It never fails to amaze me how much time is wasted by Loan Officers doing unimportant activities, rather than tried and true mortgage lead generation activities. Every week I talk to at least 3-4 loan officers just in the state of MO, who are still managing to close 8 – 10 deals or more per month. Now, these are not the norm, these are very good and experienced Loan Officers, but they are doing the right things day in and day out. These Loan Officers spend their day doing true mortgage marketing, not reading newsletters, answering less than priority calls from friends, and basically just going through the motions pretending to get things done.

It is totally possible to still be closing at least 4-5 loans per month in this market. And you don’t need to spend a lot on your mortgage marketing functions. So exactly how are these successful Loan Officers doing it?

Here’s what I think: Take a look at how much time was wasted in the middle of the boom time. People wasted relatively the same amount of time, because they are creatures of habit and their behavior is very predictable. But the difference was that you could actually get away with it during that time. Not so much today. Today’s marketing is all about micro managing your time effectively.

In a down market, you absolutely need to spend at least 40 – 50% of your day in front of people giving information, presentations, sales pitches, whatever! I can’t even stress this enough. So who do you need to be in front of? What people? Prospects, realtors, fsbo’s, other Loan Officers, your local clubs, your Internet leads,etc… You need to make a list of literally every type of prospect you can get in front of, and exactly how you can hit each one, day in and day out. Do not be lazy, you will pay dearly for it!

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you structure your day properly. Identify exactly who needs to be contacted and when. Run experiments to figure out which form of marketing is working best for you, and exploit it. The Internet will very likely be your best form of advertising and mortgage lead generation. Use Google Analytics, for example, to track the best websites, and where buyers and sellers are coming from. start a blog and integrate it with your website. » Read more: Don’t Waste Time With Your Mortgage Marketing!