Scotsman Guide - July 2009 Residential Edition

Taking a Systematic Approach to Marketing

The secret to getting a solid brand presence: building a solid marketing plan

By Ken Taylor, president, Ken Taylor & Associates Inc.

Mortgage brokers often say they don’t have time to market themselves. But that’s like saying, “I don’t have time to be more successful.”

Marketing is a cornerstone of a successful mortgage business. But most brokers and mortgage companies confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising is just one component of marketing, along with publicity, event promotion, direct mail and other activities. Marketing is a way of life.

The real problem many brokers might have is not lack of time but lack of a marketing system. When you have no marketing system, you end up with a shotgun approach that extends a lot of effort without delivering measurable results.

By establishing the basics for a marketing plan, however, brokers can produce results with minimal effort.

One of the best mortgage marketing fliers I have seen was not about a product; it was about educating prospects and customers so real estate agents could sell more homes. After this mortgage professional researched his market, he found this to be the greatest need — and he followed a simple, well-conceived plan to create the best impact in his marketplace.

Consistency in your message, including its timeframe and look, also is key. Be prepared to send your marketing message regularly and to have your target recognize it immediately based on its design, color and

Incorporate tech elements

It’s critical to leverage technology by creating a system to make marketing less expensive and less labor-intensive. This starts with solid customer-relationship-manage-ment (CRM) software.

There are many of these packages available, and some can plug your database into your e-mail client. A CRM can help you:

■ Send personalized, bulk e-mail: Each of the messages you send will look like it only went to that client, with customizable elements for each e-mail.

“Know what your prospects and clients want
and how to use marketing to open the door.
Your marketing should always reflect
your clients’ needs, not yours.”
Establish your audience

Start with the end in mind when you market. Ask yourself who your target audience members are and what you want them to remember. How do you want to be known? This is a key part of formulating a personal brand, one of marketing’s cornerstones.

It’s also wise to know what your prospects and clients want and how to use marketing to open the door. Your marketing should always reflect your clients’ needs, not yours.

Great salespeople ask their clients questions and stay informed. Do your clients want more products? You’ll never know until you ask.

logo. It’s easy to touch people and carry out a regular marketing plan through distribution via electronic newsletters, customized e-mails and Web sites. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on your look and feel, but never compromise. These elements are critical to your identity.

Part of your marketing plan also should be establishing yourself as an expert in a particular area. Your expertise can be lending-related or focused on helping potential referral partners grow their busi-nesses. An expertise can give you a great foundation and generate a lot of positive publicity.

For example, one mortgage professional identified lending to veterans as his niche. His father was a veteran, and he had grown up in a military family. He created a booklet for veterans and separate business cards that identified him as a specialist on loans via the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He also gave seminars on the local military base and at civic clubs, in addition to teaming with a real estate agent and marketing jointly. His pipeline increased by more than 500 percent in six months.

Ken Taylor is president of Ken Taylor & Associates Inc., a training and consulting firm in Florida. He has written more than a thousand articles on sales, motivation and leadership. Taylor is a professional business coach who works with some of the country’s top loan officers, corporate executives, and NFL and college coaches. He can speak to your company about sales, marketing, Internet marketing and leadership. Reach Taylor at ken@coach kentaylor.com or (904) 280-3060. Visit www. coachkentaylor.com.

■ Group similar clients: This helps you generate letters, e-mails or a related marketing campaign to a specific group.

■ Organize client information: You can find a client quickly and store personal information. A CRM even can remind you of birthdates and anniversaries.

■ Set reminders: These can be for your marketing campaigns and daily tasks.

■ Automate distribution: You can distribute electronic fliers and electronic newsletters from your CRM at any time, any day.

When using this and other tech tools, remember that prospects and clients want the most value for their investment. Through educational marketing you can inform them and create tremendous value.

For example, distributing an electronic newsletter targeting your market can fill audience members with helpful ideas. These can include customized articles on savings, avoiding identity theft or increasing the value of their home. A newsletter targeting referral partners such as real estate agents, however, would find a better focus with sales and marketing ideas that

can help agents increase their income and deliver better service.

Having and maintaining a successful Web site also is a fundamental part of modern marketing. A great Web site is a powerful marketing tool. The best mortgage sites often share a few fundamental features:

■ Easy navigation: Buttons are simple and few. Confuse Internet prospects, and they will go elsewhere quickly.

■ Free offers: You could, for example, offer a free report for first-time homebuyers about owning their dream home while building equity.

■ Prominent testimonials: These show your level of service.

■ Educational articles: Added to your site regularly, they can keep people coming back.

■ Ability to track traffic: You want to know who has visited your site and to have a capture mechanism with which you can contact your visitors. This could be through having users provide their information to receive your free report.

Remember: People go online to look for rates, not companies. Make sure you recognize this if you want them to stay on your site. You do not want to sell rates, but you do want visitors to get an idea of your company’s competitiveness while attempting to educate future clients.

Another great online-marketing tool is a blog. This can help educate clients and establish your expertise. As people link to your blog and make comments, you will grow a readership that can turn into loans.

■ ■ ■

It’s wise to approach marketing as a system with implementation steps. As you complete a task, mark it off and go to the next one. Create a to-do list for your marketing projects that you can follow easily.