Working w/ Mortgage Brokers - A Question

I have a mortgage broker as a web design client and I got the EXACT same response from him.

He added that the national brands and banks put tens of thousands per month into regional online advertising like seo.

When I say added I mean that was his objection.

He is a fan of email marketing lol He likes it because he has success with it with his OWN list of people he has met before or had some sort of dealing with. So now he wants to do bulk email blasts to people that are not subscribed to him, like opt in email marketing.

I think thats waste of time and money and he should do some lead gen or seo.

I have a mortgage broker practically drooling at the prospect of SEO and lead gen.

I hate to sound like I know more about this industry than my friend, but I think there may be mortgage brokers who are willing to try a different ways to get leads. If everyone does the same thing, how do you stand out from the crowd?

kcom, when you say you have a mortgage broker who "drooling" at the prospect of SEO and lead gen, what are you doing for him?

Robert Jackson Jr,

Maybe I can share some insight as a mortgage broker that can help put this in perspective. There is some truth in your friend's remark that the traditional way of operating is to establish relationships with those who could refer mortgage business. These are:

- Realtors,
- CPA's and financial planners,
- Appraisers,
- Escrow Officers,
- Property Managers and
- Attorneys

Loan Originators despise marching around town to chase these folks and beg for business. It is not only the discomfort of cold calling, but also the fact that there is time and money involved in all this. This is key to knowing your value as an internet lead provider.

During the real estate boom, rock bottom interest rates and investors everywhere running around looking for properties made it unnecessary to develop lead sources. As a result, the phones in every mortgage broker's office rang off the hook morning, noon, and at night. It was like there was "gold dust in the air." No income documentation and no credit necessary for getting a loan meant there was no shortage of qualified borrowers.

Mortgage brokers became spoiled. After several years of operating like this it seemed that no one remembered how to get business the traditional way, through the process of relationship-building. Then in 2008 it all came to a stop. It is sobering to see mortgage brokers making $20,000+ each month lose it all and ask their parents if they could have their room back.

So the mortgage industry fell off a cliff, yet internet marketing had evolved and continued to include a widening circle of industries and commodifiable aspects of society.

I have a foot in both worlds, internet marketing and mortgage loan origination. I see how frustrated mortgage brokers are. They can't find reps who know how to cold call and drum up business. Most brokers are beating on their Loan Agents to pick up the phone and call prospective borrowers.

With regard to your friend managing an origination office for a large organization, there may be something else going on. Agents who work for the large companies across multiple states have more of a bureaucratic mindset, and their marketing systems are intractable, similar to how banks operate. One thing I know: Small broker shops are entrepreneurial and they want your leads.

Community banks are not mortgage banks. And mortgage banks are not mortgage brokers. This is a critical distinction for planning lead gen marketing. Many people think mortgage bankers are "brokers" but they are not. They will not buy our leads. And small brokers must compete with them. This is at the heart of why local brokers crave good leads.

Independent brokers gladly spend hundreds of dollars in return for leads that will bring in many thousands of dollars. Their problem is they have no clue how you generate leads to find qualified borrowers. They look mystified when you bring it up. Lead capture, autoresponders ? It is kind of like magic to them. So when they say "not interested" they are really just saying: "There is sizzle, but where's the steak?" Added to this is the perception mortgage brokers have of lead vendors, many of whom don't know how to use the technologies that we stay sharp with through the Warrior Forum.

So brokers expect promises that are more like a waffle: Just filled with hot air. For this reason they have a kind of "wait and see" attitude. But this is an advantage for you, someone who develops leads through direct response marketing into gold nuggets that you can hand over to mortgage brokers who are desperate to get back in the game.

Most mortgage brokers would gladly pay $25+ for a solid lead on a mortgage borrower seeking information. The simple reason is that origination fees average around $2500 - $4000 per closed residential deal. If they buy 10 leads from you for $25 each they know they will close on 2 or 3 of them. That is a no-brainer for a seasoned mortgage originator.

I hope this helps you with a context for understanding how independent mortgage brokers want nothing more than to stay competitive and profitable, and the best direct line to this is by having a consistent and reliable resource for borrower leads.

I just want to personally thank both atomAnt and sandlewood for their comments. Very, very good information. Seriously - I'd have been totally lost without the benefit of two people who are intimately knowledgeable about this industry AND are Warriors!

Thanks again. If there's anything I can do personally for you guys, just ask.

My lead gen telemarketing room used to take on mortgage contracts. I got the contracts by cold calling a list of mortgage brokers telling them what we did... and every other call someone told me that internet leads suck.

In fact I changed up my call pitch to talk about how bad internet leads suck and used it as a USP to get them as clients.

Its a fact, thats the industry perception.

@Robert- Sorry it took so long for my reply. My client only had a couple of hundred to get started, so I made a video for him, not even ranked and he's happy. Next week we will proceed with a site and SEO to get him some quality leads. Make sure when you are helping out Mortgage Brokers especially, go after "buyer" keyword so you eliminate most of the "tire kickers". For example, go after City+ Mortgage Broker or Agent, not City + Mortgage Rates. Someone, who is after an agent or broker is wanting their services in the near future, whereas anyone can look into rates even if they are not seriously interested. Hope that helps.

John Durham, that's a good example of how to be adaptable to circumstances. Awhile back I read one of your reports and it inspired my initial efforts as a fledgling internet marketer transitioning from a career in the mortgage industry.

There is evidently a perception that mortgage brokers discount the usefulness of internet leads. While traditional lender marketing involves lunches and presentations and telephone contacts, I believe increasing numbers of brokers place high value on targeted internet leads. Even if they don't yet admit to it. Maybe it is one of those examples in which - and we all know this to be true - what someone says is different than what someone does.

So for example, when a copier salesperson solicits a business to sell a high-end copier, all she or he hears is how no one needs another copier. The message is that they cost too much for what you get, etc, and the business owner tells the copier rep to hit the bricks and not waste their time coming around peddling copy machines.

But at the end of this dog-and-pony show the company ends up buying one anyway because they need it. What the business owner is really saying is: "Paying for a copier sucks... but I need it (and the service contract) to run my business." The same could be said of sales leads regardless of their source.

For anyone venturing into the mortgage lead business, I'd suggest keeping in mind that mortgage brokers' needs are simple: They must have their loan officers contact borrowers and close deals. If the lead comes from the internet and can be converted, what else matters?

Mortgage brokers realize that people shopping for loans do internet searches during their lunch hour at work. Borrowers don't want to be locked into a telephone conversation at this early phase. However they are willing to enter their loan details and contact information in a form, expecting to have a follow-up email and/or call from a loan company.

This is why the internet is becoming so effective: It allows potential borrowers to maintain flexibility in how they go about shopping for a loan, and it allows brokers to catch them early in this process. A combination of tactics, involving web technologies and personal contact is most effective for mortgage brokers.

Robert, you are welcome and I am glad you got something useful from these posts. Even if mine is kind of wordy I am trying to convey what I have seen evolve over a relatively short period of time.

Also, nailing down so-called "buyer keywords" that kcom suggested sounds like very good advice. I think that is an important distinction to make in this debate over whether internet leads are of high enough quality to convert, and therefore to create demand for them with mortgage brokers.

Keep up the good work...