In my Mortgage Loan Officer coaching group, one of our main focal points is creating deeper relationships with Realtors.
They plan their outreach, refine their approach and hopefully get that meeting. For those MLOs that do execute on having that initial meeting, I often get the following feedback: "The agent is asking me if I can give them leads."
Now, of course, MLOs will get leads, but on average it will be nowhere near the amount that a Realtor will get. In fact, I just had a Realtor team from Las Vegas reach out to me asking how they find a lender that gives them an equal amount of leads.
Here is what they said:
"I’m not satisfied with the number of leads he sends back to us. In your opinion is it reasonable to expect a lender to reciprocate. We close about 18 deals per year with him, and over five years we’ve closed three referrals from him."
My answer was simple. A consumer, by a high percentage, will come across a Realtor online before they do an MLO. In fact, it isn't even close. There are a few reasons for this (Think Zillow, Trulia, etc.) but mostly it is due to how the consumer searches. But if you are an MLO you already know all this, so let's get to the point.
What I always tell my MLOs, is teach your Realtors how to fish.
What do I mean by that? Simply stated, is that instead of giving them that "one-off lead," teach them a strategy or tactic that will get them multiple leads per year. In this case, learn how to do Facebook Lead Ads for Real Estate.
As an MLO you could take a course, spend a few hours, and master how to do a proper Facebook Lead Ad. Not only would this help you get leads, but it will give you a unique value-add by teaching your Realtor partners how to do the same thing.
You see where I am going with this?
I speak to Realtors across the country and how to do Facebook Ads is the #1 question, and it isn't even close. Just imagine how strong you could make that relationship if you are the one that is teaching them how to do Facebook Ads. You think that would help you stay top of mind? You think that would help you build new relationships with key Realtors? You bet it would.
And you are now teaching them how to fish.
