Everyday, it seems, Jeff Slyter of Mortgage Lenders of America in Vancouver, Wash., receives five to 15 calls from lead generation companies. And he doesn't like it. Not one bit.
Neither do the supposed "leads" these companies sell, according to a room full of loan professionals attending an opening day roundtable session at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers' annual convention is Seattle late last week.
"We ended up bothering more people than we sold," said Kevin Huskins of Capital Lending, a Harhan, La., firm which spent $6,000 or so a month for a year for what were reputed to be "qualified" leads.
"They didn't qualify anyone," he said of the company he used.
The leads another roundtable participant purchased turned out to be "misleading" as well. "We didn't close one," he told the group of about 100 brokers from all over the country.
The discussion moved so quickly throughout the room that it often was impossible to catch the speakers name or home town. But Pava Leyrer of Heritage National Mortgage Corp., Grandville, Mich., said contacting leads her firm purchased from third-party companies only served to make people angry at her company.
Worse, the leads were practically worthless. "The leads were not exactly the cream of the crop," she said. "They were either trying to beat me up on price or didn't care who they dealt with because they could go anywhere and get what they wanted, which was the lowest possible price."
Slyter, a former president of the Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers who moderated the roundtable, agreed that working such leads was "a grind." So he asked what other marketing tactics brokers were finding successful, and it was at this point the participants revealed their creativity.
Leyer in Michigan said she has had great response from setting up a booth at local bridal shows. "For a lot less money, I get much more exposure and I have a lot more fun," she said.
"I get a thousand leads for $700. Three hundred people actually talk to me, not just the bride and groom but their families and their bridesmaids."
Leyer also networks with her local Women's Council of Realtors, seniors groups, business associations, CPAs and even small business owners.
"Everybody needs a volunteer, so just pick your target market," she suggested. "They see me as an expert, and I'm giving back to the community. I met with a group of six small business owners and got tons of information to help me run my business."
Michael Tacconi, a mortgage planner from San Ramon, Calif., who works with Meridian Financial, does seminars for local financial planners. "They have clients calling them everyday," he explained. "By providing education, you build trust and presence in your community."
Asked where he held his classes, Tacconi said in his office or at a local community center, but never in a hotel because such a location makes it appear as though he is trying to sell something.
But a Myrtle Beach, S.C., broker suggested that anyone looking for a cheap room should consider the Friendly's ice cream chain. "You can use their backroom free if you buy everyone an ice cream cone at 99 cents each," he said.
Leyer, the Michigan broker, also teaches credit classed at her church, and as a result, she often gets to meet newcomers to her town before any of her competitors.
A broker from Sacramento has had similar success. His church is his "No. 1 source" of leads, he said. "In my first four months in business, I got 10 loans from my church. The trust is already there." The Myrtle Beach broker said his best source of business is still the local real estate community. Always has been, and always will be, he indicated.
"You need to be in the sack with the five top producing Realtors in your market," he said. "I hate to say it but it's true: You've got to have 'em funneling you leads."
Several participants said they have tried newsletters with varying degrees of success, and the discussion quickly turned to content and transmission. Some preferred self-written newsletters with recipes and such, while others said their time was so tight that they liked canned newsletters on which they could paste their own company names and logos.
Some liked e-mail newsletters, particularly because they are easier to track. But others preferred regular mail because e-mail transmissions can too easily be caught in spam filters or deleted by their recipients.
One broker said he found the best marketing tactic was a gift of a fruit of the month every month for a year. Sort of the gift that keeps on giving, month after month after month.
"For $50-$75," he said, "my client gets something from me once a month."
Audrey Acquisti, president-elect of the Michigan Association of Mortgage Brokers, said her gift goes out to her clients after closing. That's when she sends them a list of charities and offers to make a donation in their names.
The Myrtle Beach broker likes to give clients a fireproof box at closing. The box, which is for their loan documents and other important papers, has his and his company's name pasted on the inside of the lid. "It's something that keeps on giving," he said.
Another broker sends his clients from the previous year a copy of their HUD-1 statements with a letter of explanation and, of course, a suggestion that they might want to send their friends, family and neighbors his way. "That will kick-start your first quarter," he promised.
