Working with Mortgage Brokers

To be successful in short sales you need to give yourself the opportunity to get some deals closed: In other words, you need to have a steady flow of leads and quality cases each month. The trouble is, how do you get them?

We’ve experienced tremendous success acquiring leads through what we call Centers of Influence markeing. In this post I’d like to share the framework we developed when first contacting mortgage brokers so that we never have to worry about lead generation.

WARNING: If you want an easy way out, then go ahead and do direct mailing and billboards and write that check every month to that advertising company. We’ve always prefered to pound the pavement, risk rejection, and meet folks who we thought could be an asset to our business down the road. We suggest you do the same, and Centers of Influence marketing is a great way to start!

Back to mortgage brokers. . . they can be a fantastic source of leads.

Right now they are a good group to approach because they’ve been hammered by the current market. Moreover, some major banks are now only accepting loan applications from their own in-house loan officers. What this means is that mortgage brokers are getting squeezed, and many need to find ways to make an income. (See more about this in our monthly newsletter The SREC Monthly Mentor)

That’s where you step in.

Mortgage brokers have leads for cases that won’t work as refi’s or loan modifications; however, they are still spending money for these leads.

You need to present yourself as the solution for making money out of dead leads and putting dollars in their pockets.

In the video, I described some of the steps that you need to take to work with this group of professionals. What I’ve written below is a conceptual framework for how I would present myself to mortgage brokers that I want to prospect.

1) Amplify their “pain” by using questions similiar to those I used in the video. You’re defining the problem in this step.

2) Specifically discuss the benefits of working with you . . . that they can make a lot of money on deals that are presently worthless to them. Again, I mention these in the video.

3) You need to be able to describe the process of how the mortgage broker can work with you. Organize a simple flow chart to provide a visual of the steps in the process.

4) What is the competitive advantage that your company represents? Why should that mortgage broker work with you?

5) Address the benefits that the mortgage broker will gain from your association. Provide an example of how one or two closed deals a month could significantly impact their annual income. Show them the numbers.

6) Provide mortgage brokers with an action plan that provides a step-by-step summary of what they need to do to move forward.

You may set up a PowerPoint presentation, or do something online, but the most important thing I want to stress is to get in front of people. If PowerPoint presentations seem a bit too formal, then draft a one page that highlights the above information. This one page may be used both as a script for you as well as a leave behind for the mortgage broker.

You will also want to establish a way to keep them in the loop so that they think of you when they get a lead that they can’t work. For ideas on how to do this, please view the video.

Your goal should be to get 2 to 5 mortgage brokers who can send you a quality lead each month. This combined with the other leads you are gaining from Centers of Influence marketing should be enough to fill your pipeline and get you to the closing table . . . not once, but several times a month!