Title Marketing That Works

2010-05-25T10:24:00.002-04:00

Where do you go to make up the losses?

As I was writing the post about my book a few minutes ago I thought about what an owner of a title company can do to make up the lost revenue we've all seen in the a last few years. I told people in that discussion about how I'm starting a new division of the Strategic Marketing Group - "The New Media Doctor"

(www.NewMediaDoctor.com) to broaden my target market and increase my revenue. Title Marketing That Works started in 2005 and I did pretty well for the 2006-mid 2008 period. But since then as you probably haven't seen those levels again and I haven't either.

In early 2008 I started to again market to local companies as a general marketing consultant. I met with the same issues and frustrations I met with the years before; one of the reasons I started Title Marketing That Works. Also, I really do enjoy working with the people in the title industry.

I tried to get on the social media trend early. As a marketing practitioner and part-time college professor I need to stay current in my knowledge. For the last 3 years I have been spending a lot of time in this segment, both in my company's marketing and in seminars and coaching other companies.

I January I attended the Glazer-Kennedy Outrageous Marketing Workshop. While I left on Saturday night and missed Sunday's speakers, I did buy the audio cd's of the event. One of the first CD's I listened to from Sunday's presentations was Mike Koenigs, an expert in using video to improve your ranking on search engines with video. I listened to the CD about four times including sitting down and listening and taking notes. I signed up for Traffic Geyser, a tool you need in this process and watched all of the videos and learned everything I could. I've already worked with a couple of companies on this process and used it in my own businesses with good success.

With these two marketing tools in mind I created the New Media Doctor (I had the photos of me in the doctor coat taken at the Outrageous Marketing Workshop). This is one of my strategies to increase revenue for my company.

What are you doing to increase revenues? Have you expanded in the title market or gone into other businesses? Dan Kennedy says - "The riches are in the niches". Have you found your niche?

To learn more about Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer, my two marketing mentors visit - www.freegiftfrom.com/cripley.

Any thoughts on my new business? I won't be done with the web site until tomorrow night (5/26) but I welcome you feedback on it.

2010-05-19T09:27:00.001-04:00

I'm launching a new division of my company this month. The New Media Doctor will help companies with their social media and video marketing. We will work with all types of companies in the metro Washington, DC area.

I've seen a big change in the marketing world and marketing media in the last five years. The ability of a company to use inexpensive, easy to use tools to market their company has exploded. While we've used email marketing for at least 10 years now, the last five years have seen social media like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter really bring new approaches to marketing. Wide availability of high speed Internet service facilitated the growth of YouTube and online video in general. The next wave will be mobile marketing, as companies vie to bring their content to our cell phones and smart phones.

While there are almost 500 million Facebook users and millions of Facebook business Pages, there are still many business owners and operators who don't understand how to use effectively Facebook to market the business. We will help you with everything you need to have an effective, revenue generating Facebook Page. The New Media Doctor will help cure your Facebook marketing ills. We can:

Set up a Facebook Page for your Business
Create Home Page for your Facebook Page
Help Create Content and manage your Page

We will also help you set up Linkedin acounts for all of your employees and teach trhem how to use Linkedin. If Twitter is where you want to be (great for retail and other impulse businesses) we can help you there too.

Online video is exploding as a tool to use online. What is more popular - books or TV? People are 7 times more apt to choose a video versus a static Web site when searching on Google. If you depend on Google to provide you with leads you must have video on your Web site or landing page. We have developed a unique process to assure higher placement on Google. We will help you create simple 1-2 minute videos marketing your business that will send you to the top results on any Google search including local searches.

Over the next few weeks you will be learning more about this new division of the Strategic Marketing Group. Stay tuned...

2010-04-22T13:11:00.004-04:00

I just got back from the National Association of Independent Land Title Agents (NAILTA) and I thought I would put together a recap of the event.

The Trump Marina hosted this years NAILTA convention. The hotel is about 25 years old and shows its age a bit. The rooms are clean and other than the strong smoke smell from the gaming halls it’s a great place to have the conference from an exhibitor’s point of view. You can park near the hotel and easily carry your collateral to the room without difficulty.

The audio on these recordings is a little rough.

I can honestly say all of the speakers were very good. While I always want to learn more about the industry, I think everyone would agree these events can sometimes be used as a cure for long-term insomnia.

Regina Lowrie's keynote brought me up-to-date on the current state of the mortgage industry, the financial engine that drives our industry. She’s deeply connected to the politics of our industry. While I don’t always agree with her, her knowledge is unquestioned.

