Capturing Business from Real Estate
Agents and Consumer Marketing
Mark McElroy - President & CEO
Pavaso, Inc.
Overview
The CFPB has made it about as clear as possibly can be made:
Marketing Service Agreements are a problem, and if you use them
you are taking great risk in being in violation. With this in mind, it
doesn’t change the simple fact that business flows through the Real
Estate Agent, and they make a huge difference in whether you are
getting deals or not.
With a key mechanism ruled out of the equation, the question
becomes: how do you create a bond between yourself and the
Real Estate Agent to positively position yourself for business? The
contents of this document outline how to capture these Real Estate
Agents and create a bond, giving them reason to choose you over
everyone else without being in violation.
The Ruling Says
Clearly, the ruling states that the Consumer has the choice.
Everyone on the business side wants to default to the thinking that
“the Consumer doesn’t care.” However, this is not necessarily true.
Today the Consumer has no mechanism for choice, and the choice
is going to default to what the Real Estate Agent advises them to
do, which in essence makes the Real Estate Agent the main point of
contact for business for the time being.
At this point and time, digital closing platforms deliver the ability
for the Consumer to make these choices, but it also allows the
Consumer to default to the Real Estate Agent for these selections, if
he or she wishes. The key is, even if the Consumer doesn’t choose,
it’s going to be important that they have the opportunity and capture
the fact they defaulted to their Real Estate Agent.
How Does a Real Estate Agent Choose?
It’s a simple fact the Real Estate Agent chooses a Lender based
on who can get the deal done correctly and quickly, for the simple
reason that they don’t get paid until they do. We have all experienced
a bad or slow deal and the impact it has on the next referrals from
these Real Estate Agents, so it’s very important that they are done
right.
In the current environment, it is clear TRID is going to have an impact
on closing quickly, and time will tell whether a 30-day closing is
realistic or not. The one thing we know for sure is that any capability
that proves it can speed up the transaction and do it right, is going to
be very valuable.
The key to capturing a Real Estate Agent and keeping them, is to
get them hooked on your capability as a Lender and Title Company
so much, that they can’t or don’t want to go anywhere else. To
accomplish this you must provide something tangible they can latch
on to and never let go, something that very few have.
Marketing to the Real Estate Agent Today
In the process today, Real Estate Agents need new tools to manage
their business, deliver unique service to their Consumers, get the
deals done right and timely, and make it very easy for them to know
what is happening at all times throughout the transaction. How do
you show them that you have the ability to accomplish all of these
objectives?
The method is simple:
1. Get Certified on a Digital Closing Platform – Learn how to utilize
and close all of your transactions on a platform that can fulfill all
the key elements described above
2. Its Value Proposition is Your Value Proposition – The key
benefits and value of such a platform actually become your value
proposition through differentiation when marketing to the Real
Estate Agent.
3. Market Yourself as ‘Certified’ to Real Estate Agents – Explain
your value proposition to them, and in turn, what their value
proposition can be to their Consumers using that platform.
These 3 steps lead to the creation of a new ecosystem within the
mortgage industry, where everyone does business with tools that
improve the process at every stage. This provides such a different
level of service that your Real Estate Agents are going to get hooked.
The power of digital closing platforms is going to speed up the
transaction, and drive Real Estate Agents in your direction even
more.
A digital closing platform needs to accommodate the development
of new and different tools that everyone can use to further its
value proposition. This approach takes what has been manually
performed in the past and gives it tangibility in an environment where
everyone can get what they need to start doing better business.
Where do Leads come from?
In the normal course of business, leads come mainly from Real
Estate Agent activities by finding clients who want to buy and sell
homes. But there are other ways for everyone to generate leads as
well:
1. Past Customers – Lenders, Real Estate Agents, and Title all
have many past customers who will, at some point in the future,
need your services again. So the question becomes: how do you
capture their business now?
