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Special Reports
Lead Generation: Bringing
in Business
Smith: Must Create Realtor Game Plan
Realtors do not want rate sheets and donuts.
By Brad Finkelstein
DELRAY BEACH, FL -- As the refinance boom ends, mortgage brokers are moving from
defense -sitting in their office and answering the phone - to offense by going out and soliciting business, said
a leading producer and trainer.
Doug Smith, speaking at Foundation Marketing's Turn On Your Million Dollar Brain
IV here, added that to be on offense, mortgage brokers must have a game plan.
This means, he said, working with Realtors. Real estate agents control 35% of
the mortgage business, making it the largest single source, he continued.
There are some common mistakes mortgage brokers make when soliciting Realtors.
The first is not knowing what the Realtor wants. Realtors, he said, do not want rate sheets and secondly, they
do not want doughnuts. Earlier in his presentation he had commented that was something he had learned in his first
week in the mortgage business.
Among Realtor complaints about loan officers, Mr. Smith said, is that loan officers
are inconsistent in their approach. They don't come to see the Realtor unless they need business.
The follow-up is terrible, they do not return phone calls "fast enough,"
they do not know their own business (program knowledge) and they promise what they can't deliver.
What will make Realtors love a loan officer is by that loan officer promising
only what he or she can deliver. Being sure they know the business better.
Make the Realtor first on the list of calls to return, he said, and point that
out to them (apologize for any delay and note that this was the call you wanted to return first).
Be consistent in your approach to the Realtor, he said, by visiting on a regular
schedule and sticking to it, no matter how busy you are.
The second mistake made by loan officers in working with Realtors is working with
too many, while mistake No. 3 is working with the wrong Realtors. That is those that do not do enough business,
that are not working with the right clients or that are not sending you business. Go after "quality"
real estate agents, the top 20% in the marketplace, approach them as a partner and stress that is a relationship
of equals.
How to find that top 20%: Get the performance list of the real estate office,
look at the "Homes Magazine" listings, check out the Internet, join real estate associations, look for
yard signs, look at the newspaper real estate ads, visit open houses and get referrals from title companies.
Have a target list of four to five times the number of Realtors you figure you
must work with. Some will not return your call, some will say no thanks, some will rub you the wrong way and sometimes
it will just be a courtesy meeting, he said.
The right approach to meeting with a Realtor is doing your homework first; then
secure an appointment.
Send a letter of introduction first to pave the way, follow it up by a telephone
call a few days later.
The first meeting is a "discovery meeting." The opportunity is to be
used to ask questions and learn about the Realtor. Do not talk rates and products. At the end, ask permission to
have a second meeting. Say you would like to prepare a presentation.
Make that presentation and test for reaction. Finally, if successful, set up a
partnership campaign.
Another common mistake is that the loan officer does not do enough to set himself
or herself apart. Stress what makes you different, Mr. Smith said.
His final common mistake is that the loan officer does not work with the Realtor
as a partner. Too often it is an adversarial relationship.
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