Harvey and Michael Pollack gave us an in-depth discussion of the income and expense structure of a profitable title company and gave many ways to honestly increase your revenue. I'm going to see if they will allow me to post their presentation so you can see it. One of the big questions they discuss is how much you should spend on marketing. I’ll post the excerpt from my book on this topic in the next couple of weeks.

One of the highlights of the day was Rob Holman's discussion of the current legal environment of the title industry and why we need to have NAILTA. I've recorded almost all of Rob's presentation and I'm sharing it in this blog. If this doesn’t convince an independent land title agent to join NAILTA I don't know what will. All of my clients are independent agents. The survival of the independent title company is critical to the success of the business I enjoy. I'm going to work to help educate agents about this organization. You should consider joining NAILTA and also consider volunteering to help it grow.

The other highlight for me was Adam Leitman Bailey's presentation. While he focused on the new HUD-1, the piece particularly interested me (and should interest you too), was the provision lenders must include up to three estimates of closing costs from three different title companies in their good faith estimate. I’m going to develop a campaign for title companies to use to market to lenders asking them for the chance to be one of the three companies. I even discussed with Adam the concept of actually guaranteeing a lender you would always be within the 10% rule on a deal you were given the opportunity to be one of the three companies. This would help the lender feel more comfortable with their estimates and give you a foot in the door of working with the lender. This is what competition is about.

The final presentation included a Fraud and Risk Management session where agents could also get CE’s. There were some great title stories. I learned I need to stick to marketing, as I don’t want to be responsible for all of that money and with a daughter at the University of Michigan on out-of-state tuition I don’t have the $440,000 to cough up if someone does an electronic transfer from my escrow account to their bank in Nigeria. One of the tools title companies need to prevent this from happening is called “Rynoh” www.rynoh.com. If I were you I’d have Rynow.

And I didn’t forget to stop at the White House Sub Shop before I left Atlantic City. I saw Joe Frazier there once.

My Review of Lexmark E260dn Laser Printer

2010-04-04T09:30:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at Staples

Prints up to 35 ppm (mfr specs) Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution for 1200 Image Quality Duty cycle up to 50,000 pages/month Approx. 6.5 seconds to first page Duplexing Network ready Cable NOT included Small-workgroup network printing with paper-saving duplex

Toner Hog

By Marketing Guy from Waldorf, MD on 4/4/2010

Pros: Sharp detail

Cons: Too much toner used

Best Uses: Everyday documents

Describe Yourself: Heavy Duty User

Primary use: Business

This printer is a toner hog. And at $135 a cart I returned it for the $50 credit and bought the Brother 5370dn. I've used the Brother 5250dn for years with good results (I run a marketing business and I may print 1000 page a week).

While the copies were very good on the Lexmark, the cost of the toner makes the Brother (longer cart life and 3rd party carts available) a MUCH better choice.

(legalese)

2010-03-11T13:47:00.001-05:00

This is test of ping.fm.

2010-03-04T17:01:00.000-05:00

Here's an excerpt from my upcoming book "The Essential Title Company Marketing Guide". It will be released in June.

Marketing to Individual Consumers

I think it would be good for me to discuss another timely topic in marketing title companies – marketing to individual consumers.

We’ve seen many companies market to homebuyers and sellers. One of the points of contact in marketing to individual consumers is Google search. These companies either use Google pay-per-click or search engine optimization (SEO) to be on the top of the list when a home buyer searches “title companies in Waldorf, MD” to get information about title companies in the area so they can choose a title company to do their settlement. They may also advertise on home sales web sites and run banner ads on similar sites.

While this is a good strategy, I’m just not sure this is where a traditional title company wants to start their marketing efforts. If you can say you’ve got every real estate agent and mortgage lender possible in your target market and you need to continue to grow, this may be one market to try to exploit.

I’ll tell you right away that this market will be much harder. While the legal environment may be trying to get more buyers to choose their own title company, the reality of the situation is most lenders and real estate agents are involved in the decision. Consumer marketing is much tougher. You will need to develop a separate strategic and tactical marketing plan. Start with the surveys. Good luck!

2010-02-11T23:03:00.002-05:00

2010-02-11T23:02:00.001-05:00

We've added two more Title Marketing Boot Camp's:

1. Dallas Texas - April 28th 10am-5pm - Dallas Sheraton - 400 Olive St.

2. Ann Arbor, MI - May 13th 10am-5pm - Holiday Inn Express - 600 Briarwood Circle

Boot Camp attendees have really enjoyed these sessions. In Orlando we got great reviews and ended up with a great recording of the whole day.

2010-01-19T08:36:00.001-05:00

2010-01-18T22:01:00.002-05:00

2010-01-18T20:54:00.005-05:00

Is Marketing Your Title Company Driving you Crazy?

