Mortgage loan officers know the importance of marketing to current and past borrowers and Realtor partners. That said, when times are busy, it’s an easy thing to skip. And when they’re slow, like they’ve been the past 18 months, it’s an easy thing to cut off your expense list. “Establishing yourself as the financial expert with your borrowers and Realtor partners through consistent, relevant loan status updates is a key first step to any mortgage marketing effort,” says Josh Bopp, founder of Aduvo, an automated mortgage marketing platform integrated with Calyx products.
Here’s the problem: in survey after survey, nearly two-thirds of borrowers and Realtors forget who their mortgage loan officer is within a year. Yet there are very simple ways to ensure this doesn’t happen to you.
Where Do I Start?
Getting timely loan information in front of both parties is key to building trust and establishing the foundation for your marketing efforts, so let’s start there. After all, it’s important for Realtors to look like the hero to their homebuyers—and when you help them, you become their hero.
So, through every milestone of the mortgage process, keep both the borrower and Realtor notified with a simple email. Better yet, send them both an email and text so they’re sure to get the message. And if your mortgage application process doesn’t include asking both to opt into email and text marketing, add that right away!
Giving timely, concise, and meaningful information about each milestone—and what comes next—gets you two big wins. First, you make your Realtor partner look awesome since they likely referred you to the borrower in the first place. Second, it establishes you as the authority on the financing piece of the transaction. Both parties now expect and want to hear from you in the future. An added benefit is it will cut down on all the calls and emails to you and your team about the loan status.
What Happens After Closing?
Post close; keep it simple but consistent. If the borrower and Realtor opted into both email and text messaging, keep them informed via both channels at least monthly. Market updates, holiday well wishes, birthday celebrations, and definitely the loan anniversary are all great opportunities to keep your name at the top of their inbox. Remember, they are going to forget your name within a year if you don’t repeat who you are to them at least monthly.
How Do I Build the System?
You could build the system yourself using a general-use marketing platform, but you don’t have to. There are great automated marketing tools already available that can streamline your marketing efforts within minutes. Whatever you choose, look for a solution that integrates seamlessly with your preferred LOS.
But at the end of the day, your marketing strategy doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. It just has to be consistent, which is why a straightforward automated marketing solution can be a real difference-maker. Good luck!
