Mastery Business Plan in Las Vegas was a great success. Over 1,000 mortgage brokers from around the world gathered in at the Mirage on the Vegas strip to hear from some of the best trainers, speakers and originators in the business. That’s right . . . around the world! I talked to a few guys from Canada (aay, thanks for stopping by the booth-aay) and a handful of Aussie-friends (shout-out to my mates from down-under!). In addition to the early-morning breakout sessions, the key-note addresses, the panel discussions and the daily updates from MMG, originators had plenty of great opportunity to walk the exhibition hall to find out more about some of the best mortgage-related products and services out there.
It can be tough for exhibitors in this kind of situation. Participants are already suffering from information-overload. They exit the speaking hall hoping to utilize the breaks to check-in with the office, return a few phone calls, and grab a quick bite to eat and maybe a re-fresh on the coffee. My job, to tell originators about myRateTrack.com in 30 seconds or less — messaging is critical.
In the past, I’ve tried explaining the sytem this way:
“myRateTrack.com is an automated web-based marketing tool for originators allowing you to market to your past clients with customer-specific refinance reports. Reports are branded with your information and are exactly specific to your client’s current loan information. RateTrack refinance reports are delivered by email to the customer automatically either weekly, monthly or quarterly depending on their individual preference or are available instantly on-line.”
This message, while good and accurate, when delivered to an already information-filled brain, generally returns the following listener error: “uhh . . . say that again.”
So to help passer-byers decide if they wanted and needed to talk, I changed the message to the new un-message, written simply on a myRateTrack.com notepad.
“myRateTrack.com — we are not a pricing engine.”
The un-message worked great, partly because our name can be easily misunderstood, partly because it made people laugh, and partly because people instinctively grad something that is handed to them. Without the new un-message, the common (incorrect) assumption had been something like, “yeah, I know, you track my rates, I don’t need, I already have it with [blank], etc.” But for myRateTrack.com, because the system is focused on marketing to the consumer, the “my” actually refers to them. The loan officer helps the client track their rates and their refinance options . . . for example (correct assumption), ”I love my loan officer because he/she helps me track my refinance options with a personalized email report. And, he/she walked me through setting my target refinance rate and set it in the system so we’ll both be notified when the time is right to lock-in and move forward.”
Maybe originators should try something similar?
“[INSERT NAME HERE] — I am not a good-faith-estimator.”
“[INSERT NAME HERE] — I am not simply an interest-rate-quote’er.”
“[INSERT NAME HERE] — I am not just a loan-application-taker.”
If you were in Vegas this week, you are well equipped to say any one of those with great confidence . . . assuming you implement some of what you know now!! More on that next time.
Maybe I should consider a new disclosure at the bottom of each blog post. myRateTrack.com is not a pricing engine. For more information, visit www.myRateTrack.com. Ready. Set. Refi.