Some thoughts about making it sane again...

I just got back from a whirl-wind long weekend in Orlando, FL. On Thursday I hosted our first Title Marketing Boot Camp (TMBC) for 2010. The attendees enjoyed the day and couldn't wait to get back to their title companies and start implementing the strategies and tactics we discussed. I’ve put up a You Tube clip of the Title Marketing Formula presentation. Check it out.

At TMBC had great discussions about getting better results from their mailings, how to set up their database, and how to set up a Facebook page for their title company. We actually had people setting up their company Facebook page on their smart phones while the class was going.

I spent Friday through Sunday at The Glazer-Kennedy Outrageous Marketing Academy. I learned more than my brain can hold. I took a lot of notes. I had some cool photos taken including the one in the straight jacket in this email.

Today we started burning the DVD's of TMBC. All of the boot camp survivors ;) will receive DVD's of the day to watch again and review what they learned. Everyone who attended TMBC also receives 2 hours of tele-consulting. I've already scheduled a few sessions.

When we were promoting TMBC I had many people ask me when were having our next live event or if they could purchase recordings of the Orlando boot camp.

Today I have the answer to both of these questions.

When are you having your next Title Marketing Boot Camp and why are you wearing that stupid hat?

We're scheduled our next Title Marketing Boot Camp for March 17th - St. Patrick's Day - in Washington, DC (actually, Clinton, Maryland, were John Wilkes Booth was from). I'm hoping all of the attendees will have their luckiest day of the year - and learn how to systemize the marketing of their title company. The Web site has been updated with all of the boot camp information and we are giving you the chance to sign up by January 31st for only $247, $50 less than we have ever offered. Click here to learn more. I'm wearing the hat because I like it! - it keeps my head warm.

We are also selling a complete set of unedited DVD’s and CD’s from last week’s Title Marketing Boot Camp. You will receive DVD’s for watching at home or on your PC and CD’s to listen while you’re driving or working-out. You will also receive the 300+ page manual including copies of all of the letters that come with the TMTW Sales Automation System. You can purchase the unedited DVD’s and CD’s at our Web site for only $297, $200 of the full seminar price. If you purchase the unedited DVD’s and CD’s before January 31 we will include one hour of tele-consulting, $150 value. Get the same information in the comfort of your home or office. Get it now.

New! Social Media Seminars

I've partnered with the Virginia Land Title Association to offer the more Social Media seminars in the next few weeks. Many people have asked when our next social media seminars were scheduled. The schedule is:

January 21, 2010        Focus on Facebook - Register by 01/19/2010

February 18, 2010       Look at LinkedIn - Register by 02/15/2010

February 25, 2010       Taking Up Twitter - Register by 02/23/2010

The Virginia Land Title Association is handling all of the registration and they charge a little more for non-members but it's going to a good group. Click here to register.

That's all for me right now.

2010-01-07T22:02:00.002-05:00

I was brainstorming with a new consulting client yesterday regarding the marketing opportunities coming with the new HUD-1. We were thinking it's a good opportunity to ask lenders what they know about the new HUD-1 and what help or information a title company can reasonably provide to make the transition easier. If you can make things easier for your clients they won't leave you. Does anyone have any thoughts about lender 'hot buttons' with the new HUD-1. I report back on what we learn.

2010-01-05T08:24:00.002-05:00

I remember when I was trying to come up with a name for this company. I distinctly recall when I said “Title Marketing That Works” and knew that was the name to go with.

The reason I felt that way was my marketing strategies and tactics worked for title companies. We had gotten +6% response rates on direct mail pieces and I had several clients adding 2-3 new regular clients a month. So often I heard from title marketers the frustrations they had coming up with a message to get a decent response form their prospects. Many companies just gave up, knowing any money they dropped on marketing would be better used if it was burned - at least you would get some heat from it.

When we look at this statement - “finding strategy/tactics/offer that works for us” it’s easy to see why this earned the number one spot in our survey of the marketing frustrations of title companies. This statement covers it all - trying to find a strategy, usually the first thing most companies skip when they start a marketing campaign - what tactics should you use, and finally what offer should you use to get prospects to raise their hand and say they may be interested in working with you.

It’s going to take some time for me to explain how to solve this problem but I hope you will be a much better marketer when I’m done. I’m going to take each topic and dig deeper, presenting the problem and the solution. Going into this you need to understand the key element of each of the solutions is execution. Dan Kennedy, my marketing mentor (who is interviewed in the bonus included in this month’s newsletter) preaches “good is good enough”. Another way to look at this is to say “it’s better to do something than to do nothing”. The biggest failure is to do nothing at all.

