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Reverse Mortgage Seminars prove to be a valuable marketing tool
Too often when we hear the word seminar we often think of get rich quick real estate presentations with high-pressure sales tactics to purchase books or other materials. But truth be told reverse mortgage seminars or workshops, depending on your choice of words, are a proven and effective marketing tool, especially for smaller lenders and broker shops.
Steve Sless of Bayshore Mortgage has embraced seminar marketing and has reaped the fruits of his efforts. Last year Sless aggressively scheduled at least one workshop per week within driving distance of his office headquartered in Maryland and Washington, D.C. One seminar had over 100 attendees in a two day period setting a personal record for closed loans. “Over two days, we had 109 people show up to the event and closed more loans from that seminar than any we put on last year,” said Sless.
Strategic and successful promotion is key to attracting attendees.
Download a transcript of this episode here.
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5 Comments
It is crucial that originators know the marketing techniques which work best in their markets. I remember reading Shannon’s take on seminars and wanting to do it for the following two reasons: 1) it is inexpensive and 2) Shannon and several of his co-workers found it worked and worked well.
Things that Shannon could do in libraries in a remote city in north middle California would not work here and his recommended means of advertising was ineffective about 500 miles south of his office. We tried a seminar in our branch office conference but people expected a reasonably nice meal with the meeting.
We used a nice but inexpensive restaurant about 40 miles southeast of the beach in a highly equestrian area and it did all right but we used a mailer to announce it and our one loan from the six family units that attended did little more than pay for our costs. We made mistakes and could have made it profitable but we were ignorant.
If we had been residents of that equestrian area, we might have been able to pull off the seminar exactly the way that Shannon recommended but we were not, so our somewhat wasteful spending soured our taste for doing seminars which it should not have.
At the time I was buying leads from the Robert Wagner lead generator. We never lost money doing that and in fact by our last purchase turned 18% of those leads into closed loans. Due to the fact that my employer was a full eagle lender, the lead generator began trying to discourage our purchases by intentionally and with our consent only sold us their least likely leads. We got a few closings from that next round of leads but future purchases were not allowed.
Latch onto what works but keep experimenting on new sources of leads just in case your best way begins drying up. But never forget to keep working your referrals and gaining new referrals.
I am very interested in your techniques. I live in the affluent, and relatively small community of Santa Ynez Calif and am mostly interested in how you get people to register for your seminars in the first place. It is overcoming their apprehension that is most challenging. I am very well known and respected, but have yet to find the my most productive marketing strategy.
Thanks!
Hello Rich, Have you had a seminar to educate the public on Reverse Mortgages
I am interested mostly in how you attract potential clientele to your “seminars”.
I am very familiar with Solvang, Buellton, Los Olivos, and other communities near Santa Ynez, (and of course, your historic mission). Of course, targeted mailers can be used. There are even services that will do all of the sending out and reservation work for you.
If you are already well known in your community, you have an advantage few of us have working in larger communities. You should find a way to play off that advantage. If people would come to hear you, you could even do a seminar on a more generic subject such as the use of home equity in retirement planning.
Shannon Hicks has a lot of experience in prior years in holding seminars in public libraries and other forums. You also might try meetings at local church centers during their meetings on issues facing seniors (if they have such meetings but if they don’t, help them create such meetings).
Have a successful new year.