Why most of your prospects aren't responding to your loan officer marketing:

Before I knew how to attract pre-qualified prospects, people just didn't respond to my marketing. No matter what I did or what I said, nothing worked.

Great "catchy phrases" didn't work... clever quotes didn't matter... and even fire sales bombed left, right and center.

It seemed like I was putting "sales repellant" in my marketing.

One HUGE why these promotion bombed was that I wasn't asking my prospects to do anything.

In other words, I said things like:

* Call for information.

* Or I'd simply leave my phone number.

* Maybe I'd even say things like, "Been in business 7 years" or whatever.

But see, the unfortunate reality of life, is that usually... the prospects who need your help the most, are the furthest removed from wanting it.

Crazy people don't want therapy... poor dressers don't want to wear nice clothes... people with bad teeth don't want to go to the dentist, and so forth...

And homeowners who need cash, don't want loans. They want CASH.

So if you're sitting there sending them out message after message about what a sharp Loan Officer you are, how many loans you make, how low your interest rates are, how many deals a month you do, whatever...

No one really cares.

The only thing that matters to the homeowners who respond to things like this, is... how low are your rates.

Why?

Because that's all you're talking about, so what else should they care about?

If you want to catch fish, you don't put potato chips on your hook, you put worms on it.

Make sense?

Reality is, until you see yourself as a solver of problems -- and then position yourself appropriately using some sort of 2-step lead generation system that sets you up as an expert -- then you're just "another loan guy" out there.

See, you're not really answering the question all your prospects have, and that is, "Why should I do business with you, over all the other loan officers in my neighborhood?"

Until you can answer this question, you're going to have a very tough time getting anyone to respond at all.

But the good news is, you only need to nail this down once, and then you get to benefit from it forever.

Think about this the next time you're putting something together to generate business.

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. We will be re-opening out ARMS Marketing System program again, very soon. This program not only positions you as a valued advisor, and not a "loan guy," but it contains a turn-key, 6-step follow-up sequence exclusively geared to homeowners who have, or who are about to have their ARM loans reset. If you are interested in this program, them please REPLY TO THIS blog post and let us know.

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How to create rapport with your prospects by working less (yes, that's correct)

Over the last few e-mails we've been discussing how you can create and maintain a stronger relationship and build trust with your prospects.

One of the easiest ways of doing this is by making yourself accessible to them, but not in the way you normally perceive or incorrectly believe accessibility needs to be.

See, most people think being accessible means giving prospects your cell phone number... your home number... and your personal e-mail address, so anyone can come calling on you whenever you want.

Then, you piss and moan why you've got so many tire-kickers and looky-loos wasting your time all day long!

Duh, who's fault do you think that is?

The way to make yourself seem accessible has far more to do with what you say and how you say it, than you giving out your cell phone number and inconveniencing yourself in all the other ways.

Does your doctor or lawyer make themselves that accessible? How about your plumber or the guy who drycleans your shirts?

So why do you do it?

I've given you a slew of things to talk about over the last couple of weeks, so today let's talk about HOW you say things. Remember, since experts say that anywhere from 70 to 90% of your communication is non-verbal, how you say what you're saying in print, is critical... since you don't have the benefit of non-verbal communication.

You want to write to your prospects the same way you speak to them. There are many different names for this, but I just call it "cup of coffee" copy. Meaning, I like to think it's how I'd speak to someone if we were just sitting down and having a quiet cup of coffee together.

You wouldn't be pushy or aggressive if you were doing that, right? You'd be folksy and sort of humble, no?

And see, the benefit of doing this, is that it makes people "feel" you more, and when someone can "feel" you more, they perceive you're more accessible.

What's really funny is, in reality you can be as unaccessible as you want.

Here's a true story. Almost everyone who works with me, or who subscribes to my newsletter or joins one of my coaching programs, says they do this because they feel I'm accessible and approachable. That they "know" me or they can sort of "sense" we're on the same wavelength.

But in reality, I'm actually quite inaccessible. NO clients have my personal cell phone number, and when we speak it's by appointment only. In fact, I talk to no one without an appointment, and even then, they must be paying for my time. And there isn't a snowball's chance in hell I'd EVER speak to someone and give them "free consulting."