Stay tuned for future posts on this subject.

2009-12-01T09:40:00.001-05:00

I've got 8 invitations to Google Wave. People who know me - if you interested let me know.

2009-11-25T12:07:00.001-05:00

A great Tony Kornheiser show today. A tribute to Abe Pollin. If you missed it check out the podcast on itunes.

2009-11-20T14:15:00.001-05:00

In the middle of our TMTW Seminar.

2009-11-19T22:55:00.001-05:00

Still working on tomorrow's social media presentations. Two in one day. One for the chamber and one for title companies. I must be crazy.

2009-11-09T16:34:00.001-05:00

5 Reasons You're Not Getting The Referrals You Want

Virtually every professional has learned that generating referrals from clients and prospects is a key to success, yet surveys indicate that less than 15% of all salespeople and professionals generate enough referrals to impact their business. Traditional trainers have taught us to "do a good job and ask for referrals."

But by using the traditional approach, the typical professional services business will only get an occasional "referral" or two, and these tend to be just names and phone numbers, rather than qualified prospects. Even worse, this "do a good job and ask for referrals" approach creates five problems:

1. The Client Is Not Prepared To Give Referrals
By waiting until the service is complete and then asking for referrals, your client has not had an opportunity to prepare for your request. To the client, the request comes from out of the blue. When you approach your client with your request without giving him an opportunity to think about it, you put him on the spot. You are giving him only a few seconds to go through his mental file cabinet.

2. The Client Does Not Know What You Need
It may seem obvious to you, but your client has little idea of what makes a good referral for you, even if she takes a few seconds to think about it. You assume that because your practice involves a number of services for small to mid-size businesses, from management consulting, to tax preparation, to financial analysis, your client is immediately going to think, "What other companies do I know or do I do business with that might need Toms' advice and expertise?" Wrong assumption. What she actually thinks is "what does this person want from me?"

3. Your Client Does Not Have A Reason To Give Referrals
We assume that if we have done a good job, the client will like and respect us and be willing to give us referrals. Again, this is far from the case. Most clients will not give quality referrals just because they like you or because you have done a good job for them. They need a reason to give you referrals. They need to understand why it is in their best interest to give you referrals.

Clients assume that whomever they refer you to will be more demanding and critical they have been. When a client gives a referral, he is putting his reputation and image on the line with the person to whom he is referring to you. He is concerned about what his friend or acquaintance is going to think of his and his judgment, particularly if you mess up.

4. The Client Doesn't Have An Objective Standard To Measure Your Performance
The traditional referral generation method does not give the client an objective standard by which to measure the quality of your performance. You and your client may "feel" you have done a good job, but when you ask for referrals, they begin to think back over the process more critically and question whether you have really performed up to standards they believe others would find acceptable.

If the two of you agree up-front on exactly what you need to do in order to "do a good job," the client will have an objective basis to decide if she trusts you enough and if you have performed well enough to earn the right to be sent to people she really knows well and respects.

5. Most People Don't Ask For Referrals
Finally, from tracking the responses of the attendees of my seminars, it appears a majority of professionals do not ask for referrals--rather they suggest them.

Instead of asking a direct question seeking referrals such as, "John, what other business owners do you know that I may be able help solve some crucial issues?" the typical professional will make a weak suggestion such as, "John, if you happen to know someone I can help would you mind letting me know?" Or, "John, if you run across someone, who could use my services, would mind giving them my card?" Rather than a request for referrals, these are throwaway sentences, quickly forgotten by most clients.

Traditional referral training is inherently unfair to you and your client. It does not give you the tools needed to successfully work with your client to generate quality referrals, and it gives your client neither a reason to give referrals, nor a chance to become comfortable referring you to people they know and respect.

Generate The Referrals You Want

Yet, it is possible to generate a very large number of high quality referrals from your clients. You need to have a referral generation process that:

• Informs your client ahead of time that you will ask for referrals
• Lets the client know what your definition of a referral
• Educates your client on why providing referrals is in their best interests
• Provides an agreed upon objective criteria to determine your performance

By forming a process where you eliminate the problems associated with the traditional referral generating method, you will increase not only the number of referrals you receive from your clients, but also the quality of each referral.

2009-11-06T09:56:00.001-05:00

The 2 Step Method for Generating Referrals

What is the number one reason you don’t get enough referrals from your clients and prospects?

You don’t ask!

It’s that simple. You need to have a plan in place to regularly ask your clients and prospects for referrals to people who may enjoy receiving the same great service you provide to your clients or could provide to your prospects.

