food trucksMaking it rain, lead generation, creating opportunities, whatever you want to call it.  This is the number one job of anyone who works in a sales position.  It is also the number one differentiator of the elite performers from the rest of the pack.  Your ability to find, create and convert opportunities will determine your fate.

Sometimes it is just a matter of coming up with different strategies.  Not all strategies work for all people.  We are all different with our our unique personalities, strengths, weaknesses, perspectives and experiences.  So, no one lead generation activity is best.

The Wynn Team at Citywide Home Loans is not just a typical mortgage lender.  The Wynn Team is located in Northglenn, Colorado serving not only the North Metro area of Denver including Arvada, Brighton, Thornton, and Westminster but the entire state of Colorado with a focus on the Denver metro area.  The Wynn team is unique in the way they approach their business.  Scott Wynn, Marla Wynn and Cindy Howeth believe that it’s more than a mortgage, it’s an experience.  But what does that mean?  We feel mortgages should not be seen as a means to end – buying or refinancing a home.  Instead we view mortgages as a tool to be implemented to help achieve the overall financial strategy of the clients we serve.  Taking a holistic view of our clients’ current situation and long-term financial goals we can design a mortgage strategy to move them towards future success.

 

The Four Quadrants

The way I see it, there are four major quadrants when it comes to lead generation strategies.

Time vs. Money

I remember getting started in the 100% commission based world of mortgage lending.  It was tough to get started.

I didn’t have any connections.  I didn’t have any experience.  I was young…and I looked even younger.  But I was hungry and driven and determined.  Maybe you are in a similar situation where you have more time than money.  It’s where most salespeople start out.  Everyone’s got to start somewhere, right?

There are lead generation strategies that cost very little to no money whatsoever but require a lot of your time.  On the other end of the spectrum you’ve got lead generation strategies that require very little of your time but cost a lot of money.  Depending on where you are in your career you may choose to be on one end or the other, or maybe somewhere in the middle of these strategies.

Social vs. Strategic

Different strokes for different folks.  People are different.  Everyone has their own unique personality, strengths, weaknesses and, what I like to call, super-power.  What is your super-power?

There are many different personality profiles out there.  My favorite is the DISC profile.  It is easy to understand but clearly explains the various personality types.  DISC has four different dominant personality types but people generally fit into two main categories when it comes to interactions – they are either social or strategic.  Which are you?

Do you prefer to go to a cocktail party (social) or write a blog post (strategic)?  Would you rather go to a networking event (social) or send out postcards to a geographic farm (strategic)?

The Four Quadrants

If we look at these two spectrums and we cross them over one another we end up with four quadrants:

  1. Time & Social
  2. Time & Strategic
  3. Money & Social
  4. Money & Strategic

I’ve got four different lead generation strategies below.  One for each quadrant so you can choose what calls to you…

Time & Social Lead Generation Strategy

When are your clients the happiest?  Normally it is right after they closed on their home purchase.  They are through the stress of the inspection, appraisal, mortgage approval and the keys are in their hands.  They are excited about getting moved in and settled and normally want to share that with their friends and family.  How can you create a win-win for you and your clients in this exciting time?

Housewarming Parties

housewarming party
Host and plan a housewarming party for your closed buyers.  With a fairly low, to no, cost you can help your buyers in throwing their housewarming party while uncovering new potential buyers and sellers and build your database.

Where do you begin?  Well, there is a fantastic book by Michael Maher called the 7 Levels of Communication where he shares this strategy.  You could go out and buy the book (and it would be a worthwhile investment) but we’ve taken the idea and expanded it.  Check it out: Real Estate Agent Hosted Housewarming Parties.  We even have a handy downloadable toolkit to help you get this going quickly.

Time & Strategic Lead Generation Strategy

social media facebook instagram
Social media is the new phone or email.  It is where people go for fun, connection, entertainment and information.  How can you incorporate this into your lead generation activities?

