement of prospects and referrals is the utilization of QR or “quick response” codes. The free bar code can be used for print, mailed and magazine advertisements and can be scanned by mobile phone cameras to pull up the corresponding website. Websites that generate the code include , and .
Woodard spotlighted social media and highlighted how everyone is using it though few really understand it.
She also noted that existing referral channels are a key source of business. The executive cited data that indicated only 14 percent of consumers trust advertisements, while 90 percent trust peer recommendations. Woodard explained that referrals are the least expensive channel, “but we do not have if we do not ask.”
However, the referral process needs to be kept simple.
One factor that helps build referrals is educating them about finance and the economy and the current impact to them.
“People are in tune with the economic and financial environment like never before,” Woodard said in her presentation. “You can and should be their trusted resource.”
Woodard also encourages the utilization of video e-mails, which enhance click-through rates and are considered the “waive of the future.”
By engaging prospects and referral sources on their mobile devices, loan originators are reaching them where they live. Woodard cited figures indicating that mobile is the third-highest media channel consumed. She indicated that half of users expect to increase Internet access over the next six months, and nearly two thirds see mobile Internet as the most important feature in their consideration of a new phone purchase.
The best way to engage clients is through multi-channel marketing — which multiplies success rates and casts a wider net, according to Woodard. Multi-channel marketing is key to engaging younger clients, cutting costs and increasing responses.
But the mix of channels needs to be consistent in the brand message and tone. In addition, the message needs to be repeated over and over in order for the consumer to remember it.
Woodard said that marketing automation software creates consistency and increases productivity. She noted that automation enables campaigns have a 17 percent higher response and conversion rate. In addition, the amount of time needed to execute a campaign is cut in half — doubling the amount of time available for more campaigns. The cost of leads falls 85 percent, and revenue increases 18 percent.
Automation also increases sales quota achievement while doubling the deal size.
This year alone, 78 percent of sales and marketing professionals surveyed have implemented, or plan to implement, marketing automation software.
The most successful practice used in generating business is working the community, according to Woodard. She suggests that sales people learn from the community and share their best practices.
