heard on the street
The five biggest reasons your direct mail doesn’t work A common statement I frequently hear from clients goes something like this: “I hear direct mail works, but I have tried it and have received a very poor response.” Instead of trying to break down the process and discover why it isn’t working, most just give up and say, “Direct mail just doesn’t work.” Most of them then usually move on to the next shiny magical lead generation tool that hits their inbox. I want to share with you the five biggest reasons most originators have not yielded optimal results from their direct mail campaigns. For each of these “misses,” there are quick and easy ways for you to fix these marketing campaigns so you can start generating some big commissions on a consistent basis.
JUNE 2009 O ILLINOIS
MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
O www.NationalMortgageProfessional.com
Mistake #1: Mailing only once
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Those of you who know me have probably heard me ask, “Who ever gets married on their first date?” No one, right? Well it’s the same with your direct mail campaigns. The big mistake here is mailing to a group one time and then deciding whether or not it works. If I gave you a budget of $5,000 and told you that you had two choices: First, you could mail your piece to 5,000 people once, or you could mail that same piece to 1,000 people five times, which option would you choose? Most would mail to the whole group of 5,000 and that’s a big mistake. People require a little direct mail “dating” in order for them to respond. You will get a much better return on your investment by doing five mailings instead of just one. Don’t listen to people who tell you that you should be getting a two percent response on your direct mail efforts. Here’s a better way to judge it. How much did you invest? How much did you earn in commissions? All you really need to care about is your return-on-investment. If you got 20 people to respond, but didn’t close any loans, your returnon-investment is zero!
Mistake # 2: Not fishing in the right ponds This is a very common mistake. I’ll keep it short here for space reasons. It’s just as easy to do a $500,000 loan as it is to do a $200,000 loan. So, mail to the people in the higher-income zip codes who
are closest to your office. Even if you are in a rural area, there is typically a high-end area within a 30- to 40-mile radius so no excuses here!
Mistake # 3: Not having a message to market match You must have a message that fits the market you are mailing to. No one wakes up each day and says, “Gee, I really need a mortgage.” No one wants a mortgage … what they want is a nice home so they can spend time with their family. Or, they want to refinance so they have more income each month to spend on the things they like or need. You must try to reach your prospects on an emotional level. Your message should show them how they can get the benefits of your mortgage not the terms of the loan or rate.
Example Stop making your landlord rich! Enjoy the American dream now while rates and home prices allow you to finally live in that dream home you’ve been thinking about! Or Would an extra $300 per month help you during these tough economic times? (A refi headline …) Or Are you making your local banker rich as you struggle to get by? (Another good refi headline …) Lastly, you want to make sure that you are targeting people with a list who are actually the ideal prospects for what you offering. Sending college students a marketing piece for reverse mortgages won’t work and offering seniors a first-time homebuyer program won’t work either.
Mistake # 4: Not tracking your results We tend to use the “throw it up against the wall and see what sticks” theory when it comes to our marketing and mailings. As I mentioned earlier, you continued on page 32
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that leading investors use for due diligence and loss mitigation, ensuring lenders are funding salable loans and mitigating the costs associated with put backs, fines and civil damages.” Mavent and QuestSoft’s partnership eliminates the need for their customers to perform data re-entry and manual manipulation of information between different fields, allowing them to save time, improve workflow and allocate resources elsewhere within the organization. The compliance suite provides compliance with current federal, state and local regulations in effect at the time of the request, including pre-purchase and post-closing compliance checks, as well as verification of prepayment penalty collection. “The key to making loans attractive to the secondary market and preventing loan buybacks is compliance,” said Leonard Ryan, president of QuestSoft. “Lenders are working with a more concentrated staff, and they face an increased number of regulations, more stringent lending legislation and investors that request buybacks. In order to continue successful and prudent lending, they must turn to automated compliance, which gives investors the assurance that each loan meets every necessary requirement.” For more information, visit www.questsoft.com or www.mavent.com.
Indiana law firm merges with Morris|Hardwick|Schneider Atlanta-based Morris|Hardwick| Schneider (M|H|S) has expanded its national default services division through a merger with Valparaiso, Ind.-based law firm, Phillip A. Norman PC. Phillip Norman joins M|H|S as senior managing attorney for Indiana and LandCastle Title district president of Indiana. In his new position, he will manage M|H|S’s practice in Indiana, which will focus on real estate-owned (REO) properties, and oversee a local practice specializing in real estate law, business transactions, litigation and probate. “With the addition of Phil and his team, M|H|S’s national default services division can now offer default services to 11 states, further increasing our ability to provide real estate solutions for the entire life cycle of a property,” said Nat Hardwick, M|H|S managing partner. “In the unfortunate event that a foreclosure can’t be avoided, it’s important to have seasoned attorneys who are able to handle things smoothly and in a professional manner. Phil’s experience will be very beneficial to our team.” The national default services division provides loss mitigation, bankruptcy, foreclosure and eviction services in Maryland; Virginia; West Virginia;
Delaware; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Ohio; Georgia; Alabama; Tennessee and now in Indiana. M|H|S and its title company, LandCastle Title, provides REO and default services to 31 states through its national default services and national REO divisions and strategic alliances with partnering law firms and title companies. “Like M|H|S, I view foreclosures as a last resort,” said Norman. “I’m excited to join a firm that is focused on providing exceptional customer service, which is very important when dealing with complex default cases.” Norman comes to M|H|S with more than 20 years of legal experience. Prior to joining M|H|S, Phillip was president of Phillip A. Norman PC, where his practice areas included general civil, state and federal litigation, real estate, municipal and zoning, banking creditor’s rights, foreclosure and bankruptcy and administrative law. Norman received his Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University School of Law and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown College. For more information, visit www.closingsource.net.
LoyaltyExpress announces alliance with XINNIX LoyaltyExpress, a provider of mortgage marketing solutions, has announced a strategic alliance with XINNIX Inc. that will provide marketing and training solutions to mortgage lenders and brokers nationwide. The relationship combines the strengths of LoyaltyExpress’s two flagship marketing solutions— CustomerManager and LoyaltyPrint— along with XINNIX’s world-class online and offline proprietary training programs, including the EDGE Online program that brings all of the interaction of live classroom learning without the cost of travel. CustomerManager is an online service that deploys intelligence and information at a hierarchical level, so that intuitive and effective marketing decisions can be made and fulfilled. LoyaltyPrint is an online marketing store allowing customers access to high-quality direct mail and closing gift products. “For many years, XINNIX has been scrutinizing the market to identify best practices for intelligent relationship marketing solutions,” said Casey Cunningham, founder and president of XINNIX Inc. “We were ecstatic to finally be able to endorse a company’s platform that represents quality communications and marketing excellence. As soon as we discovered LoyaltyExpress and their products and services, we knew that our organizations were percontinued on page 33