ou could imagine. How long do you think it would take for you to build up a wall of sales resistance in a similar situation? Just think about the way we treat telemarketers if they call and interrupt dinner a few times in one night? Are we eager to hear their sales message, or do we blow them off? Perhaps we even join the Do Not Call list to actively protect ourselves from hearing these sales messages. Are you beginning to see how agents must feel?

One other thing to keep in mind is that throughout these thirty five contacts per week the number 1 most common pitch heard by these agents is "I'm here to help you build your business." or "I have leads to share with you." A close second is "We have great service and great products." If everyone else is using this approach, what do you think happens when you do too? You are brushed off as just another mortgage broker who over-promises and under-delivers just like everyone else. This is definitely not the first impression we want to make with agents. As if this weren't bad enough we also cannot forget about the mortgage brokers who are willing to do or say anything to get a loan. These are the people who are giving us a bad name in the industry and destroy our credibility. Jus

"Why can't I get more loans from realtors?" "Why are realtors so difficult to work with?" Nearly every mortgage broker has asked him/herself one of these questions at some point.

Unfortunately, while there are plenty of companies that claim to offer training-oriented solutions, many of these so called "solutions" turn out to be nothing more than the same information you have seen a thousand times before. Thankfully, this article is not the same old information repackaged to look new. In fact, my goal in writing this training article is to open up the eyes of as many originators as I can to the truth about marketing to realtors. With this being such a broad topic, it is difficult to find a good starting point. I finally decided to begin with a discussion about why realtors act the way they do. I decided on this as a starting point because of the fact that so many mortgage brokers seem to complain about the attitude they seem to encounter when marketing to realtors. Here are the most common complaints I hear in regards to agents:

*Realtors are too hard to work with *Realtors already have mortgage broker relationships *Realtors stick their nose in my business *Realtors expect too much *I can't deal with the condescending attitude

These are just a few of the many complaints I have heard from mortgage brokers around the country. If you're reading this article then I'm sure you have some of these complaints as well. Perhaps you contacted a few realtors yourself only to be greeted with a negative tone and attitude? If so, then now it is time to find some answers. Answers, We have some!

In order for us to understand why we are treated the way we are when attempting to build realtor relationships, we need to experience exactly what agents experience. We can do this by looking at the past few years. In the last few years market conditions have been favorable enough to allow just about anyone with decent sales skills to enter the field and earn a very comfortable living. This continued long enough for mortgage companies to resign themselves to hiring just about anyone with a breath and a pulse just to keep up with the demand for refinances. While this may have worked out well for those doing the hiring, it wreaked havoc on the reputation of those who are in this business for the long haul.

Even under the best of conditions, most mortgage broker education and training tends to leave the student thirsty for proper education, so you can imagine the depth of training that is offered when speed is the primary focus. Let's go a little deeper into this scenario and fast forward to our current market condition. As interest rates have moved upward and the easy deals have dried up, many of these mortgage brokers who have survived on nothing more than refinances for the past year or two are now receiving a wake up call. With the easy business gown, many of these originators have either exited the business or attempted to replace the refinance income with purchase business. It doesn't take much of an imagination for you to visualize the outcome of this scenario. Thousands of desperate mortgage brokers who have never originated a purchase transaction before can easily create a negative image of our profession. In fact a recent survey was conducted to rate the level of consumer confidence in various professions. The results showed that consumer trust in mortgage brokers was only slightly higher than the profession of used car salesman. What does that tell you?

Now imagine that you are a real estate agent and your paycheck depended on this group of individuals. Imagine how often these agents have been hit up for business by desperate mortgage brokers. In fact, you don't even have to imagine as we have some figures for you. After conducting a survey with over 100 local real estate agents (Midwest) we found that the average realtor is contacted for business by mortgage brokers an average of 35 times per week! Think about that for a moment.