Because remember, people value what you're doing for them, only to the extent they've paid for it.

Keep these things in mind moving forward. It's YOUR business, run it the way YOU want. Just the same way you want to set up boundaries in your personal life, that's all the more reason why you want to set them up in your business life.

You'll respect yourself a lot more when you do this, and so will your clients.

Have a great weekend.

Pay close attention. Mike and I will be re-opening the ARMs Marketing System program again soon. Our first group has gone through the process and is using it right now. They were nothing shy of "blown away" at the meeting in Tampa.

Stay tuned.

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. We had 2 exciting days of serious work and business breakthroughs with over a dozen pumped up loan officers at the LO ARMs Marketing System Launch. You can check them out on our blog at http://tinyurl.com/4vj542

Comments? Leave them here on our blog -- we want to know what you're thinking: http://blog.loturnaround.com

Have an opinion. And then have the balls to share it.

We've been talking about how to improve and build trust in your communication with your prospects and existing customers.

One way, which is incredibly effective yet seldom used, is to simply let people know what you're thinking about. Have an opinion and be ballsy (or kind) enough to share it.

Most people are starved for fresh new ideas and whether they agree with what you're saying 100% or not, they'll at least respect you. And you'll attract more and more people, who do share your same opinions. Yes, you're going to alienate others, but you will get far more out of 50 people who are loyal to you and who respect you, than you would out of 75 people who feel mediocre or luke-warm about you.

Let me give you a few ideas about what I mean. And just so you know, this is Craig speaking, not Mike. I don't want to put words into my Mike's mouth, for sure.

Old conventional wisdom says never talk about sex, religion or politics. But if you're vanilla white all the time, you appeal to no one. So I'll talk about politics and sex.

Reality is, I'm probably only qualified to talk about sex, but I'll give it the old college try.

Here's my own personal viewpoint on politics. I grew up in the Bronx, my parents were blue-collar workers, and although I don't think my parents voted, everyone around us was a registered Democrat, as is much of New York City.

I am a registered Republican, because it's my opinion that this party takes personal responsibility and financial achievement a little more seriously, and is in favor of rewarding those who do the same. But frankly, I don't think any politicians today, are really and truly concerned about their constituents. The system is flawed and it's become a game of power-brokering. The needs of the people have become secondary -- if it's even on their radar screen at all.

I don't even know if this can be helped.

I am sure in some small towns somewhere, you have a few honest politicians left, but they are few and far between. I'd like to believe this wasn't true, but look at the state of affairs we're in. Here we are, mired in economic and world crisis, and we're a country that's more divided than ever. I'm not so naive as to think we should all be locked arm in arm in emotional harmony, but I do know good leadership pulls things together.

I also know this isn't easy, but neither is finding a good leader. So what's up with that?

Sex - now this is something I'm qualified to talk about. It's something I haven't just read a lot of information on, and watched a few videos... it's something that is weaved into the fabric of my life. And my opinion is, I think it's something that should be weaved into the fabric of your life, as well.

I was just on the phone doing an interview with a colleague of mine, and he told me he's celebrating his 26th wedding anniversary today, and by all accounts, he's quite happy. I'll be celebrating my 15th soon, and rest assured, the plumbing systems are all clear and passion still runs high around here.

I realize that's more information than you needed, but guess what?

That's what sharing your opinion is all about. It's about giving people a chance to see who you are, beyond who you are sitting at your desk.

This is how you connect with the right people -- and how you disconnect from the wrong ones.

If you thought this made sense, then go ahead and take a free 30-day test-drive of my offline newsletter, and this month alone, you'll get 7 or 8 different examples of how to build trust and communication. You'll also get 15 different bonus gifts for taking this test-drive -- just watch the videos and you'll see what they are. Grab it all at http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. Last week, Mike and I launched the ARMS Marketing System, down here in Tampa. We had 2 exciting days of serious work and business breakthroughs with over a dozen pumped up loan officers. You can check out the photos below. I'm the good-looking bald one and Mike's the young one:





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Think about what you want to bring into this world.

Last time we talked about how to build trusting relationships and the kind of communication you need to have with your homeowners to facilitate this.

