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51 loans in 15 hours

By: Erik Janeczko

As originators there are not many opportunities to connect with a massive number of customers in a very short period of time, but by hosting a booth and properly working a trade show you can achieve this goal.

When I refer to trade show, I am referring to the local events that draw large crowds. These shows are usually held in large hotels or convention centers and happen quite often throughout the year around the country. Some examples that would be good for mortgage professionals to attend would be:

1. Home and Garden show

2. Home Builder’s Association show (marketed to consumers)

3. Log Home show

4. Manufactured housing dealers association show

5. Wedding Show

6. Local Business Exposition

7. County Fair or community festival

Or any well-attended related industry association or group convention and trade show (i.e., Realtor association, real estate investors group, builder/developer association, chamber of commerce, small business association, etc.).

What I am basically referring to is any type of show where customers go to find out information about anything remotely related to housing, business or finance. In most markets these shows occur several different times a year even if you are in a community of as few as even 10,000 to 20,000 people.

However, when you work a show like this there is definitely a right and wrong way to make it profitable. You have two options at these shows. One is that you could sit there all day behind a table with some information and give-a-ways on the table. In this case, you could probably come away with a handful of contacts that might turn into a few loans.

Option two is that you work the show – meaning that you get out front of the booth and engage people. In this second scenario, you can come home with literally hundreds of new names and addresses to add to your data base, as well as stacks of people that either need a loan right now or could be offered a Strategic Financial Review that will turn into many additional loans.

So, in this article I’m going to highlight strategies to take you down option two and make trade shows work to your benefit in a big way.

The Strategy

First of all, forget the idea that you can sit at the show all day and expect people to walk up to you wanting to apply for a home loan on the spot. Instead, realize that the whole idea of a trade show is to expose your business and to gather as many names as you possibly can.

You also need to realize that it is not about trying to sell a loan. If you go in with the hope that people will apply on the spot, you are going to greatly miss the major opportunity of this type of event. This type of event is about doing whatever you can to catch as many names, phone numbers and addresses as you possibly can.

Finally, you need to understand that this is not the kind of event where you want to sit around and talk to people at great length either. Instead you want to be able to move people through your booth and capture information from them as quickly as possible.

The Approach

To do this most effectively, you have to have some sort of a tool or gimmick that allows you to get people interested in what it is that you have to offer.

You certainly want to have an attractive looking booth with some signage but you don’t have to go overboard here. You also don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a background presentation format or the kind of professional booth display that a lot of big companies have. In fact the smaller the show, the better it is to have a simple plain table skirt with a banner sign that you hang with your company name and some sort of visually attractive item. You can also spice up the visual appeal of your booth by floating balloons.

But above all else, the key is to give away something just about anyone would want by holding a raffle drawing. Depending on the type of show, I have found it most successful to give away something that is consistent with the theme of the show. For example, if you are working a home and garden show, give away a nice barbeque grill. Or if you are at a business expo, give away a large screen Plasma or a free mini vacation.

Essential Supplies

To make this strategy work best there are a few important supplies you will need to make the entry forms efficient to collect. First you will need visuals to promote the item you will be giving away. If the item is big it will promote itself, but you need signage that says something like “Win this 42” PLASMA!” to make it crystal clear to the show attendees. This is especially important if the item is small (like an IPod) or intangible (like a mini vacation give away). So in this case the visuals must be big enough and clear enough that the show attendees understand what is being given away and that it is real (rather than a scam).

Second, you will need something to collect the entry forms. In the past, I have had great success with even using the drawing item itself (like the barbeque grill with the lid open). But if that is not practical, use a fairly large clear plastic storage bin with a hole cut in the top that is big enough for the form to fit through. It is also important to put a sign on the collection box that says “Drawing to be held __/__/____ (specific date) winner to be notified by mail, email &/or phone- Forms must be complete to win”.

Third, you will need a lead sheet that efficiently gathers information and helps identify possible business opportunities. It needs to be a very simple form that asks people for their name, address, phone number, email address, preferred method of contact, and a couple of questions that will trigger an opportunity to do a loan, such as:

• Are you interested in re-financing to lower your payment or interest rate?

• Might you be interested in receiving a no-cost, no-obligation Strategic Financial Review?

• Are you considering consolidating debt?

• Are you considering doing any major home improvements?

• Are you concerned about savings or investment for your child’s college or retirement?

Ask a basic question that would help identify an opportunity for a follow-up call to offer your service.