Whenever you begin to wonder why a realtor is somewhat short with you on the phone, remind yourself that this could be the 35th time this agent has been contacted this week. To be fair, I do need to clarify that this number of 35 contacts per week does include direct mail and email as well. However this does not include all of the other affiliates who are also looking for business such as title reps, real estate attorneys and appraisers. If you were to stop and consider the implications of this information, you would realize that this means that each month, the average realtor is receiving around 140 messages that are intended to ask for business in one way or another. That's a lot of marketing chatter to filter through! If this agent has been in business for even one year, this means that he/she has listened to thousands of messages from other mortgage brokers and has probably heard just about every "beat around the bush" approach and promise you could imagine. How long do you think it would take for you to build up a wall of sales resistance in a similar situation? Just think about the way we treat telemarketers if they call and interrupt dinner a few times in one night? Are we eager to hear their sales message, or do we blow them off? Perhaps we even join the Do Not Call list to actively protect ourselves from hearing these sales messages. Are you beginning to see how agents must feel?

One other thing to keep in mind is that throughout these thirty five contacts per week the number 1 most common pitch heard by these agents is "I'm here to help you build your business." or "I have leads to share with you." A close second is "We have great service and great products." If everyone else is using this approach, what do you think happens when you do too? You are brushed off as just another mortgage broker who over-promises and under-delivers just like everyone else. This is definitely not the first impression we want to make with agents. As if this weren't bad enough we also cannot forget about the mortgage brokers who are willing to do or say anything to get a loan. These are the people who are giving us a bad name in the industry and destroy our credibility. Just

ing attitude

These are just a few of the many complaints I have heard from mortgage brokers around the country. If you're reading this article then I'm sure you have some of these complaints as well. Perhaps you contacted a few realtors yourself only to be greeted with a negative tone and attitude? If so, then now it is time to find some answers. Answers, We have some!

In order for us to understand why we are treated the way we are when attempting to build realtor relationships, we need to experience exactly what agents experience. We can do this by looking at the past few years. In the last few years market conditions have been favorable enough to allow just about anyone with decent sales skills to enter the field and earn a very comfortable living. This continued long enough for mortgage companies to resign themselves to hiring just about anyone with a breath and a pulse just to keep up with the demand for refinances. While this may have worked out well for those doing the hiring, it wreaked havoc on the reputation of those who are in this business for the long haul.

Even under the best of conditions, most mortgage broker education and training tends to leave the student thirsty for proper education, so you can imagine the depth of training that is offered when speed is the primary focus. Let's go a little deeper into this scenario and fast forward to our current market condition. As interest rates have moved upward and the easy deals have dried up, many of these mortgage brokers who have survived on nothing more than refinances for the past year or two are now receiving a wake up call. With the easy business gown, many of these originators have either exited the business or attempted to replace the refinance income with purchase business. It doesn't take much of an imagination for you to visualize the outcome of this scenario. Thousands of desperate mortgage brokers who have never originated a purchase transaction before can easily create a negative image of our profession. In fact a recent survey was conducted to rate the level of consumer confidence in various professions. The results showed that consumer trust in mortgage brokers was only slightly higher than the profession of used car salesman. What does that tell you?

Now imagine that you are a real estate agent and your paycheck depended on this group of individuals. Imagine how often these agents have been hit up for business by desperate mortgage brokers. In fact, you don't even have to imagine as we have some figures for you. After conducting a survey with over 100 local real estate agents (Midwest) we found that the average realtor is contacted for business by mortgage brokers an average of 35 times per week! Think about that for a moment.

Whenever you begin to wonder why a realtor is somewhat short with you on the phone, remind yourself that this could be the 35th time this agent has been contacted this week. To be fair, I do need to clarify that this number of 35 contacts per week does include direct mail and email as well. However this does not include all of the other affiliates who are also looking for business such as title reps, real estate attorneys and appraisers. If you were to stop and consider the implications of this information, you would realize that this means that each month, the average realtor is receiving around 140 messages that are intended to ask for business in one way or another. That's a lot of marketing chatter to filter through! If this agent has been in business for even one year, this means that he/she has listened to thousands of messages from other mortgage brokers and has probably heard just about every "beat around the bush" approach and promise you could imagine. How long do you think it would take for you to build up a wall of sales resistance in a similar situation? Just think about the way we treat telemarketers if they call and interrupt dinner a few times in one night? Are we eager to hear their sales message, or do we blow them off? Perhaps we even join the Do Not Call list to actively protect ourselves from hearing these sales messages. Are you beginning to see how agents must feel?