When should you ask for a referral? Don’t ask right after they sent you their first deal. Spend a few months thanking them for their business and developing a strong relationship with them through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping your commitments. As Stephen Covey says, make deposits in their “Emotional Bank Account” and when the time comes to ask for a referral, you can make a withdrawal from this same account. I would recommend you wait 4-6 months after the first deal, when they client knows they can depend on you and will feel comfortable recommending you to someone that trusts them.

Should I ask prospects for referrals? Sure, why not? If you have been doing a great job of communicating on a regular basis with this prospect there is nothing wrong with asking “While I know you’re happy with your current title company, would you know of anyone else who may be interested in our title services?”. Chances of receiving a referral from this prospect may be small but this very act does something else for you that often goes neglected. It positions you as a savvy marketer who does everything you can to generate business.

Positioning or posturing sets you up in a positive light with your prospect. I often receive referrals from title companies to real estate agents or mortgage lenders who are impressed with the way the title company is able to keep in touch with them on a regular basis using our sales automation system. These people know the value of keeping in touch with your prospects and clients on a regular basis and they want to emulate this title company. Your top prospects will be impressed with your efforts and may give you a referral as well as maybe send you’re their next deal due to your efforts.

In the attached exhibits you will find a good example of a letter you can use to ask your clients and prospects for a referral. When you feel it appropriate to send (in our sales automation system we usually send it after 3-4 months of thank you letters). Rarely will someone fax or mail you back a referral. But the secret to this is the follow-up phone call (as is the secret with most tactics in our industry, the phone call is where you have the connection - just like getting people to come to your seminar that we discussed in the May issue). About a week after you send the letter, follow-up with a phone call.

The script for this call is relatively simple. Start off with some small talk. Then pop the question. For current clients ask them “if the know of anyone else who would benefit from receive the great service you receive form our company”. For prospects it’s “while I know you haven’t had a chance to experience our great service, would you know of anyone else who might benefit from giving us a try”.

Whether or not they give you a referral be sure to thank them for their business or the opportunity to talk to them. If they do provide you with a referral be sure to follow-up with a thank you letter (see included exhibits). I’ve also included an introductory letter you can use to send to the prospects you have been referred to by your client or prospect.

So what is your next step? Create a list of clients you think may be able to provide you with a referral. If you feel you have a positive balance in Covey’s “Emotional Bank Account” send them the request for referral letter right away. If not, start thanking them regularly for their business. This could be with letters, phone calls, or personal meetings. Make some deposits in their “Emotional Bank Account”. After you feel you’ve made enough deposits to warrant a withdrawal go for it. Send them the letter and start the process.

I look forward to hearing from some of you on your results of this simple and easy process. The business rewards will be great!

2009-11-03T14:04:00.002-05:00

Referrals and Testimonials - What Do Your Clients Really Think?

Do you have a healthy mix of referral business and self-generated business?

A little over four years ago I was completing my master’s degree. My master’s thesis was titled “Successful Real Estate Marketing Strategies and Tactics”. Since I was working with clients in the title industry, I thought it was important I thoroughly understood one of their main target markets. (if you would like a copy of my master’s thesis, just drop me an email and I’d be glad to send it to you. I also do a seminar for agents based on the thesis. I’ve presented to real estate agents and used the presentation as a lead generation tactic for title companies. Please feel free to contact me about doing the seminar for your prospects) I had had many one-on-one conversations with agents regarding their interactions with title companies; but I never had asked them about their marketing strategies and tactics. One of the most important things I learned during the research for the thesis (and confirmed by other research) was real estate agents receive 3/4 of their business from referrals. I’m sure this is no real news to you.

I’m sure if you have a successful title business you get a large majority of your business from referrals. In our recent survey of title company marketing strategies and tactics, title companies say they get over 80% of their business from referrals. This issue of our newsletter is devoted to maximizing the number of referrals you earn and how to use testimonial to help you with your marketing efforts.

Over the next few weeks in this blog I will highlight some referral strategies. Stay tuned.

2009-10-26T10:31:00.004-04:00

Are You Road Kill on the Information Super Highway?

Have you completely lost touch with what in going on in marketing your title company in the 21st Century?

Do you want to learn how to use social media to help market your title company?

Join Us for the Title Marketing That Works Social Media Marketing University, a three seminar series on the hottest trend in marketing today, social media marketing. In these three classes you will learn everything you need to know to earn your Master’s in Social Media Marketing (MSMM).

Do you hear about Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter in the news every day? Ever wonder where the money is in these social media sensations? Could you use these tools in your business? Come to our three seminars and learn the answers to these questions and any other questions you may have on social media marketing.

Just click here to sign up for all three seminars.

