By Fred Arnold
If you’re hoping to dramatically increase your mortgage origination production, you’re going to have to look at your efforts in an entirely new way.
Many credit unions have marketing plans designed to target all of their members. However, this doesn’t maximize the opportunity to target those members who are mostly likely to need your mortgage products—those who already have them!
At first glance it may seem paradoxical to specifically market to these members. You might think, “If I offer them a refinance, we are going to lose the revenue from their existing mortgage. Plus, they already seem happy with their loan.” However, it is precisely those members who already have a first mortgage, a second mortgage or a line of credit with you who deserve the bulk of your marketing efforts.
These members may be happy with their existing loan. However, you can be certain that other companies are soliciting them. That means your best members are getting calls, mail or email from other lenders that promise to reduce your members’ monthly mortgage payment without costing the member anything out of pocket. Even the most loyal member will consider the advantages of saving money, even if it means taking their business elsewhere.
In short, if you don’t offer new products and refinances to existing members, somebody else will. That’s why it is crucial to specifically target those existing clients with opportunities for refinances and lines of credit. The members already like you. They already trust you. They probably shudder at the thought of getting a loan elsewhere. But they may do it if they are not aware that you can provide comparable opportunities and savings. To put it another way, if they don’t know you have an answer to their problem, they might not ask.
So, ask. A letter or phone call every quarter will be enough to keep in close contact without badgering your member. Potential campaigns for members who have a mortgage loan with you might include an offer to do a yearly mortgage review. It might include a letter asking if they have ever dreamed of buying a vacation home or a rental property. You may want to ask what they plan to do when they retire. By asking these questions, you become more than a good salesperson. You become a great salesperson. You can use these quarterly marketing efforts to sell to your best source of business: your existing members who have mortgages with you.
There’s a second benefit to targeting your marketing toward this group: Your members who hold a mortgage with you are a potential goldmine of referral business. They are familiar with your services and are likely happy to share their experience with you with their friends and family. There is simply no substitute for a good word-of-mouth referral when it comes to the mortgage industry.
To that end, it’s not enough to let members just carry on with their existing loans, without asking about their needs and goals. You’ll need to make the effort to provide your members with new opportunities to save—and new things to talk about with their friends.
The return on your efforts with these members will be worth it. Remember, the people mostly likely to do business with you are those who already have a mortgage loan with you.
Fred Arnold is a Certified Mortgage Consultant, past president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers, past treasurer of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, and a mortgage professional at American Family Funding in Southern California. He hosts the radio show “The Santa Clarita Business Hour” on AM 1220 KHTS, as well as the televised program Out of the Rough on SCVTV.com, channel 20. Call him at 661.505.4300.
Also read "Three Tips to a Tidy Home Lending Strategy" and "Mortgage Strategy Matters."
