Introduce new products with the 1 - 2

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Doug Smith

Doug Smith, founder of Douglas Smith & Associates, is a 24-year industry veteran. His career spans the areas of loan origination, sales training, management development, marketing, personal coaching and corporate sales. Doug’s columns appear in Mortgage Originator, Mortgage Planner, The Mortgage Record and Mortgage Broker magazines. He publishes a monthly newsletter, Power Selling, and authored Climbing the Ladder of Success. For more information, visit http://www.dougsmithonline.com/

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Introduce new products with the 1 - 2 - 3 punch!

Written by Doug Smith

New home financing products are a great excuse to make contact with your customers. Everybody likes to hear what’s new (that’s why we read the paper every day) and new mortgage loan options give you something to talk about.

If you are going to communicate a new mortgage plan to your strategic partners (real estate agents, builders, brokers, etc.) it pays to do it right.

Some lenders just fax out a one-page flyer and think that will do the trick. Do you know how many flyers your customers see every week? Others send out an e-mail announcement. Do you know how many e-mails your customers see every day? These are hardly effective means of marketing, especially when you have something new and exciting to say!

One of the best ideas for communicating a new loan product is with the 1-2-3 punch. Essentially, this is a four step process to make certain your new product gets recognized. It incorporates the marketing theory that people have to see something three to four times before they notice it.

Let’s do an example – Renee’s company just launched a new first time homebuyer program called HouseKeys. This program offers many attractive features and discounts for those purchasing their very first home. Renee is excited about the potential for this program, and knows that few of her competitors have anything like it. She knows that it won’t be long before other lenders follow suit, so she must be swift in getting the word out and effective in making an impact.

Step 1, Renee mails out 20 letters (on her company’s letterhead paper) to 20 current and potential referral clients with the bright, bold statement in the center: IT IS COMING! THE BEST NEW IDEA FOR HOME FINANCING IN YEARS! That’s it, just a “teaser” message to grab her clients’ attention.

In three days, Renee initiates Step 2. Another letter is mailed out to the same 20 people with the message: IT IS COMING! THE BEST NEW IDEA FOR HOME FINANCING IN YEARS! PERFECT FOR FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS! The reader is now curious and wants to know more.

In three days, Renee moves to Step 3. A third letter is mailed to the same 20 people with the message: IT IS COMING! THE BEST NEW IDEA FOR HOME FINANCING IN YEARS! PERFECT FOR FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS! THE NEW HOUSEKEYS MORTGAGE PLAN! Then Renee adds just a few bullet points and program features to her letter with the message: “I will call you soon to tell you more!”

Step 4 involves Renee picking up the phone and calling each of those 20 people asking for a brief ten minute appointment to explain the program and answer any questions her customers might have about HouseKeys. Some will not be interested in meeting with Renee. Some will be too busy to get together. All in all, Renee expects to land five to eight appointments from her campaign. Once she gets in front of these customers, Renee will explore their interest in working with first-time buyers and if there is a fit, she will present the new HouseKeys program and its benefits to the customer face-to-face.

New products are a great way to get attention and appointments. Consider this approach for your next new offering. It works!

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