McGregorWorks

There’s no reason your app can’t change my life

You (random corporation’s app) know damn near everything about me.

You know my name, email, phone number, location, what I look at on your app, how often I’ve bought something from you and probably a lot more that I don’t realize.

It’s time for you to use that data, which I’ve freely given to you, to make my life better.

Suppose I have your fast food app on my phone. Suppose I’ve used it many times to order the exact same meal in the past 3 months.

Ask me if I want to save this order and give it a custom name.

Now suppose I’ve turned on the setting that allows your app to know my location.

Great! Next time I enter the parking lot of one of your stores, the app should send me a push notification like this:

Hi, Doug! Welcome back to Burger Hog! Want to order your Usual today? At the bottom of the notification should be a simple Yes/No option set.

If I press “Yes,” the app should say:

Awesome! We’re working on your order now and since you’ve saved your debit card info in the app, you’ve already paid for it, too! Just stay in line and we’ll have your order for you at the pick-up window.

Your app has just made my life supremely better by:

Eliminating the need to keep an eye on the car in front of me and suffer all kinds of anxiety because your order taker is saying “order when you’re ready” even though the car in front of me has not cleared the order kiosk yet
I don’t even have to open the app, look at my settings, find my “Usual” order, find a location, etc. etc.
I don’t have to fumble to get my debit card out of my back pocket
I really don’t have to talk to anyone at all for any reason

If I’m looking for something for lunch before I have to get back to the office for a meeting, I’m probably much more likely to choose a fast food place that offered that kind of ‘no thinking required’ service than try someplace new.

When your app makes my life better, it makes it ridiculously easy for me to give you more money.

Leverage Mortgage Insurance as a Sales Tool

Rates, of course, are the main topic of discussion when it comes to mortgages. But there’s an opportunity to distinguish yourself as a Loan Officer by educating your borrowers about the ‘hidden’ benefits in Mortgage Insurance options.

5 Essentials for a 2023 Loan Officer Marketing Plan

Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash

If you’re a mortgage loan officer, don’t pass ‘Go’ don’t collect $200 until you take an hour out of your life and write a personal marketing plan for 2023.

I know, I know: you’ve got a million things to track down for borrwers in the pipe, you have a CRM and maybe you even have a marketing team that produces content you can use. That’s all well and good, but you STILL need a marketing plan. Here are the five essentials you need and they’re a lot easier to build than you think.

1: Your Value Proposition
Why should someone do business with you?

This is a simple explanation of what benefit someone is going to get by getting a mortgage with you. This is the part of the mortgage process that is 100% in your control, so it shouldn’t be generic like “getting a great rate,” or “lowest possible closing costs.”

Example:

In today’s real estate market, there’s no substitute for having a mortgage mentor on your side. When you work with JOHNNY JUMPUP, you have a guide with over 10 years’ experience who will help you make wise decisions, cut through the mortgage ‘jargon’ so you have 100% confidence in the home buying process.

2: Target Market

Define who your ideal customers are. This will allow you to focus your marketing messages for maximum impact so you’re not trying to be all things to all people.

What do these folks look like? Where do they live? What do they care about?

Example:

First-time home buyers in the Greater Dallas/Ft. Worth area who need someone that understands how to help them win in a competitive real estate market. They need a fighter on their side who’s available after-hours and accessible via text, phone or email.

3: S.W.O.T Analysis

This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. List 3-4 out for each category. This is where you’re going to be gut honest about what you’re good at, what you suck at, where your best opportunities are and what could threaten your success.

4: Measurable Goals with Deadlines

Bad Example: Gain more social media followers

Good Example: Gain 30 new Instagram followers within the next 6 months

Another Good Example: Generate at least 2 loans per quarter from social media leads

Good goals have a number that you can measure and a time limit. Set 4 or 5 goals to begin with.

5: Buyer Persona

You’re going to create a fictional person who represents your target market and describe them. What’s their name? Where do they live? What do they do for a living? Do they have kids?

The point of this is to create an image of a real living/breathing person and to think about their home buying challenges from their perspective, not yours.

All of your content is going to be geared towards helping this person achieve their goals.