One other thing to keep in mind is that throughout these thirty five contacts per week the number 1 most common pitch heard by these agents is "I'm here to help you build your business." or "I have leads to share with you." A close second is "We have great service and great products." If everyone else is using this approach, what do you think happens when you do too? You are brushed off as just another mortgage broker who over-promises and under-delivers just like everyone else. This is definitely not the first impression we want to make with agents. As if this weren't bad enough we also cannot forget about the mortgage brokers who are willing to do or say anything to get a loan. These are the people who are giving us a bad name in the industry and destroy our credibility. Jus

can imagine the depth of training that is offered when speed is the primary focus. Let's go a little deeper into this scenario and fast forward to our current market condition. As interest rates have moved upward and the easy deals have dried up, many of these mortgage brokers who have survived on nothing more than refinances for the past year or two are now receiving a wake up call. With the easy business gown, many of these originators have either exited the business or attempted to replace the refinance income with purchase business. It doesn't take much of an imagination for you to visualize the outcome of this scenario. Thousands of desperate mortgage brokers who have never originated a purchase transaction before can easily create a negative image of our profession. In fact a recent survey was conducted to rate the level of consumer confidence in various professions. The results showed that consumer trust in mortgage brokers was only slightly higher than the profession of used car salesman. What does that tell you?

Now imagine that you are a real estate agent and your paycheck depended on this group of individuals. Imagine how often these agents have been hit up for business by desperate mortgage brokers. In fact, you don't even have to imagine as we have some figures for you. After conducting a survey with over 100 local real estate agents (Midwest) we found that the average realtor is contacted for business by mortgage brokers an average of 35 times per week! Think about that for a moment.

Whenever you begin to wonder why a realtor is somewhat short with you on the phone, remind yourself that this could be the 35th time this agent has been contacted this week. To be fair, I do need to clarify that this number of 35 contacts per week does include direct mail and email as well. However this does not include all of the other affiliates who are also looking for business such as title reps, real estate attorneys and appraisers. If you were to stop and consider the implications of this information, you would realize that this means that each month, the average realtor is receiving around 140 messages that are intended to ask for business in one way or another. That's a lot of marketing chatter to filter through! If this agent has been in business for even one year, this means that he/she has listened to thousands of messages from other mortgage brokers and has probably heard just about every "beat around the bush" approach and promise you could imagine. How long do you think it would take for you to build up a wall of sales resistance in a similar situation? Just think about the way we treat telemarketers if they call and interrupt dinner a few times in one night? Are we eager to hear their sales message, or do we blow them off? Perhaps we even join the Do Not Call list to actively protect ourselves from hearing these sales messages. Are you beginning to see how agents must feel?

One other thing to keep in mind is that throughout these thirty five contacts per week the number 1 most common pitch heard by these agents is "I'm here to help you build your business." or "I have leads to share with you." A close second is "We have great service and great products." If everyone else is using this approach, what do you think happens when you do too? You are brushed off as just another mortgage broker who over-promises and under-delivers just like everyone else. This is definitely not the first impression we want to make with agents. As if this weren't bad enough we also cannot forget about the mortgage brokers who are willing to do or say anything to get a loan. These are the people who are giving us a bad name in the industry and destroy our credibility. Jus

ou don't even have to imagine as we have some figures for you. After conducting a survey with over 100 local real estate agents (Midwest) we found that the average realtor is contacted for business by mortgage brokers an average of 35 times per week! Think about that for a moment.

