Generate Promising Leads as a Loan Officer
The more competition there is in any field, the harder it is to find new business leads. With hard work and a solid reputation, some tried and true methods will help you to generate promising leads as a loan officer.
Contents
Steps
- Ask your existing customers for referrals. Consider sending out a business referral card for your customers to give to their friends and relatives. Offer an incentive or gift to both parties for every card that is returned to you by a prospect
- Rent a booth space at the local home and garden show. As people walk through the show envisioning all of the changes that they could make to their home, your presence will enable them to apply for a loan to make their dream a reality. You can entice even more people into requesting information on your products by entering them in a prize drawing when they fill out the information request.
- Contact local real estate professionals including selling agents, title officers and home inspectors and ask them to consider referring their clients to you. Offer a commission for each loan applicant that they refer to you.
- Sponsor a give away at local bridal shows. There are usually several per year in each market, and newlyweds can be excellent new loan prospects. They rarely have a loan officer that they have already established a relationship with, and they are likely to need a loan in the near future.
- Approach automotive brokers and suggest a partnership. Offer a reduced or free application fee for their clients in exchange for an exclusive referral relationship.
- Contact your local community center and offer to teach a class on the loan process at no cost. This will give you the opportunity to make contact with groups of prospects in a very short order. At the end of the class, offer a free or reduced loan application fee to anyone interested in pursuing a loan within the following 30 days.
- Join as many business networking groups as you can fit into your schedule. Hand out business cards to the other members and offer to assist anyone that they may know who is interested in loan information.
- Visit local trade shows in your free time. Each small business occupying a booth is a potential loan customer. They may need a new building or fleet of vehicles, or they simply may be looking to expand their current business or operation. Instead of trying to sell them a loan while they are working, ask for a business card and follow up with them in the next 30 days.
Tips
- Before you try to generate promising leads as a loan officer by offering incentives or commissions, check your local regulations. Some areas do not allow monetary incentives to be paid except under very specific guideline.
Warnings
- Attempting to generate promising leads as a loan officer before you are licensed or authorized to sell those products is illegal in some areas; verify that all of your documentation is in order before you start looking for prospects.