I mentioned that in your communication, you must consistently provide good content, and we went over many different examples of the kind of content you can provide.

But for many people, this isn't easy. In fact, most LOs are incredibly preoccupied with just making a dollar to survive and keep their doors opened. "How can you think about "giving content" at a time like this?," you might be thinking.

The best answer to this question is something a close friend of mine told me about a year ago. The person who told me this information is simply brilliant. He's a man who's sold in excess of $300 Million worth of goods and services over the last 35 years, using these same exact emotional direct response marketing techniques and strategies we teach.

His name is Christian Godefroy and here's what he told me when I was a little stuck writing a sales letter. He said, "Craig, think of what you want to bring into the world, and not what you want to get out of it."

Pretty profound, isn't it?

This is the first step to building any kind of a sincere relationship -- thinking about what you want to GIVE and not what you want to GET. And from that time onward, whenever I am struggling with something -- whether it's a strategy issue or a sales copy issue -- I think back to this statement, and suddenly, the words... and the music... all seem to come together.

If you want to find out more about Christian, you can visit his site at http://www.positive-club.com/ and if you want, you can hear an excellent interview I did with Christian, totally free, at http://www.kingofcopy.com/media/interview/christian

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. Tomorrow and Friday, Mike and I are meeting with the initial group of LOs who are part of our ARMS Marketing System Launch, down here in Tampa for 2 days of exciting work and business breakthroughs. If you missed it this time around, and yet you still want some marketing help, your next best shot is to take a free 30-day test-drive of my offline Seductive Selling Newsletter, right here. Make sure you watch the goofy video of me that shows you the 15 free gifts you get with your trial. Unlike most "free" marketing gifts, these actually have value: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

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Mortgage Marketing: How to build a long-term trusting relationship with your homeowners

Last week we talked about following up, and the 3 critical components every follow-up system must have, to be effective.

One of these components was to make sure your follow-up was relationship-driven.

In fact, here's what I said about this: "... you've got to keep in mind that the purpose of the
follow-up is to forge your relationship with the homeowner -- NOT to remind them how badly you want to sell them a loan. So your follow-up should be relationship-oriented.

This too, is a completely separate topic unto itself, and I'll talk about this a next week, but rest assured you'd better be on this, if you want your follow-ups to mean anything."

And since I am a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them, today let's talk about some of the different things you can do to create a relationship with your homeowners, and to build trust.

For starters, no one wants to be sold something. However, people will gladly tolerate and even welcome your offers to sell them something, as long as you're giving them something of VALUE at the same time.

So the first thing you want to do is focus on giving your prospects something they enjoy. And I don't mean sending them things gifts that make your intentions as transparent as a plate of glass, I mean give them some CONTENT they enjoy, and give it to them on a regular basis. (And if you remember, we're talking about using direct mail to follow-up here.)

For example, what are some of the most important topics homeowners are concerned about:

* Community - what's going on out there in the community and how is it impacting their lives? Things like taxes, building, home values, new construction, local officials, new retail stores, zoning, crime. That's enough to get you started.

* Families - any news on current family issues? How about schools and local education? Or how about information on any of these issues that compares your town to the rest of the country -- or even to another place outside the U.S.

* Any new or interesting residents in your area?

* How about local business-owners? I bet there are some valuable resources you can uncover.

* How about curb appeal issues? There must be loads of information and experts in town, about making your home more valuable and more aesthetically appealing.

* Safety - online and offline. Lord knows everyone wants to know about this nowadays.

So you see, there's loads of information you can talk about. I just spent all of 5 minutes thinking about this stuff, and I'm not even a loan officer. I'm just a goofy writer and a marketer, for goodness sakes.

Imagine if I were you, how much I could think of.

Yes, I know this is a pain in the ass because then you have to go and do that dirty four-letter word, called "work" to make this all happen, but last time I checked -- no one's giving money away, right?

This is very important, so we'll be spending a lot more time on it over the next couple of weeks.

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. In the first 6 months of this year, Craig read 67 different magazine titles. Not to mention, he read multiple issues of many of them. He does this to get ideas, and in this month's Seductive Selling Newsletter, he gives you a list, and a synopsis of ALL of them. Get your hands on this immediately, when you take a free 30-day test-drive of Craig's newsletter, right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl You can also see a video of Craig showing you all the 15 bonuses you get on that same page.