2009-10-26T10:30:00.001-04:00

How Much Should Your Title Company Spend on Marketing?

Estimating the marketing portion of your budget is no easy task. It often comes under the shadow of “darned if you do and darned if you don’t.”

You will hear people say (often as a complaint) that they spend nearly 10% of their budget on marketing. Then you may hear a comment from another businessperson that he or she “got the lion’s share of the year’s business off of a $500 brochure.”

This tells you that instinct and common sense are both involved in the process of setting a marketing budget. But here are some more definitive guidelines:

• If you are a start-up, plan on spending a sizeable chunk of your budget over the first two to three years will go to marketing, especially with electronic modes added to (not replacing) the print vehicles you need to use.
• If you add trade show presence to the budget, you can expect to spend hefty bucks to have a presence that meets, perhaps exceeds, the impact of your competitors.
• Direct advertising will boost the dollars you spend but will give you the best return over the long term.
• As a start-up, plan to spend 20 to 30 percent of your budget the first year or two on activities related to marketing. It should pay off.
• If you are simply carrying on with already established (and paid for) marketing activities, 3 to 5 percent would be more realistic.
• You also need to plan to seize opportunities when they arise. That means shifting – sometimes increasing – planned expenditures for marketing activities.
• If your “marketing” category includes personnel (in sales or, for larger endeavors, for a marketing specialist), those figures are in addition to the activity-based budget. After a few years, they can actually, with some economies of time and scale, figure into that marketing percentage of budget.

Your marketing efforts – for the most part – should pay for themselves. Sure, there are some things you simply must do to establish your company’s image, your brand, etc., especially at start-up. The point of marketing is to increase business. In other words, it must be effective. It might be to your advantage to look at marketing expenditures beyond the bare necessities of establishing an image in the following way.

If I spend “X” dollars to do this activity, how much new business do I need to generate to cover the costs of doing the activity? Can I reasonably expect to turn that amount of business? Can I reasonably expect to turn more than that? How much more? New business in addition to what is needed to pay the costs of the activity is an increase in your bottom line.

2009-10-21T09:05:00.003-04:00

Unlocking the Hidden Value in Your Database

Accountants consider many elements of your business to be “assets”, including your building, equipment, cash-on-hand, and even “intellectual” capital. Success at any level of business requires maximization of the value of your assets. At a printing company, that means keeping the presses running. In a title company it may mean keeping employees busy with billable work.

While your accountant may not classify your customer database to be an “asset”, the database with your customer’s information could be one of the most valuable assets you own.

There are two ways to get more business. You can acquire new customers or get more business from your current customers. We have all read the marketing research stating that it’s much cheaper to sell to existing clients than to try to lure in new ones. Your customers know you! They don’t need to be goaded into crossing your proverbial threshold.

For many title companies, their customer database may be the most underutilized asset they own. While most title companies know they should market to their existing customers, few are successful at developing a strategy and implementing the tactics. Lack of time, lack of the proper tools (contact manager, data repository), and lack of investment are all reasons businesses may not be unlocking the value of their customer database.

All (yes, the definitive) title companies should market to their customers. The intensity that you do use your database to communicate and build relationships with your customers increases as the lifetime value (how long they keep doing business with you times how much the average customer spends with you every year) of your customer increases. If the average lifetime value of your customers is more than $10,000, which is very common in the title industry, you should start communicating with your customers right away. You are missing big business opportunities.

What can a title company do to communicate and market to current customers? There are many marketing tactics available – email, direct mail, in person or on the phone – to name a few. There are many different strategies – tell them about a new product or service you may offer, give them a discount on a particular product, ask for a referral, or just thank them for being customer. Understand that the mere act of touching them keeps you on the top of their mind. When it’s time to schedule a settlement they will come back to you.

Is your database a mess? Where should you start? Start by getting the information into a contact management application such as Act! or Goldmine (there are many others – Google “contact manager”). Even Outlook will do. Then decide your strategy – what you are going to say, how you are going to say it, who you say it to; and your tactics – direct mail, email, in person or on the phone. Businesses that faithfully commit to a database marketing strategy will see sales increases from 13% to 25% and even more.

Don’t be frustrated early in this process. In 3 months you will see some additional activity, at 6 months you will know you did the right thing, and in a year you will be hiring more people to handle the extra business.