Whenever you begin to wonder why a realtor is somewhat short with you on the phone, remind yourself that this could be the 35th time this agent has been contacted this week. To be fair, I do need to clarify that this number of 35 contacts per week does include direct mail and email as well. However this does not include all of the other affiliates who are also looking for business such as title reps, real estate attorneys and appraisers. If you were to stop and consider the implications of this information, you would realize that this means that each month, the average realtor is receiving around 140 messages that are intended to ask for business in one way or another. That's a lot of marketing chatter to filter through! If this agent has been in business for even one year, this means that he/she has listened to thousands of messages from other mortgage brokers and has probably heard just about every "beat around the bush" approach and promise you could imagine. How long do you think it would take for you to build up a wall of sales resistance in a similar situation? Just think about the way we treat telemarketers if they call and interrupt dinner a few times in one night? Are we eager to hear their sales message, or do we blow them off? Perhaps we even join the Do Not Call list to actively protect ourselves from hearing these sales messages. Are you beginning to see how agents must feel?

One other thing to keep in mind is that throughout these thirty five contacts per week the number 1 most common pitch heard by these agents is "I'm here to help you build your business." or "I have leads to share with you." A close second is "We have great service and great products." If everyone else is using this approach, what do you think happens when you do too? You are brushed off as just another mortgage broker who over-promises and under-delivers just like everyone else. This is definitely not the first impression we want to make with agents. As if this weren't bad enough we also cannot forget about the mortgage brokers who are willing to do or say anything to get a loan. These are the people who are giving us a bad name in the industry and destroy our credibility. Jus

ou could imagine. How long do you think it would take for you to build up a wall of sales resistance in a similar situation? Just think about the way we treat telemarketers if they call and interrupt dinner a few times in one night? Are we eager to hear their sales message, or do we blow them off? Perhaps we even join the Do Not Call list to actively protect ourselves from hearing these sales messages. Are you beginning to see how agents must feel?

One other thing to keep in mind is that throughout these thirty five contacts per week the number 1 most common pitch heard by these agents is "I'm here to help you build your business." or "I have leads to share with you." A close second is "We have great service and great products." If everyone else is using this approach, what do you think happens when you do too? You are brushed off as just another mortgage broker who over-promises and under-delivers just like everyone else. This is definitely not the first impression we want to make with agents. As if this weren't bad enough we also cannot forget about the mortgage brokers who are willing to do or say anything to get a loan. These are the people who are giving us a bad name in the industry and destroy our credibility. Just about every real estate agent has worked one time too many with a mortgage broker who caused major problems throughout the purchase process through lack of communication, and underhanded tactics. With all of this going on, it's time for us to stand up and take responsibility for our current situation. If we are using techniques and scripts that make us appear to be just like every other mortgage broker out there, is it any wonder that we keep hearing the same objections over and over again? Once we take responsibility for this situation, we are free to do something about it.

The great thing about this process is that once we minimize this problem, we minimize others as well. For instance, have you ever worked hard to get an appointment with a real estate agent, work hard to impress him/her during the meeting, only to hang your head in frustration as the agent promises to give you business, but never delivers? The solution to this problem is just about the same as the solution to the first problem. See, both of these attitude patterns are caused by either a lack of trust or a lack of credibility, or we simply have not demonstrated enough value to justify the agent taking the risk of using a new mortgage broker.

Whenever a real estate agent uses a new and untested mortgage broker you need to realize that not only are they risking an unpleasant process, but also their entire paycheck, credibility and potential for referrals. If an agent sends a client to you and things go wrong, the finger of blame is pointing at both you and the agent. Now that we have seen some of the causes of the problems we face when working with realtors, we want to discuss the solution.

In the name of keeping this article relatively short and free of fluff, I have created a second training article dedicated to offering solutions to the problems discussed here. You are only moments away from receiving part 2 of this series. To receive the solution to the problems discussed here, simply forward your request to averagejoelo@hotmail.com. You will receive part two shortly.

Have you signed up to participate in my free marketing training calls? Why not sign up for our next call when requesting this mortgage broker training article? Space is limited so RSVP early!