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Final Reminder re: tomorrow's Free Loan Officer Q & A Call: Here's everything inside the new system

In 10 days, at a closed-quarters meeting here in Tampa, we'll be launching our ARMS Marketing System for Loan Officers.

Heres what you'll be getting as part of this program (the list is long, so be prepared to scroll down):

A. 6 System Support Calls, probably 2 hours each or more as needed

1 - Understanding the mechanics of what we do / review of components
2 - Understanding the psychology of what we do / review of components
3 - September - post kick-off Q & A
4 - October - Implementation follow-up questions / feedback / sharing new discoveries
5 - November - Business in process feedback, “tweaking” of documents if necessary, handling any challenges and objections discovered during your process
6 - December - Continued modification of program, review of business in process, “tweaking” of documents if necessary, handling any challenges and objections discovered during your process

B. Audio CD Recordings of these calls - to reinforce what you've learned over and over again: It’s taken us 8 years each to get to this point, I’d encourage and suggest to you that being able to access this information and re-listen to it several more times gives you significantly more insight and information each time you go through the material.

C. September - Two Day Intense Kick-Off Meeting with Mike and I here in Tampa

We’ll distribute the entire system to you and walk you through each piece, step-by-step and explain both the psychology of what’s going on in each piece, and the mechanics of how each piece fits into the system and what you need to do/how you need to handle each one.

We’ll give you a sense of understanding and insight into the minds of the marketplace you’re selling into, and what’s going to push their emotional buy-buttons and how to do this.

This is the ONLY opportunity anyone will get, to spend one-on-one time with us, helping them implement this system.

D. Weekly faxes - same weekly fax Craig’s private Mavericks Coaching and Mastermind group receives

E. Complete Turn-Key 2-Step Lead Generation Marketing System with sequential follow-up to attract prospects who are interested in Refinancing their ARM’s:

1. 2 lead generation space ads/display ads - full page, half-page
2. Lead generation sales letter
3. Lead generation tear sheet mailer
4. Lead generation Postcard Mailer
5. Template for an online landing page of your website to capture your leads (copy and formatting only, not the actual web page html coding or setup)
6. “Thank you” e-mail sequence after prospect signs up
7. An e-mail mini-course for you to send your leads: sequence of pre-formatted e-mails to send out to your prospects who request your FREE Report
8. Telephone script / voice recording of your telephone hotline
9. Audio CD Recording Insert / sales letter
10. FREE Report to mail to your leads who respond (long-form sales letter)
11. Guarantees to offer your prospects
12. Response Form
13. Envelope Design for FREE Report
14. 2 Subsequent sequential Follow-up packages
15. Recommendations and guidance for ongoing follow-up after this
16. Lift Letter / suggestions for lift letter imitation
17. Guidance on how to present testimonials / testimonial template
18. Evaluation of results
19. Guidance on strategy and implementation
20. Marketing expertise and consulting on this entire process

Obviously, this gets you the “emotionalizing” of all the marketing messages you need to communicate, and the creation of the USP (unique selling proposition) as well. You’ll also get guidance on the choice of media to use, and when to use each one.

F. “Stick campaign” to keep your borrower from getting buyers remorse, along with other recommendations to assist you here.

G. Comprehensive guidance on mailing list selection (PRICELESS!)

Mike’s mailed close to a half-million pieces of mail over the last 8 years, and he’s used this to generate over $10 Million Dollars in loan fees. And unless you’ve done this yourself, successfully, it is literally be impossible to get access to the kind of information he knows about mailing lists. It’d be like trying to be as good as Tiger Woods. If you wanted to do that, you’d have to go backwards and start playing golf when you were 5 -- that’s just impossible to do.

This alone will save you literally thousands of dollars, if not more. Reality is, you can send the best marketing materials out there, written by the greatest copywriter who ever lived, but if you’re sending them out to the wrong person, you are going nowhere.

You’ll get the opportunity to work with the MOST likely prospects who are MOST likely to buy, and you’ll learn why the messages we’re giving you in your marketing materials are MOST likely to get them to take action.

