Classes In Real Estate

Many people use case studies in their business, but few loan officers use case studies as part of their loan officer marketing materials. If you are looking for a way to differentiate yourself from your competition, a case study may be the perfect answer.

A case study accomplishes three things: it identifies a problem; it shows the solution; and it documents your performance. You offer proof of performance with a case study and sway skeptical agents.

Effective case studies are structured using a common formula.

Three Section Case Study

The first section of your case study describes a very specific problem. This section has to draw the reader in, it has to be something that the agent can relate to, a problem they’ve experienced.

Be careful not to offer solutions in this section. This entire first section is about developing a complete understanding of the problem. This is where most loan officer marketing materials go wrong: they don’t describe problems, instead just focus on solutions.

Solution focused marketing is sent out in the masses to Realtors. You will not capture their attention with materials that look just like every other loan officers.

The second section of the case study describes exactly how this specific problem was solved. It implies (but doesn’t directly say) that by using your services, you could solve the problem for them too. In this section, you want to be specific in your solution and very personal, written in first person (I, me, mine, etc.)

The last section describes the results of the action. These results must be very specific, they need to be tangible and measurable. It’s one thing to say you saved a client thousands of dollars, it’s another to say you saved the client $3,000, or that you closed the loan 4 days ahead of the original closing date.

If you aren’t specific, your solution will not be taking seriously.

Focus on Benefits

Focus your case study on how your service addressed a specific issue. This issue is the backbone of your case study. You don’t want to bring in descriptions of other problems because it dilutes the message.

Incorporate statistics, charts, tables and figures to reinforce where appropriate.

Detail your Return on Investment. Explain how your service pays for itself. For instance, client referrals doubled in 2 months.

Contain Costs. Show how working with you keeps costs contained. This is especially important to those agents that are spending way to much money on their marketing efforts and are frustrated with the cost of acquiring new leads and clients. Explain how your service helped other agents reduce their fees, such as reducing their marketing spending.

Reduce barriers. Showing your solution to problems will improve operations. Give examples of how it can fit into their already existing business process. For instance, you provide the agent with up to date information or status checks through weekly emails, etc.

Create Visual Appeal

In all your loan officer marketing materials, create a graphically appealing format. You want something that is easy for the reader to scan through, something that doesn’t overwhelm, and something short and to the point, about 300 to 500 words.

With a little creativity and attention to detail, you can create a case study that solves problems and brings Realtors knocking at your door.

Jeff Nelson helps loan officers increase loan originations by attracting quality relationships with real estate agents from the development of customized relationship-building strategies.

Click here to get a free copy of the Marketing Planning Guide, a 20-page workbook designed to help you outline a strategy to become an Agent Magnet.

Visit us at http://www.loan-officer-marketing.com

Tags: loan officer marketing, marketing to real estate agents, marketing to realtorsloan officer marketing, marketing to real estate agents, marketing to realtors

Share This

Are you a mortgage broker marketing to Realtors? How many times have made a call to a Realtor and found them incredibly annoyed because you’d interrupted their day? Did they read you the riot act or tell you how much they enjoy working with your competition? One of the most challenging aspects of mortgage broker marketing is getting the Realtor’s attention.

It’s frustrating to be given the cold shoulder, especially when you know that more often than not the Realtor spends a significant amount of time socializing with others in the office. You know that it’s not the agent’s time alone that is the problem.

Why spend any more time marketing to Realtors that aren’t interested in working with you? When you use permission marketing, your mortgage broker marketing efforts are far more productive.

In essence, permission marketing means acquiring permission to pursue relationships with Realtors. Like most relationships, you don’t automatically create a friendship or connection. Instead, you seek out permission to move to a new level in the relationship, with each level creating a stronger bond.

Through your mortgage broker marketing, you’ll take a series of steps. Each step is taken with the intention of gaining permission to take a relationship to that new level.

Here’s an example of acquiring permission. Each marketing piece is an opportunity to get the prospect to grant permission; permission to move the relationship deeper.

Let’s say you create a marketing mailer. Your goal with this mailer is a simple, yet small step. The mailer should be designed to get the agent to call, email or request information from you, such as a free special report, CD, or video. Their action of requesting information can also be considered as being granted permission.

Next, the goal of the special report or CD isn’t a sales presentation, instead it’s an opportunity to gain another level of permission. The report or CD should convince the Realtor to meet with you. This time, you are seeking permission for a personal meeting.

Again, your goal with each stage is to gain permission for increased contact with the prospect, and to gauge their interest. With each level, your relationship deepens until you create a lifetime relationship with the prospect.

Permission Marketing Means Providing Benefits

With each contact, you seek permission to continue to market to the prospect. But those contacts can’t be mere information exchange. Each contact has to provide a benefit to the prospect and be relevant to the prospect.

Your goal is to establish yourself as a resource and a partner to the Realtor. The more you provide this foundation, the more the Realtor pays attention to your marketing.

Permission Marketing Means Providing Bite Size Pieces

With mortgage broker marketing using the permission process, you extend information gradually to your prospect. Imagine being stuck on a plane with someone who immediately gives you their entire life story. How frustrated are you by the end of the flight? Do you want to continue to stay in contact with this individual? Probably not.

But you are far more likely to be intrigued with a relaxed give and take. You can use this concept with your permission marketing plan. You develop your materials in a step by step process that gradually shares information.

With frequency, your prospect develops a level of familiarity and trust with you. At that stage, your relationship can develop into a productive lifetime relationship.

Your mortgage broker marketing plans don’t have to rely on the whims of your prospect. Develop your plans to gradually get additional permission from the prospect, and you’ll eventually have a big pay off.

Jeff Nelson helps loan officers increase loan originations by attracting quality relationships with real estate agents from the development of customized relationship-building strategies.

Click here to get a free copy of the Marketing Planning Guide, a 20-page workbook designed to help you outline a strategy to become an Agent Magnet.

Visit us at http://www.loan-officer-marketing.com

Tags: marketing to realtors, mortgage broker marketingmarketing to realtors, mortgage broker marketing

Share This