Capturing Business from Real Estate Agents and Consumer Marketing. Mark McElroy - President & CEO Pavaso, Inc.

Transcription

1 Capturing Business from Real Estate Agents and Consumer Marketing Mark McElroy - President & CEO Pavaso, Inc.

2 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

3 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.

4 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.

5 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.

6 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.

7 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 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.

8 2901 N. Dallas Parkway - Suite Plano, Texas