2009-10-14T16:31:00.002-04:00

Lead Management Program

This is a article from the TMTW Elite Gold Newsletter

Lead management is the process of watching and directing the conversion of sales leads into customers. An effective lead management process establishes a clear process for handling and distributing inquiries and leads. Breakdowns in the lead management process often occur when lead generation is viewed not as an ongoing conversation but as a series of campaigns without substantive integration. The desire to seek more leads, regardless of quality, without properly managing those on hand can also impair the process. Other detriments to sound lead management include the lack of:

• An effective lead nurturing program
• An effectively utilized or well-maintained database
• Conformance with the lead generation program in general

Effectively tracking and nurturing leads are often the most challenging aspects of lead management, particularly in companies where there is little or no sales accountability. In such cases, fully 80% of sales leads that go into the black box are ever seen again.

In lead generation, tracking leads is critical to you getting the full value from your sales and marketing efforts. A company is a collection of processes. Just as you would never try to complete a settlement without having a settlement work process, marketing and sales must have a process to track and nurture leads.

Visit http://www.titlemarketingthatworks.com/demo.htm to learn more.

2009-10-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

Leveraging Cheap Database Technology to Solve Your Lead Generation Problems

What are your marketing problems? Has the recent tight market cut-off your lead flow? Are you getting less business from your current customers? Is it difficult to follow-up with your current customers and frustrating then prospects fall through the cracks due to lack of follow-up?

Whatever it is, the first thing you need to do is have a list and work that list. It’s no coincidence Real Estate agents call their list of customers and prospects their “farm”. With a good list and cheap database to manage your list you can grow your current customers and nurture your prospects and have a bumper crop. Your list will be a valuable part of your business.

You can get started here with less than $300. Just follow these next few steps and you will be on your way to solving your lead generation problems.

1. Go Online and Purchase a list. There are several sources for prospect lists. If you Google “real estate agent list” you will see several companies selling lists. You can define your list criteria demographically, by city, state, county, almost any way you would like. I recently bought a list for a client with 2700 agents (including email) for about $130. One of the same companies selling real estate agent lists also selling attorney lists. I have found the best source for mortgage lists to be infousa.com. These are the same folks who advertise on TV as “Sales Genie” prospect providers. They are more expensive than the real estate agent lists. You can also go to trade associations and purchase lists from them.

2. Put the list into a database. Having a database of your current customers and prospects can be a valuable part of the value of your business. This is well worth the time you will have to put in to do it right. If you purchase a list you will usually receive it in some format that will open in Microsoft Excel. From there you can import it into your database. You should also add all of your current and past customers. Don’t forget the box of business cards from last years real estate trade show.

For your database there are several inexpensive options. I recommend using Act! a customer relationship management database with many great features and many you may never use. Act! 2008 is available for only $99 at Costco and has a retail of $229. You can sync your Act! with Outlook. Another option is just keeping your list in Excel. Excel is a good format to do mail merge letters and mass mailings but is really tough to look things up and read the information. I know many people who use Outlook. It has many features to help you manage customer relationships.

3. Use the database to contact your current customers, past customers, and prospects. Start with your current customers. Send them a thank you letter or give them a call. Just tell them you were going through you list and just want to call and say thank you. 70% of all customer defections are due to neglect. This will stem the tide. See if you can reactivate old customers. Again, give them a call, send a letter. Remember to ask for referrals if it feels appropriate.
For contacting your prospects (the list you just bought) I recommend sending three introductory letters over a two week period and then follow up with a phone call. The letters will “warm-up” the prospect with some information about your company. You can include a small but distinctive gift in the envelope to get their attention and make your letter more memorable. I will send all OLTA readers three introductory letter examples. Just email me at cripley@smg2.com for your free letters.

Act! can do mail merges (merging your list or parts of your list into a single letter to do a mass mailing) to print tens or hundreds of the same letter. You can do this with Excel and Word but segmenting your list is more difficult.

If you follow these three steps, I guarantee you will get new business from your efforts. Make a commitment to spend time executing these steps. Don’t miss a week. Schedule some time on your calendar to focus on marketing activity and don’t miss it.

2009-08-04T17:07:00.002-04:00

After a little work I've got all of my Title Marketing That Works social media marketing sites up and running and ready to share with you.

While I've always tried to be a leader in new marketing strategies and tactics for title companies and other businesses, it has taken me a little while to sort out what works and what doesn't in the Web 2.0/Social Media Marketing world.

From Wikipedia - "Web 2.0" refers to the second generation of web development and web design. It is characterized as facilitating communication, information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web.

We hear about Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis on the radio or television and from our kids, spouse, or friends. Is it really worth your time to use these tools to help your business by finding new customers and keeping to ones you have? Or are they just tools to suck up your valuable time and meet up with old high school classmates?

I also have the added incentive in learning about these marketing tools for a class that I teach at the University of Phoenix - Media and Advertising. Our last section is devoted to Web 2.0 and Social Media.