Keep in mind that the form needs to be attractive. However, it also needs to be simple – with short response questions, so that people can quickly read and fill out the form. (For a template of this form see the document labeled “entry form.doc”.) You will want to have several hundred copies of this form printed on heavier paper or in loose bound pads, so it can be filled out standing up. You also want to have plenty of pens available, so that you can create maximum efficiency in the booth.

Winning at the Show

When you are setting up at the show, there are a couple of key things to do to ensure a successful event. First and foremost, you want to have the tables set up in a way that allows you to get people through the process as fast as possible. But another key factor is to make sure that your booth is attractive and draws people in, while making sure that there is still plenty of room to move around.

It is also important to put the table off to one side or at the back of the booth, so that you open up the booth and let people come into the booth and get out of the aisle. The worst thing to do is to have a table across the front of the booth that separates you from the consumer public and blocks you out of the aisle. Instead, you want to be standing out front of the booth in the aisle, where the crowd is walking past so you can engage people in conversation.

An Effective Script

Remember that the main goal of the show is to collect as many completed forms as possible. And the single best script to use is also a very simple one. Understand that the simpler the script, the easier it is to create a lot of excitement and grow the crowd in your booth. As the crowd grows more people want in on what you have, just because of the law of consensus. So keep it very quick and simple. Also, keeps the focus of this initial engagement script on the item being given away. A lot of people, who would not otherwise ask you a question, will fill out the form when given clear direction. Keeping the script totally focused on attracting their attention to the item you are giving away is the absolutely most effective and proven technique. The script goes something like this:“Did you sign up to win the barbeque grill yet?” Then hand the person the entry form with a pen and point them into the booth as you quickly turn to address the next person coming down the aisle. This script is very simple and easy to articulate, which allows you to hit everyone coming by your booth. And this is the key to success at a trade show: high impact and high efficiency as you collect information.

However occasionally you’ll get a customer who is a little bit suspicious and asks “What’s the catch?” So you then need to be prepared to answer this question. Using a script something like this will handle the objection efficiently and get you moving to the next person quickly: “We are collecting information to see if people may be interested in receiving free information from us that will teach them how to maximize their financial development and improve their current financial situation.”

(*NOTE- As an LoanToolbox member you can easily provide this service almost instantly with a combination of MyLTB print ready templates like: YOU Magazine, the Practical Financial Tips and Homes and Money Quarterly News Letters, turn-key consumer information booklets, and customer quick tips.)

But, if the person still seems unsure, you can also say:“There’s no catch., The entry form simply helps us discover if you have any financial needs that we could assist you with, and we only call you if your entry form indicates a specific need.”

This second script will lower the resistance with even the most skeptical potential consumer. But if the person still resists, move on to the next person quickly. Most people who go to trade shows know what the game is. More than likely, if they are at the trade show in the first place, they understand the situation and are not going to get mad at you or make a big stink. Besides, you are giving them a chance to win a fairly valuable item.

The Potential Results

In an average day at a trade show, you have the potential to collect as many as 30 to 35 percent of the attendees at the show by using this strategy. In other words, if you have 300 people a day coming by your booth, you could generate between 80 and 100 entry forms – and at the bigger shows, you will often have daily attendance in the 3,000 to 4,000 range. I know this because I first learned this strategy from my Stepdad who runs a business that collects timeshare leads at trade shows and large attendance events. On a good day, they quite often collect 1,500+ leads and that is when the person filling out the form knows they will be heavily tele-marketed later for the time share sale.

When I originated loans, I applied this strategy to consistently collect forms from 30%+ of attendance, and my loan pull through off those forms was around 5%. The most successful show my team ever did was in a community where the population was only about 15,000 people. In two and a half days of the show, the total attendance was about 1,000 people. We collected around 400 completed forms total. And not only did we add 400 names to the database, but we also contacted around 80 people that were in a position to benefit from a new loan immediately. As a direct result, over the next 5 months we closed an additional 51 loans (including several first time homebuyer deals that I gave to my best referral partners).

The Bottom Line

The simple fact is that the numbers are phenomenal. If you do only a couple of trade shows a year, it will radically change the landscape of your business. This is also a great opportunity for you to get names in your database much faster (particularly, if you are a new originator trying to build one) and the best part is that this is all permission-based marketing, which avoids the issue of a do not call list. Once you have the names, simply sending them short communication pieces or information regularly will put you in a position of top-of-mind awareness with them. As a result, you can grow your business very quickly and achieve your goals much faster.

So I encourage you to apply these strategies as soon as possible to radically change your results this year. And should you be interested in any additional help in implementing this or any other business development strategy, simply email me at erik@ for a no-cost, no-obligation performance acceleration review.

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