Loan Officer & Real Estate Agent Professional Tips

Did you realize that you are possibly throwing money away each year on leads?

Most loan officers are have a very good understanding how much is being spent on lead generation each month if not each week. Nevertheless, you might be surprised that money is still  being burned on leads that are never being followed up with. Multiple sales studies indicate that 45% of all real estate leads aren’t contacted a second, third or fourth time which results in marketing dollars being squandered.

Let’s examine some of the leading problems mortgage originators make with leads and the corresponding remedies to help change it into more commissions

1. You are late in responding
Research shows that over 70 percent of customers will select the first loan officer they speak with. The big issue with leads is a large percentage are not exclusive to working with just you. You will have additional originators competing for the same leads you’re presented with.

A great way to solve this problem is you need to be the first person to contact them. Based on InsideSales, a lead will convert into an application at a rate 21x higher if you contact them within the first 5 minutes compared a half-hour. You want the odds in your favor to be successful in this business.

2. You’re going after the wrong prospects
 In real estate, quality outweighs quantity. Many loan officers get caught up wasting their time and resources pursuing the bad leads. There are numerous reasons the lead isn’t worthwhile:

•           The lead isn’t a real person.
•           The customer is already working with a loan officer.
•           Their loan qualifications are not ideal
•           Their loan type doesn’t match your specialty (FHA 203k, hard money, reverse mortgage, etc.)

3. You aren’t available during the borrower’s schedule
The “old way” of buying and selling real estate was a lot more simple:

•           The real estate agent or loan officer was in control.
•           Things transpired at a slower speed.
•           You scheduled appointments with your clients between the hours of 9am and 5pm.
•           Almost all communication and document review was done face to face.

Things have changed considerably with modern technology.

•           Borrowers are in control
•           A massive amount of leads are from websites and social media.
•           Inquiries and questions about financing come in 24 hrs a day on any day of the week
•           Approx. 72% select the first loan originator they talk with

It goes without saying that the array of communication methods available for a loan inquiry gives agents more opportunity to close more leads. 

There are many factors that cause the lead to not being worth your time. Aside from that, when you look into the opportunity cost of dedicating time with the wrong lead, what is lost when you set your sights on the wrong person? Time spent on a true quality lead.

What You Should Do?
 This industry has a variety of challenges to deal with. Bringing on another headache can only make you more frustrated and cause anxiety.

With today’s technologies they are helping alleviate the problems. You have tools available to assist you in attending to all the trivial tasks and requirements that go into qualifying leads that you may not have time for.

Are you aware that approximately 2 million real estate agents are paying around $10 billion on marketing each year? As you can imagine the amount mortgage lenders and originators spend is also pretty high.

A lot of that money can be done better with a system that utilizes your time wisely. So, how much money do you think you could make by working smarter with your leads?