I'm going to give you a brief idea of each of these sites. If you want to learn more we will be having a FREE seminar in September where we will give you much more information.

Maybe now would be a good time to open an account on LinkedIn and get started. I recommend LinkedIn as a good place to start. I can be your first connection.

I've prepared a short video to show you how to set up your LinkedIn account. Just click here to go to the video.

Please feel free to call me with any social media questions you may have.

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social media site for adults. There are over 250 million users. Facebook can be used for personal as well as business communications. I know several title companies that use Facebook to nurture current clients and prospects. I would like to invite you join us on Facebook just search "Title Marketing That Works" and become a fan of our page. We already have 50 fans.

LinkedIn

I feel LinkedIn offers the greatest opportunity to generate leads, nurture prospects, and nurture clients. Everything on LinkedIn is business. There are no photos of the new baby or the cruise. While joining is easy and free there are also a couple of pay levels as well. I would recommend a new user to start with the free level and grow into the $24.95 a month level. Join the “Title Company Marketers” group in LinkedIn.

Twitter

The jury is still out on my opinion of Twitter as a tool to market your title company. I recently spent 3 hours at a seminar about Twitter and the speaker got quite annoyed when pressed by a student as to how Twitter can help her business.

The point he was trying to make was Twitter is completely about relationships. And if you are interested in sharing your sometimes personal Tweets with the world or a certain subset then use it. I'm not sure you will generate any leads but it may be a good tool to develop relationships with your best customers.

Active Rain

I have the least experience with Active Rain. Active Rain is a real estate services business network. There are lots of real estate agents and mortgage lenders there. There are over 5,00 title company people already.

You should definitely be there. You get points that increase your visibility as you make posts to your blog. As a title company you may make blog posts with title company tips for real estate agents or mortgage companies. There are plenty of posts about how to use Active Rain. Start by checking one of those blogs out.

2009-06-03T14:20:00.001-04:00

There is an online demo of the TMTW Sales Automation System tomorrow at 2pm EDT. Visit: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=177297 to sign up.

2009-06-03T14:19:00.001-04:00

Seem like I've hit the wall again. I've made my home page for my browser my blog now so hopefully that will hit me over the head and get me to do more posts on the blog.

2009-05-13T16:57:00.001-04:00

Doing some research on Web 2.0. I'm hoping the article will become a seminar for title companies and also for local businesses.

2009-05-12T23:15:00.002-04:00

Nailta - National Association of Independent Land Title Agents - should we say "nailta"?

This new groups of independent title agents is meeting on May 17th in Atlantic City. Visit www.nailta.org to learn much more. I didn't re-up for ALTA this year as I felt small associate members were not being served. I'm looking forward to getting involved in this group. I've already sent my membership fee in and I've signed up to attend the meeting. I hope to see you there.

2009-05-12T22:19:00.002-04:00

Here we go...

At 10:17pm tonight I decided it was time to do the blog.

I'm going to take the time to get this going. I'm Chris Ripley, developer of the Title Marketing That Works (TMTW) system for marketing and bsuiness development. For almost five years I have help title companies increase their sales and market their business. I've worked with over 250 different title companies, from 3 person offices to 12 marketing people in another office.

I've done one-to-one consulting gigs with 3 person shops to one title mortgage company with 31 representatives. We've developed direct mail pieces, banner ads, events, and other marketing tactics for title companies, one hosting 42 m,ortgage lenders at a mortgage marketing seminar presented for a consulting client.

We also help title companies automate their marketing efforts. The Title Marketing That Wroks Sales Automation System (TMTWSAS) is a PC based marketing sutomation system. You can automate your lead generation, prospect nurturing, and client nurturing efforts, spending less time and getting better results.

TMTW also produces a wide variety of marketing education products for title companies. Live and recorded seminars plus the TMTW Monthly Marketing Newsletter (419 month) are the main products we offer. From the popular 30 Day Title Company Marketing Makeover and the comprehensive "Title Marketing for Settlement Officers" bring customers our tested solutions to you for the fraction of the price of the other products we offer.

You can learn much more about Title Marketing That Works at www.titlemarketingthatworks.com

I'm going to post here 2-3 times a week and also answer your questions. You can join us and post you own question or email me at cripley@smg2.com and I will post your question and hopefully provide you and the other readers.

So here we go. I said I would have this blog going by 12 midnight and I'm somewhat done and it's only 10:39.

Our next topic to discuss will be "Using Social Networks in Your Marketing: Web 2.0". If you have any specific questions on this topic follow the instructions above to get it to me.

Hooray!

2006-05-13T12:29:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Title Marketing That Works Blog