Example:

“The Moveupperson” Family – The Moveuppersons own their first home in Ft. Worth and really want to move out to the Grapevine area. Mr. & Mrs. Moveupperson love to entertain and have friends & family over on the weekends, so they want a house that’s ideal for gatherings. They want an open kitchen with a big island that folks can gather around.

They have 2 children, a boy age 6 and a daughter age 4. Good public schools are vitally important. Mrs. Moveupperson is an Accountant and loves digging into financial data. She was a Teller in a bank during college and she’s familiar with mortgages and personal finance.

Mr. Moveupperson is a custom remodeler and carpenter. He takes immense pride in the work that he does and is a perfectionist.

Together, they make about $150,000 a year and have $25,000 in savings set aside for a down payment, plus a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their existing home.

Get help writing your Marketing Plan!

Give me call! I’ve been in mortgage marketing for over 10 years and have helped Loan Officers get through all kinds of economic environments.

Special is good. Be special.

One of the whole points of branding is to distinguish your company/product from the alternatives out there. A good brand = Special. Easy enough, right?

Well, why is it that so many marketers out there treat their brand as so completely Not special?

For example, there’s a very famous jewelry maker whom my wife absolutely loves. I get her a piece from their collection for special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversary, Valentine’s Day, etc. In other words, me buying a piece of their jewelry is a SPECIAL occasion.

So, it should be very obvious to this jewelry company’s website and marketing team that I am not what would be considered a frequent shopper. So, why then do I now get 1-2 emails from this company each day after I make one of my SPECIAL purchases?

What about my shopping behavior suggests that sending me an UN-SPECIAL email every day is going to do anything but annoy me? Not only that, but why are you actively working to make your brand UN-SPECIAL in my mind by inundating me with UN-SPECIAL emails?

I’m guessing I spend about $75 on-average when I make a purchase 2/3 times per year. So, why not take advantage of special occasions and send me something like this a few weeks before Valentines Day?

Hey, Doug! Get your sweetheart one of our specially-curated necklace/earring sets for Valentines Day and use this special code to get 25% off purchases of $100 or more!

See what happened there? It’s an offer tailored just for me, it directs me to sets that you should know I’ll be interested in AND it encourages me to act now and spend more than I usually do.

Now that’s special.

There’s more to a mortgage than a low interest rate

I’m bombarded by mortgage ads showing some amazing interest rates. And if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering if they are too good to be true.

Well, maybe. Rates are hovering around three-year lows, which is awesome, but there are other things to consider beyond getting the lowest possible mortgage rate:

Points & Fees

It’s super-easy to compare rates from mortgage lenders online. Just know what you’re looking at. In many cases, you’ll see an offer that looks like this:

Lender	Rate	APR	MO. PAYMENT	UPFRONT COSTS
ABC Mortgage	3.875% 30-year fixed	4.069%	$1,129	$5,654Points: 1.9

This is a real live rate estimate from 2/5/2020, based on a $300,000 loan amount with a 20% down-payment, for a Conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

So, 3.875% is a pretty good rate!

But take a look at that number in the Upfront Costs column: $5,654. See where it says “Points: 1.9” under that?

That is what you’ll have to pay at closing just to get that low rate. That’s nearly 2% of your loan amount and is not part of your down payment.

Bottom line:
Make sure you understand that you may have to pay “points” to get that super-low interest rate. Is it worth it? Maybe. Just be smart and use some free online mortgage calculators to compare options. Bankrate has a good one.

What’s your credit score?

This rate example we’re looking at is for someone with a credit score of at least 740. If your score is in the 640+ range, your rate is going to be higher.

Bottom line:

Check out your credit report before you start looking. You can get it for free from annualcreditreport.com.

How can I improve my credit score?

Pay your bills on-time. Your payment history is the largest factor in your score.
Pay down high credit card balances. Shoot to get your balances below 30% of your available credit limits.
Don’t have any credit? Find a community bank or credit union that offers a secured credit card. It’s a card that’s tied to a savings account and lets you borrow only as much as you have saved in the account.

Check out other mortgage options

The example above is for what lenders call a “conventional” mortgage. That’s one where you are making a down-payment of at least 20% of the home’s purchase price.

But there are other options.

If you’re a first-time homebuyer, you could look at FHA mortgages, which only require a 3.5% down payment.

Some lenders offer conventional loans with as little as 5% down, too, so definitely shop around.