5 X 3 + 1

Yep, I call it the 5X3 + 1 social media strategy.  This works for platforms such as Facebook or Instagram and here is how it works:

5 X 3

5 X 3 refers to five things you do three times daily.

  1. Post three times every day
  2. Add to your story three times every day
  3. Comment on three people’s posts every day
  4. Follow three new people every day
  5. Create three Call-to-Action (CTA) posts each week

+ 1

Wondering what the +1 is?  This is the “bonus” that can really shake things up and grow your social media presence.

Every month you should connect with one influencer to establish a mutually benefical relationship.

Influencers can be defined in different ways but here is how I would classify an influencer:

  • 5,000+ followers
  • 3+ comments on every post they publish
  • Actively posting (at least once per day)

If you find someone in a related industry to yours and connect with them they have massive power to push people your direction.  Now it is up to you to find a way to provide something valuable enough to them that they would be willing to do so.

Money & Social Lead Generation Strategy

You are at a point in your career where you have more money than time but you also enjoy the social activities to connect with people.  Social activities, by their natuire require your time.  By adding in the component of money you can go big, make a splash and get some massive exposure.  Here is one way to do that.

Community Block Party

Working a geographic farm?  This strategy goes great with geographic farming but is NOT a requirement.

Coordinate with the HOA, find a neighborhood Facebook page or just create the event on your own.  The key here is to create a buzz leading up to and after the event itself.  This means spending some time or money in the process.

Mail postcards (and/or hand out flyers) about the upcoming event.
Hire someone to put up signs (or hire someone to do it for you).
Create targeted Facebook ads (or tap into an existing Facebook page).
Promote a charity in the process (canned food, jackets, etc.).

This event has got to be big.

Bring in 4 different food trucks.  Maybe offer different types of food (Wings, BBQ, PB&J) and a dessert truck (Funnel Cakes).

You also need some form of entertainment.  You could have a bouncy house, coordinate a mini car show, set up a water gun fight, have an obstacle course set up or do a showing of a movie outside.

Make sure to capitalize on the event by taking pictures, getting some video, adding people to a Facebook group/page (unless one already exists), chatting and mingling with attendees and offering some sort of benefit associated with your business (free CMA?).  Then post on social media, tag people, and follow up with those that opted in to your free offer.  Consider giving them something branded with your information they can use at the event, but would keep afterward such as a water bottle or lawn blanket.

Money & Strategic Lead Generation Strategy

You are willing to spend money to make money but you want to create the biggest bang for your buck.  You could invest in a lead generation strategy like Zillow but the conversion rate is quite low and you don’t control the process.  Instead have you considered advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Google or even YouTube?

Online Advertising

Creating ads that target a specific segment where you want to get noticed is getting easier and easier.  Using tools built into the various platforms you can target a particular group of people based on:

  • Demographics
  • Location
  • Interests
  • Behavior

Depending on upon how valuable your time is you could outsource the whole thing hiring someone else to set it up, create the content, and optimize the delivery.  Or you could do those steps yourself.  It just depends on how involved you would like to be.

If you do it on your own the key is tracking your results.  Is your ad getting clicked?  Are people opting in at your landing page?  Is your cost per click low enough to get an ROI?  Lots of strategy here but if you like that sort of this this could be right up your alley.

Retargeting

There is one additional strategy in online advertising which I believe is where the real benefit comes from.  Sure, you need ads to get the attention of people you’ve never met before but once they express some form of interest how do you stay in front of them?  The answer is retargeting.

Have you ever shopped around online for some product to later go and scroll through your Facebook feed or do a Google search to have that same product pop-up?  That’s retargeting and you can do it too.  What’s great is that it is one of the lowest cost methods of online advertising and has some of the highest conversion rates.
ideas without action

Which is best for YOU?

Now it’s up to you!  Which of the strategies got your attention?  Which one sounded “fun”?

Next step? TAKE ACTION.

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Connor

    The idea of having local food trucks come in is awesome! We work with a lot of food trucks and help them book catering gigs and even promote their location via our app!

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