Selling mortgages is not rocket science - Leads - if you are going to purchase them ... Dave Hershmanleads
What is a leading referral-based industry trainer doing talking
about leads? It is true that I spend most of my time showing loan
officers how to generate their own business and develop their
referral base a lot more quickly. Yet in this day and age, leads
play an important part in business development for companies and
individuals within this industry. There are whole companies that
are lead-based, and there are loan officers who come into the
industry without the benefit of a sphere of influence, perhaps
because they just moved into an area or graduated from college and
are establishing their careers for the first time.
But there are much more important uses for leads within this
industry. If we look at a loan as more than just a paycheck, we can
see these purposes. What are they?
A lead can help you extend your sphere of influence. In order to
serve this purpose, the lead must be selected for the express
purpose of expanding the sphere instead of the generation of quick
income. Of course, there are steps that must be followed in order
to successfully achieve this goal.
A lead can help you deliver value to a certain segment of your
sphere. Yes, the identification and building of one's sphere is
very, very important. But if you listen to some people's advice,
asking your sphere for referrals is all that is necessary to
generate business. This is not so. You must deliver value to your
sphere on a regular basis. If you don't, someone else will. This is
called "positioning." Some say that my advanced mortgage school is
all about positioning instead of asking.
So if leads are going to be part of your business model, where
do you start? There are two parts of the equation. First is the
selection of a quality source. If you start with the wrong source
of leads, then it is impossible to achieve quality results. Of
course, we follow with the next question: What is a quality lead
source? The following questions should be considered:
- Is the source a substantial company? For example, how long
have they been doing business, and how large is it? Can they back
any guarantee of quality? Believe it or not, many lead companies
are no larger than a mortgage broker working out of his home.
- What are their results? Do they have references and
testimonials?
- What type of support do they offer? Do they just give you leads
or are there training and technology to support you as you try to
achieve the best results?
- Do they offer the types of leads that will help you achieve one
or both of the goals delineated above? Remember, those goals
include the extension of and delivery of value to your sphere.
This leads us to the other end of the equation - targeting. You
need to prioritize who is important within your sphere so that you
can connect the target to the value. Or, if your sphere is not
extensive enough, you need to identify where your sphere needs to
be strengthened. For example, if your goal is to increase the
quality of the pipeline, then your targets may be higher-end
clients - clients who are likely to deal with accountants. In
closing these loans, there will be an opportunity to strengthen
your relationships with this segment.
Another example is the provision of referrals to real estate
agents. The best agents are going to be the ones who are going to
demand that their originators be more than vendors - they should be
partners. Why should an originator receive a steady stream of leads
from an agent if there is nothing being returned? Of course, this
dictates a concentration on purchase leads, as opposed to
refinances.
In conclusion, the key to success is the use of leads for the
delivery of value, in order to help build the foundation for a
long-term business plan instead of a quick paycheck.
Dave Hershman is a top speaker and leading author in the
mortgage industry with six books - including two best sellers for
the Mortgage Bankers Association of
America
. His mortgage school is the only comprehensive advanced curriculum
in the industry. For a schedule of classes, free marketing samples,
speaking information and articles by Dave, visit www.originationpro.com or
call (800) 581-5678.