The key is, once you start getting past customers to join the
platform, they are instantly connected to you and every other
stakeholder they worked with at their last closing. Once again,
this creates an ecosystem that positions you for their business
the next time they need you. They won’t have to look around for
companies to work with, they won’t have to choose anything, and
they will already have their team built.
a. Harvest the Data
i. Each stakeholder should collect all of their past
customers and invite them into a digital closing platform
today. Some allow Consumers to join for free, with no
credit card info required.
ii. Marketing Campaigns – a Lender, Title, and Real Estate
Agent should perform marketing campaigns to ask their
clients to join the platform, and offer them something of
value in this campaign. This gets them involved with the
platform, and in turn connects them to you.
b. Give them a Reason to connect with you now
i. Title Check-Up – With the massive amounts of confusion
caused by the crisis, new sellers and buyers should ensure
they are looking at a clear title before they get too deep
into a transaction.
1. Real Estate Agents – Both Real Estate Agents want to
know that they aren’t going to have any big issues with
Title before they list a property and before they show a
property to their Buyer.
2. Sellers – Listing Agents should encourage all Sellers to
purchase a Title Check-Up before listing the property.
3. Buyers – Before buyers invest too much time, they
should know that hey are looking at a property that
is clean with no issues. The Buyer’s Agent should
tell their client to ask for this before any offers are
submitted.
ii. Past Documents Storage – A platform should be able
to allow both the Title and Lender the capability to offer
their past clients the ability to upload their final closing
documents into the platform and store them electronically.
iii. REFI Check-Up – There should also be a capability
for Lenders to offer the Consumer a REFI Check-Up,
a functionality that suggests when it’s a good time to
refinance.
iv. PMI Check-Up – Many past clients have been paying
PMI, and their home values have gone up since they last
purchased. This may put them into a position where they
don’t need to pay it anymore. A platform should be able to
check the loan parameters and value, and suggest what
needs to be done.
c. Stay in front of them
i. Point of Sale – A digital closing platform should keep
Consumers engaged by giving them a reason to keep
coming back, continuing to keep you connected with them
through the platform.
ii. New Offerings – Ensure that the platform has a variety of
apps that you can brand and develop by yourself, that can
keep that Consumer fully engaged. When you provide
long term engagement, you give the Consumer a reason
to use you again.
2. Multi-Level Networking – With such a broad volume of
Consumers you have worked with in the past, you have the
unique ability to harness the power of multi-level marketing,
simply by asking Consumers to invite their friends and family to
the platform. You have the opportunity with every customer you
get on the platform, for them to recommend and invite others
to take advantage of the same offerings mentioned above. This
takes your list of past customers and turns them into exponential
growth, and as Consumers share, you will become part of their
team as well.
Conclusion
The importance of a digital closing platform that provides you
with all the tools, methods, and programs to market your business
individually, without risking violation of any MSA agreements or
RESPA, cannot be overstated.
The Pavaso platform actually provides you with all of the tools
discussed and aligns with all of the goals mentioned in this
document. Within the Pavaso platform, the value that exposure
and engagement provides, creates the connection that gives the
Consumer a reason to work with you next time. All you have to do
is use Pavaso to take advantage of the data you already have, and
begin experiencing the power of repeat business.
The only thing keeping you from succeeding in this new world is
you getting to the starting line. Take advantage of all of Pavaso’s
features and tools, capture Real Estate Agents referrals and create
new business for yourself without worrying about costly and risky
MSA agreements.
About Mark McElroy
After starting in Fortune 100 application development in 1984,
McElroy moved to a partnership in 1996 at the multi-national SAP
firm IT Services, Inc., where he helped grow the business to $40M in
annual revenues by 2000.
In May 2001, McElroy purchased RamQuest, Inc. with several other
investors. During his tenure there as President and CEO, revenue
increased 28 fold for 50 consecutive quarters of profitability, the user
base exploded to 30,000 users nationwide, and several new products
were developed and launched for the title industry.
In 2011, under McElroy’s direction, RamQuest began to widen its
focus and develop products and services for vertical real estate
markets under the Guardian Consumer Services brand, which
officially launched and separated in 2014 as Pavaso, Inc.
2901 N. Dallas Parkway - Suite 300 - Plano, Texas 75093
866 288 7051
www.pavaso.com