H. Recommended vendor resources, where possible:

* Printing
* Tearsheets
* 800-lines
* Online website design/templates

I. Bonus: TOP Performer in this Beta Group will be the featured interview on Craig’s Monthly Audio Success CD interview of the month, that goes out every month with his Seductive Selling Newsletter.

J. LIFETIME rights to use this material (Value: PRICELESS!)

If you qualify to get into in this program, you get lifetime rights to use this marketing system. NO ONE else outside of this program's initial group members, will get this.

Mike and I will be meeting with the 20 or so people in this program, down in Tampa, Florida, on September 4th and 5th. There, we'll be taking you by the hand, and showing you step-by-step, how to implement the program... the psychology behind it... and loads of other little-known strategies that get you maximum responsiveness out of the program.

We'll also show you how to "split-test" the various components - this way you can give us feedback on what's working (and what's not working), so we can make continual adjustments to the program. This gives you yet even more responsiveness out of your prospects, and ultimately keeps your pipeline filled up, nice and fat.

Because we've had such a large number of people sending us in questions about participating in the program over the last few days, we are going to host a FINAL Q & A teleseminar tomorrow, to handle this last-minute resurgence.

The Q & A call will take place tomorrow, August 26th at 2pm Eastern time. This will be the LAST chance you'll have to ask us questions about the program, to participate in it, and to find out if it's right for you.

To get on this call, simply go to http://www.loturnaround.com/armscall and you'll automatically be registered.

NOTHING will be sold on this call, we are just going to be answering your final questions about this program. I am really excited about it -- the lead generation materials came out great, position you completely differently, and change the entire dynamic of what you do.

And if you even "sense" this is the way you should be doing business in this new economy, then should probably get on this call.

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. Again, to get on this call, simply go to http://www.loturnaround.com/armscall and you'll get all the call-in information.

Comments? Leave them here on our blog -- we want to know what you're thinking:

Free Q & A Call: To be a successful LO, you must answer the question, "Why should I work with you?"

I recently finished writing the lion's share of our ARMS Marketing Program, which is being launched in just 13 days at a closed-quarters meeting here in Tampa.

This is a turn-key system that attracts pre-qualified leads. In this case, these leads are people who have ARMs that are about to be, or have recently reset -- and who want help.

Let me qualify what this means. It means they come to you. No more begging, No more convincing, and NO more "hoping" for business.

If you didn't already know this, "hope" is not a good business strategy.

And when someone comes to you for something, let me tell you, the entire dynamic of what you're doing is completely turned around, as opposed to when you come crawling to them to get them in your pipeline and sell 'em a loan.

Mike and I will be meeting with the 20 or so people in this program, down in Tampa, Florida, on September 4th and 5th. There, we'll be taking you by the hand, and showing you step-by-step, how to implement the program... the psychology behind it... and loads of other little-known strategies that get you maximum responsiveness out of the program.

We'll also show you how to "split-test" the various components - this way you can give us feedback on what's working (and what's not working), so we can make continual adjustments to the program. This gives you yet even more responsiveness out of your prospects, and ultimately keeps your pipeline filled up, nice and fat.

Over the last few days we've had a number of people sending us in questions about the program. I guess, since we're getting close to launching it, there's the usual last-minute resurgence.

To answer these questions, we're going to hold an a FINAL Q & A teleseminar this coming Tuesday, August 26th at 2pm Eastern time. This will be the LAST chance you'll have to ask us questions about the program, to participate in it, and to find out if it's right for you.

To get on this call, simply go to http://www.loturnaround.com/armscall and you'll automatically be registered.

NOTHING will be sold on this call, we are just going to be answering your final questions about this program. I am really excited about it -- the lead generation materials came out great, position you completely differently, and change the entire dynamic of what you do.

As someone who's gone through a bad marketplace before (I was a financial planner when the tech bubble burst back in 2000.), I can promise you from experience, if you're not doing business like this in our "new post-real estate bubble, banking crisis economy," then you will soon be out of business.

And if you "sense" there's even an inkling of truth to this, then should probably get on this call.

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. Again, to get on this call, simply go to http://www.loturnaround.com/armscall and you'll get all the call-in information.

Comments? Leave them here on our blog -- we want to know what you're thinking: