With the recent rise of renewable energy, it’s not surprising that the solar business has quickly become one of the fastest growing industries in the US. More and more people are buying into the idea of clean, renewable energy, while also noticing the potential savings of going solar. 

Exciting as this may be, solar companies of all sizes are at risk of being left behind in this supply and demand surge. Using Shape Software such as Shape Solar CRM to manage your clientele will always be necessary, but don’t disregard the first step of the process—generating leads. With a growing number of competitors in the solar industry, the ability to identify qualified leads and work them through your sales funnel has become more important than ever. In this post, we’ll probe into the solar industry and the importance of using lead generation marketing to acquire qualified leads, as well as how to choose the best lead generation service for your target audience.

The Growing Solar Industry

Massive industry growth can be a double-edged sword for both small and large businesses alike. Since 2012, the number of solar related jobs more than doubled, crowding the market for both the purchase of solar panels and the hiring of solar installation. From the buyer’s perspective, this rapid increase in supply is fantastic. As solar businesses see more competition, consumers gain more options to choose from—leading to better products sold for less. This, in turn, also leads to more customers in the market.

From the company’s perspective, they see both an increase in buyers and an increase in competitors—hence the “double-edged sword”. Any solar company that remains static during this time is at risk of losing customers—both old and new—and falling behind in this solar energy gold rush. Intimidating as that sounds, companies that adapt to this growth can capitalize on this influx of new consumers, cementing themselves as a giant in the industry. 

So, besides having a good product, how does one take advantage of this situation? Put simply, you need to be actively gaining customers while also maintaining past ones. And the best way to do that? 

Acquire qualified leads by motivating potential customers to approach you through lead generation marketing.

The Importance of Lead Generation for Your Solar Businesses

Although you should be actively pursuing customers as well, getting consumers to reach out to your business is the ideal situation for any sales team. This is why lead generation marketing, commonly referred to as lead gen marketing, has become increasingly popular in not just solar marketing, but the industry as a whole.  

Before we address lead gen in the solar industry, let’s first look at some general statistics regarding the benefits of lead generation marketing:

• Only 18% of marketers believe outbound marketing methods produce quality leads 

• On average, cold calling only produces 1% of paying customers 

• Almost 80% of marketers noticed an increase in both leads and conversions when using automated marketing software

• Nurtured leads spend 47% more per purchase/contract compared to non-nurtured leads

Lead gen marketing eliminates the need for outbound marketing through the use of automated marketing software, which aids in the nurturing of new leads through your marketing funnels. 

There are various implementations of lead gen, however the general process revolves around potential consumers contacting you. Once a lead enters your marketing funnel, proper lead gen marketing should gently reinforce your product, guiding them to the end of your funnel and prompting them to contact your sales team. 

To better understand the idea of lead generation, here is a very simplified walkthrough of what goes on during the process:

1. The consumer discovers your brand or product (becomes a new lead) either through your marketing channel or the marketing channel of a hired agency. This includes exposure from social media accounts, posts from relevant blogs, and any visits to your websites, both organic and direct. 

2. The lead is then marketed at and directed through various mean towards some sort of call-to-action button (CTA), which is often an image, button, or link. When clicked, the CTA should send the consumer towards a landing page where they can learn more about your product or your industry, which in this case would be solar.

3. On the landing page, the visitor should be prompted to fill out a contact form to schedule a call/email. This page often has some sort of “deal”, further encouraging the visitor to fill out the form.

Again, this is an extremely simplified explanation, however this hopefully shows how the lead generation process emphasizes the nurturing of leads over time. Through constant exposure and communication, lead gen excels at turning someone from being interested in solar to committed to solar.

The Challenge of Generating New Leads in the Solar Industry

As mentioned, the beginning of most lead gen processes start by generating a new lead through some type of marketing channel. The difficulty of this step will vary depending on your industry and company size, but for solar specific lead gen this step is often the hardest. There are a couple different reasons for this, but the most notable and impactful is the oversaturation of solar suppliers in the market. 

Right now, the profit margin for solar suppliers and installers is through the roof, and people have taken note of this. The demand cannot keep up with the current supply, and leads are becoming scarce. Even industry giants such as SolarReviews and EnergySage—who spend millions each year on content and marketing—only generate a couple hundred new leads a day throughout the country. 

Of course, you could try running ads for your solar company yourself, however this is not advised. In general, new and inexperienced marketers with a small budget are essentially forced to spend more money per ad compared to companies like SolarReviews and EnergySage. The main reason behind this, put simply, is that social media platforms and search engines charge less per ad the more successful it is. Because of this, having more experience and a larger budget allows you to create, target, and A/B test your ads much more efficiently, reducing the cost of your ad over time.

Outside of marketing campaigns, a significant number of leads are produced through organic traffic to websites via search engines like Google. In general, larger companies such as SolarReviews and EnergySage have a much higher Google Domain Authority than smaller competitors, allowing them to rank higher for solar related searches. This means that when a potential lead searches “best solar companies” on Google, they will likely see SolarReviews or EnergySage on the first page of the results. Overall, appearing on the first page of any search result greatly increases organic traffic to your website, however this can be near impossible for smaller companies with poor search engine optimization.

Why You Should Hire Someone for Your Lead Generation Marketing

It should be clear by now why generating leads on your own can be challenging, and yet that is only the beginning of the lead gen process. Even if you manage to secure leads on your own, you still need an experienced team of marketers to manage the constant interactions and moving parts commonly seen in most lead gen strategies.

For example, popular lead gen agencies in the solar industry turn new leads into solar qualified leads by doing the following 24/7:

• Contacting leads as soon as they generate, including text messages, phone calls, and emails

• Nurturing leads for up to 6 months, assuring that no potential leads are lost or neglected

• Qualifying leads by presenting them valuable information about solar energy, while also asking clarifying questions to determine if solar installation can work for their home/business

• Booking on-site appointments for you sales team, allowing them to focus only on potential buyers with the highest chance of converting

If your marketing team is capable of generating the initial leads, large enough to handle this workload, and experienced enough to manage these interactions, then you may be able to perform this lead gen process without hiring an agency. But for those that don’t fulfill these requirements, outsourcing your lead generation to a marketing agency that specializes in solar leads is strongly recommended, as it will save you money, time, and effort.

Outsourcing Saves You Money

Ironically, outsourcing your lead gen marketing will often save your company money compared to developing an in-house team. To understand this, consider the costs of creating your own in-house lead gen team:

• Paying salary/wage for each team member, including benefits if they apply

• Paying for the training of new members

• Paying for necessary equipment, which could include software, computers, company phones

• Paying overhead costs such as rent for office space

These costs add up, as opposed to the singular cost of an outsourced agency.

Outsourcing Saves You Time

If you’ve never managed a marketing team before, there is a good chance you may fail to realize how much time and effort must be committed to ensure success.

For the marketers, a significant amount of time needs to be spent researching and strategizing their lead gen campaign. The amount of time needed for this can range from a few weeks to a couple months, depending on the experience of your team. This may seem unnecessary, but in marketing you often spend more time figuring out the correct approaches than anything else. 

Over time, this lead gen process should become much more efficient. Your team should accumulate experience dealing with solar lead gen, which ideally will translate to less time spent planning and analyzing their strategies. But this could take a while, and if your team has a high turnover rate this may never come to fruition. 

By outsourcing, you get access to an experienced team of marketers from the beginning, who already have knowledge about the solar industry.   

Spend Less Effort Managing 

The lead generation process is by no means simple, so you will definitely spend a significant amount of effort managing your in-house team. 

To start, you must undergo the hiring process, as well as supply training to those you hire. Then, because you are adding a new team to your business, you will most likely need to create or expand the HR department to accommodate the new hires. Lead generation generally uses some form of computer software, so you will need to provide and maintain the necessary equipment for your team. And last but not least, you will need to constantly monitor the results of their campaigns, which can be relatively complex compared to evaluating a single agency.

All of these hassles would be avoided by simply outsourcing your lead generation.

What to Look for When Choosing an Agency

For the solar industry, there are two main things you need to look for when choosing a marketing agency: the type of leads they provide and the space they target.

Understand Who They Target

First and foremost, make sure the agency specializes in solar lead gen. This should be obvious, but every lead gen company works in different fields. Once you found someone who focuses on solar leads, you then need to understand who they prefer to target. 

For solar companies, sales happen in one of two areas: residential or commercial. Residential sales happen more frequently than commercial, but commercial sales are generally much larger. Because of this distinct difference, some solar companies focus their marketing efforts on just one of those two groups—and the same can be said for marketing agencies. 

In marketing, there are two areas as well: B2B and B2C. B2B refers to marketing a product or service to another business, while B2C dictates marketing towards regular consumers. From the perspective of a solar business, B2B can be seen as “commercial” and B2C can be seen as “residential”. 

With this in mind, if your solar company specifically sells or installs solar panels for commercial use, an agency that specializes in B2B marketing should be who you hire, and vice versa. 

Getting the Correct Leads

In marketing, there are several different types of leads. New leads, working leads, nurturing leads, unqualified leads, and qualified leads are a few common types that marketing agencies often work with. Without going into too much detail about each individual lead type, just know that an ideal lead provider should be supplying your sales team with qualified leads.

When a lead becomes qualified, this essentially tells your sales team that there is a much higher chance of converting that lead into a sale (compared to others). These leads have either shown an interest in your niche (which in this case would be solar) or have interacted with your brand (social media, ads, website visits). 

As nice as a qualified lead sounds, each one requires a fair amount of effort to generate. Marketing agencies that rush through the lead generation process or buy bulk lists of solar leads from lead distributors should be avoided. They might supply your sales team with leads, however most of these will be a waste of time and money.

No marketing team is perfect, and not every lead you receive will be qualified. Just try to make sure whatever agency you choose operates with your best interest in mind.

If You Use CRM Software, Make Sure it Integrates with the Lead Gen Software

This should be obvious, but make sure your CRM software can integrate with the marketing software used by your lead gen agency. CRM software, such as Shape Solar CRM, work best when they have access to the most data/sales points. If the software your hired agency uses does not integrate with your CRM, you will be losing out on some of the benefits a CRM can provide. 

In general, most CRM’s should be designed to integrate with all types of marketing software, but it never hurts to make sure before you commit to an agency.

Best Solar Lead Gen Agencies 

Now that you have a general idea of what you should be looking for, here is a list of a few popular solar lead generation agencies available:

1. SolarExclusive.com

SolarExclusive provides lead generation marketing for solar businesses of all sizes. Because their entire focus is solar, they have accumulated a plethora of industry experience that contributes to their success in lead generation. SolarExclusive will both provide leads to your sales team and filter out unqualified leads, however they prioritize the supply of leads rather than the nurturing process.

One of the strong points of SolarExclusive is their emphasis on organization. They use a proprietary booking system synched with your calendar to schedule appointments between you and your qualified leads. These pre-set appointments give your sales team an ample amount of time to prepare for each lead, while also allowing SolarExclusive to ensure your potential buyer is fully educated about the solar industry. In general, this process helps your sales team stay organized and prepared for future leads.

Strengths:

• Entire focus is solar industry

• Leads are exclusive to you

• Scales well with a growing business

• Possess authentic and up-to-date homeowner information

• Filter out unqualified leads

2. CleanEneregyExperts.com

CleanEnergyExperts (CEE) is a lead generator focusing solely on the solar industry. In contrast with verse.io, CEE foregoes some of the nurturing process to concentrate almost entirely on generating the initial lead. To be clear, CEE does provide standard quality control with their leads, as they assure their clients only receive leads showing interest in either their business or the solar industry. Their strength, however, is in the number of leads they produce for your company, which they achieve by combining their brand recognition with their years of industry experience. Through the use of affiliate marketing and social media ad campaigns, CEE can cover a wide range of potential buyers while filtering location. From this, they determine which leads should go to your business depending on location, intent, and brand awareness.

Strengths:

• Precise geo-filtering

• Real-time lead delivery

• Exclusive leads

• 24/7 availability

• Highly experienced in the solar industry

3. Verse.io

Verse.io is a marketing agency that can specialize in lead generation for the solar industry, although they also work in the mortgage and real estate field. Unlike the others on this list, verse.io does not offer any services that will generator leads for you. Instead, they focus solely on the nurturing aspect of lead generation, ensuring that any lead that comes to your sales team will be 100% qualified with a high chance of conversion. 

More so than anything else, verse.io emphasizes their ability to support 24/7 lead coverage with both AI and human communication. Most agencies that provide lead generation claim to cover leads 24/7, but they do this strictly through automated messaging systems and AI. Verse.io provides in-person lead coverage 24/7, which greatly increases the likelihood of a lead converting. In addition to this, verse.io also nurtures both responsive and unresponsive leads, while also supporting omnichannel communication depending on the preference of the lead.

So if you’re looking for an all-in-one lead provider for your solar business, verse.io probably isn’t for you, but for those who already have a proper marketing funnel, verse.io is highly recommended. 

Strengths:

• 24/7 lead coverage

• Use both human and AI

• Nurture both responsive and unresponsive leads

• Communicate however the lead wants to

• Great customer service

4. SolarReviews.com

As one of the heavyweights in the solar lead business, SolarReviews is a great option for directly purchasing solar leads. Although their service can be pricier than other lead gen agencies, their leads are high quality and often have the highest chance of converting into a sale. The key to SolarReviews’ lead gen is their use of organic traffic along with PPC advertising to generate leads. Not only are they experienced with solar lead advertising, but their website has a high Google Domain Authority in the solar industry, allowing their website to receive a large amount of organic search traffic every day. Then to make their lead gen even better, they also require phone number verification for every lead they receive and manually vet all leads that are eligible for being sold. All-in-all, SolarReviews ensures that their leads are qualified for the solar industry.

Strengths:

• Does not require any marketing from your company

• Leads are high quality

• Very informative website

• Highly experienced in the solar industry

• Will manually vet leads

5. RGRMarketing.com

With close to 20 years of experience with lead gen, RGRMarketing is a trusted lead generator in the solar industry. Similar to Verse.io, RGRMarketing focuses on the process of qualifying new leads produced by your marketing channel, as opposed to providing leads on their own. Although this may be a problem for those with underperforming marketing channels, RGRMarketing will help your business reform your marketing channels and get them producing new leads on their own. 

The lead qualifying process RGRMarketing uses starts with a lead capture forms integrated into your marketing channels. Once a lead fills out a form, it will automatically be reviewed by RGRMarketing software to determine whether it passes as a qualified lead. If the lead gets approved, it then is sent to your sales team for immediate follow-up. So far, this process is fairly industry standard. Where RGRMarketing breaks away from the rest is their review of leads that don’t pass the automatic review. Leads that aren’t spam yet still didn’t meet the requirements are manually reviewed by members of RGRMarketing, ensuring that no quality leads slip through their process. 

Strengths:

• Provide qualified leads

• Leads are unique to your business

• Improve your marketing channel

• Tailor leads to your business objectives

6. EnergySage.com

Technically speaking, EnergySage does not qualify as a lead generator in the same way the other companies on this list are. They are not a marketing agency for hire, but instead a website that allows potential solar buyers (leads) to receive quotes from a list of pre-screened solar installers. Essentially, EnergySage is a place for both solar installers and potential solar buyers to aggregate, which can produce leads for your business. 

Note: To be listed on EnergySage, you must meet their solar installer qualifications.  

Strengths:

• Leads come to you

• Leads are relatively cheap

• High volume

• Leads should be educated about solar

7. Modernize.com

Modernize is a well-respected lead generator specializing in home improvement leads, such as home remodels, roofing, HVAC, and solar installation. They produce your leads through their own digital marketing channels, using their wide-spread coverage of the home improvement niche to reach a far greater audience than other lead providers. The downside to this is that they don’t specialize exclusively in solar leads, however every lead they generate is fully qualified, so this should not be a major issue.

In terms of service, Modernize has everything a lead gen provider should offer. They emphasize seamless communication between them and their clients, as they provide each client a partner manager for easy 1-on-1 discussions. Their lead gen software is designed to integrate with CRM software, which helps the transfer of information from one side to another. For the leads, once qualified they are instantly delivered to your sales team, allowing for immediate follow-up for better conversion. Overall, Modernize is a solid choice for anyone looking for solar lead gen services.

Strengths:

• Flexible pricing plans

• 1-on-1 partner manager

• CRM integration

• Provides qualified leads

• Homeowner feedback

   

  Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/the-importance-of-crm-integration-with-encompass-los-6ff7y

The mortgage industry is not for lazy performers. In fact, loan originators often work harder than anyone else to achieve their goals. 

But to become successful in this industry, working harder isn’t always enough. It’s about working in the right direction. 

And who knows better about helping you achieve your goals than mortgage coaches, who’ve been there and done it all? 

The mortgage industry boasts dozens of experienced coaches and trainers. The problem is, how do you pick a good coach? When there are more mortgage coaches in the market than ever before, how do you find the one that can really help you bring your mortgage business to the next level? 

In this article, we’ve curated a well-vetted list of premier mortgage coaches who don’t simply preach success to others—they actually did the work themselves first. 

We’ll dive deep into the unique strengths of their coaching programs, so you can decide who will bring you the most value for your business.

Here are the best mortgage coaching programs worth your time and commitment.

#1. Mortgage Champions with Dale Vermillion

Mortgage Champions was founded by Dale Vermillion, a leading mortgage industry trainer, speaker, and consultant. Over the course of 25 years, Dale and his company have trained more than 1 million loan originators and consulted more than 600 organizations.

Mortgage Champions currently provides three distinct training solutions to address the specific needs of teams of different sizes.

Saleslyft is a sales-focused fast-track program for small companies with up to 12 members that equips teams with a proven and systematic approach to sales in just under 4 hours. The program costs $249 and contains a library of tips, techniques and strategies that you can instantly start using to enhance your sales process. 

Saleslyft is available online and can be accessed from any device on-demand within 30 days of purchase. Plus, the program actively uses gamification to make the learning experience engaging and increase your knowledge retention.

MC Onlineis a training solution for bigger teams that want to improve their performance across several dimensions and includes modules for sales training, new hires onboarding, process-based management, operational performance, and service. 

The program aims at systematic improvement of team performance by establishing effective processes and workflows that will grow your business for years. 

Enterpriseconsulting addresses the particular challenges of enterprise clients and largely involves Dave's personal consulting and experience as both an ex-C-suite level mortgage manager and trusted consultant for several hundreds enterprises.   

Pros:

• Variety of online, on-premise, and hybrid programs

• Strong focus on sales and crisis management

• Vast C-level consulting experience

• Specific role-based training modules for new hires, service workers, and management

Pricing: 

• $249 per learner for Saleslyft

• $899 for Mortgage Champions Online™ 6-week program

• Individual pricing for enterprise consulting

#2. CORE Training by Rick Ruby

Rick Ruby, Reeta Casey, and Todd Scrima founded CORE Training back in 2001. Since then, their program has become one of the most referred training programs for loan originators.

The program focuses primarily on keeping mortgage professionals accountable for their success and provides trainees with a plan, accountability partner, community, and competitive environment.

CORE Training has three levels of loan officer coaching. 

Level 1, or entry level, is a 12-month commitment program that includes an elaborate plan and access to group coaching sessions. The program also pairs trainees with accountability partners from CORE’s wide network of experienced mortgage professionals who guide Level 1 participants through instructional videos and audios.

The Level 1 program promises to double your mortgage business and contains a 12-step approach aimed at elevating agent’s performance:

• Step 1. Initial Contact

• Step 2. Tracking and Knowing Your Numbers

• Step 3. Basic Lists and Target Marketing

• Step 4. Building Rapport

• Step 5. Basic Organization

• Step 6. Basic Time Blocking

• Step 7. Mastering the Close  

• Step 8. Reading and Mastering Guidelines

• Step 9. Basic Setting Up and Turning in a Great File

• Step 10. Basic Follow Up

• Step 11. Psychology & Emotion of the Business

• Step 12. Goal Setting and Business Planning

To access Level 2 and Level 3 coaching tiers you need to meet income requirements and visit the Summit event that is regularly held by CORE. At these levels you get access to top producing mortgage and real estate coaches, greater accountability plans, and devoted Facebook groups.

Pros:

• Strong “DO IT” mentality

• Individual performance boost

• Community events for networking opportunities

Pricing: 

• Level 1 coaching costs $500 per month

#3. High Trust Coaching with Todd Duncan 

High Trust Coaching was founded by Todd Duncan, an award-winning trainer and consultant with almost three decades of experience in the mortgage industry. Todd Duncan is also the author behind the New York Times bestseller High Trust Selling: Make More Money In Less Time with Less Stress.

The coaching features three different levels:

Producer Level Coaching focuses on elevating productivity for loan officers through business discipline and measurable results. It includes bi-weekly coaching calls, a performance dashboard tracking system and also grants discounts to High Trust events. 

Master Level Coaching is designed for accomplished loan originators, branch managers, and team leaders and focuses on strategies to build long-term scalable business. The coaching level also grants access to quarterly master classes from Todd Duncan.

Elite Level Coaching is a one-year membership for a small selection of qualified candidates. The coaching is designed and curated by Todd Duncan and covers high-end areas of business development such as market share growth, self-leadership, management of high performance sales teams, and brand development. 

Pros:

• A selection of programs for both entry-level LO’s and established mortgage professionals

• Strong focus on measurable results and self-accountability

• Custom enterprise solutions

Pricing:

• Flexible pricing model: several hundred dollars for entry programs and thousands of dollars for elite coaching

#4. Building Champions with Daniel Harkavy

Building Champions coaching has a sharp focus on leadership training and mentorship. The case studies mostly revolve around helping companies establish highly performing teams, strengthen their cultures, and overcome particular enterprise-level challenges. 

The coaching has a wide roster of executive-level mentors and coaches with unique skills, and you’re free to select any coach to address the specific needs of your company -- from crisis management and professional growth to effective communication and mission development. 

Currently, there are six coaching options available with Building Champions:

• Leadership coaching

• Small business coaching

• Executive coaching

• CEO mentor

• Focused 360 coaching

• Mortgage leadership coaching

Mortgage leadership coaching programs include customized team experiences for better team alignment and on-site workshops for bringing the training to your team.

Pros:

• Sharp focus on building leadership skills and strengthening high-performance company culture

• A wide selection of C-level coaches

Pricing:

• Customized proposal for every organization

#5. Performance Experts with Tim Braheem

Tim Braheem entered the mortgage industry in 1992 and since then has been recognized several times as one of the top fifty producing loan originators in the US. 

His coaching company, Performance Experts, offers coaching programs for both loan originators and team leaders. 

Performance Excelerator is a 12-month program that pairs trainees with an experienced coach, providing tips and best practices from top industry producers while granting quarterly access to Tim Braheem. 

Leadership 360 is a one year long business and life coaching program that provides accountability and support for building both sustainable business and transforming life experience. The program is exclusive to only 9 members a year. 

Referral Partner Success is a fully online step-by-step program offering insight and advice on building deep relationships with partners and growing your business through referrals. 

Team Workshop Mastery is a two-day workshop aimed at training high performing teams by unveiling team dysfunctions, facilitating effective team communications, and aligning team members around shared goals. 

Pros:

• Cohesive approach to transforming both business and life experiences

• One of the top producing loan originators in the states as a head coach

Pricing:

• $899 for online Referral Partner Success program

• $3,495 for Team Workshop Mastery

#6. 20/20 Vision For Success with Christine Beckwith

Christine Beckwith is an award-winning coach with a long history of success in the mortgage industry as both a top producing loan officer and experienced executive manager of a national fintech platform. 

She’s a wealth of practical knowledge on all types of topics ranging from mortgage marketing to the future of disruptive tech in this industry.

Christine’s company, 20/20 Vision for Success Coaching, offers sales-accelerating coaching programs designed to help participants develop successful strategies for increased sales, expanded networking, and superior execution. 

Currently, Vision for Success has three distinct coaching programs:

Gold Sales Accelerator is a 12-month coaching program that includes a full virtual training curriculum, one-hour coaching session per month, live support training and advanced quarterly sales classes. 

The Elite Platinum Sales program includes everything from Gold Sales Accelerator as well as at least one hour long coaching session monthly, accountability checks with Christine, virtual training for up to five, and access to a Mastermind group with peer participants.20/20 Vision Elite Division provides top industry leaders with coaching on business scaling expertise, leadership, sales, and marketing. The program also includes custom events for participants.

Pros:

• Sharp focus on sales excellence from both an individual and technological perspective

• Christine is deeply involved in all coaching programs to ensure a successful outcome

Pricing:

• Available upon request

#7. Mortgage Marketing Coach with Doran Aldana

Doran Aldana is the lead coach and founder of Mortgage Marketing Coach, a personalized mentor-style coaching program that aims to help mortgage professionals close more deals regardless of market conditions.

What sets Doran’s program apart from many other training programs is his strong focus on marketing techniques and measurable outcomes. 

His coaching revolves around high-impact modern marketing solutions developed specifically for the mortgage industry-- and for three consecutive years he’s been awarded the “Best Service Provider” title by Canadian Mortgage Awards. 

To achieve best results, Doran partners with his clients as a mentor and aims to achieve measurable results in income growth or market share growth for every partner.

Pros:

• Highly-impactful individual mentorship for mortgage professionals

• Focus on modern marketing solutions and strategies

• Strong focus on the revenue growth outcome

#8. AMPLIFII by Rene Rodriguez

Rene Rodriguez is a keynote speaker and a world-class sales expert with a history of advising leadership teams at Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Bank of America. Additionally, he’s been named in the 40 under 40 list for 7 years straight.

Over the years, Rene and his company, Volentum, have trained over 100,000 people in behavioral psychology to tackle some of the toughest challenges in leadership, sales, and change. 

Yet AMPLIFII, Rene’s workshop, is not your typical mortgage training program and Rene Rodriguez won’t be teaching you how to prospect or follow up on your leads. 

Throughout a three-day masterclass, Rene teaches small groups of professionals how to become more powerful presenters, communicators, and influencers. 

The masterclass helps mortgage professionals easily present their ideas in public, strike a chord with their clients from the get-go, and become inspiring leaders for their teams. 

Pros:

• A fast-track to becoming a powerful presented and negotiator

• An extremely personal approach with a small group of participants

• Acquired ability to present ideas under huge stress

Pricing: 

• $4,995 for a three-day event

#9. Personal Coaching with Dan Trinidad 

Dan Trinidad is a 30-year mortgage industry veteran and a CEO of a highly successful company in Partners Mortgage.

A large part of Dan’s coaching strategy involves sharing his personal triumphs in turning around bad luck and establishing several successful businesses in the highly competitive mortgage industry. 

He offers personal coaching and consulting services to mortgage professionals, helping them get unstuck, recover from loss, and achieve lasting success through growing profitable and meaningful business. 

Pros:

• A one-on-one mentorship with one of the most successful industry practitioners

• Great fit for agents recovering from personal and professional losses

#10. XINNIX System with Casey Cunningham 

Simply put, there are very few things that Casey Cunningham didn’t do throughout her 30-year-long career in retail mortgage banking.

Casey has served as Executive Vice President of a $4 billion mortgage company, was named one of the Top Female Entrepreneurs by Atlanta Woman Magazine, and won yearly awards with the National Association of Women in Real Estate Business.

She’s also a national keynote speaker and the founder of one of America’s most acclaimed mortgage sales and leadership training academies in XINNIX.

The XINNIX coaching program features two training options:

The Performance Training Option includes multi-week performance programs with business development strategies, program specific accountability, and access to dedicated performance specialists throughout the program.

The Performance Coaching Option is a 6-month or 12-month coaching, training, and accountability program aimed at helping you find the unique strengths of your business and scale them to grow your success.

Pros:

• Unique training methodology to unveil your strengths and play on them in achieving successful results

• A wide array of supporting leadership, conversion, and performance-boosting modules for all-around training experience

Choose The Right Mortgage Coaching Program For Your Mortgage Business

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all training program. Having choices is crucial when it comes to deciding on the best mortgage coaching program for your business. Take time to think deeply about what you really want to happen in your business and find the coach and program that’s a genuine fit for your team.

Once you’ve gotten the coaching, our platform makes it easy to do the rest. Shape CRM will help your agents consistently follow up on their leads, automate routine, non-revenue generating tasks, and address compliance issues before they start affecting your bottom line.If you want to see what a well-optimized mortgage CRM can do for your business, sign up for our 14-day free trial today!

Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/mortgage-coaching

Loan officers and mortgage teams looking to simplify and supercharge their end-to-end workflows in this new digital mortgage era have a powerful combo in their toolkit—Shape Software (CRM) with it’s digital Point of Sale (POS)!

Now, more than ever, lending teams need adaptive and efficient tech that improves their workflow and simplifies the day-to-day admin. Borrowers are wading through historic changes in both the economy and market, and you need tools that can help you nurture prospects on the fence and keep relationships going with existing clients. 

Shape CRM + Customer Portal does this and so much more. 

With this powerful combo in your tech stack you can eliminate countless other costly software tools and instead rely on an industry leader to simplify your origination and mortgage processes in this new landscape where speed and building relationships is key!

Meet Your New Workflow…

With the Shape Software Customer Portal addition, you’ll get access to the ultimate mortgage POS and CRM automation workflow all in one solution. Using this best-in-class combo, loan originators can now seamlessly offer a secure document management system directly within Shape to maintain all important borrower documentation and correspondence in a single location.

No more tabbing between systems, no more manual data entry and exporting—just a simple, compliant, and easy process every single time. In a world where everyday seems unpredictable, rely on Shape to consistently deliver an amazing experience for you and your clients.

Other Benefits Include:

• Secure Customer Portal

• Document Hub

• File Request and Task Management

•  Milestone and Status Updates

• Marketing Automation Tools

• Appointment Manager

• In-App Chat and Instant Messaging 

• Click-to-Call Dialing 

• Text Messaging 

• Task Scheduling, Automation and Activity Logs

• Analytic Reporting

• Customizations and API

• E-signature

   

  Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/adapt-attract-convert-with-shape-floify

Loan officers and mortgage teams looking to simplify and supercharge their end-to-end workflows have a new combo in their toolkit—Shape Software now offers a digital Point of Sale (POS) and mortgage automation solution.

With the Shape Customer Portal, loan originators can automate their mortgage processes and manage their lead & customer database while offering a secure document management system directly within Shape to maintain all important borrower documentation and correspondence in a single location. 

Benefits of Shape’s Customer Portal

• Create new leads from loan applications

• Get online 1003 applications

• Provide a secure customer portal to borrowers

• Synchronize uploaded documentation

• View all communication

• Trigger Shape notifications when loan milestones are reached

No more tabbing between systems, no more manual data entry and exporting - the Shape Portal is going to be a game changer for not just your clients but your lending teams, too! 

Ready to add the Shape Portal to your Shape account?

About Shape Software

Shape Software is the only sales, marketing, and CRM automation tool designed for lenders as an end-to-end solution to take your team from pre-loan through post-close. Close more deals than ever before with Shape's intelligent lead distribution and scoring features, build and send secure online documents in a click, manage and assign tasks to your team, get a complete suite of sales pipeline and marketing automation features like drip emails, newsletters, and SMS, generate custom reporting on any metric imaginable, and so much more. Try Shape free for 14 days and experience the difference!

Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/shape-software-floify

Automation has changed the mortgage industry for good. But is it for the better?

As a mortgage originator actively closing business in 2020, you know there are some things on the backend you could probably be handling better—but who really has time to plan, execute and update their existing workflows?

For better or worse, automation does take time… at least, in the beginning. But there is good news, with the right systems in place, you can multiply the number of clients you serve, raise the quality of your services, and close loans faster without hiring additional staff. 

And the best part? Setting up just one effective automation process today, will continue to help grow your business for years to come. 

But there is a catch: the mortgage business is a zero-sum game. If someone closes more loans with automation, someone else closes less.

That’s why it’s paramount to invest in the mortgage automation workflows that are truly the best fit for your business—and it’s critical to do it now, before the competition catches on.

In this article, we’ll cover the main benefits of automating your mortgage processes, as well as the specific workflows you can use to 10X your mortgage business.

Table of Contents

• What Is Mortgage Automation?

• Top 5 Benefits Of Mortgage Automation You Actually Use

• The A to Z of Mortgage Automation: Grow Your Lending Business With A Scalable System

• The Power Of Smart Automation

What Is Mortgage Automation?

In a nutshell, mortgage automation allows you to run parts of your mortgage business on autopilot. Using the right combination of automated tools, workflows and software, you can process more loans in less time.

But the real power of automation is that it can be applied to many different aspects of your mortgage business. 

• Are you struggling to consistently follow up on your clients? Set up automated campaigns so that no lead in your database is left unnurtured. 

• Recipients not opening emails? Automated drip campaigns can boost your open rates by up to 80%

• Loan officers spending too much time on non-selling activities? Automate routine tasks and save up to 55% of the time employers spend on non-selling activities. 

And that’s just the beginning. Let’s take a closer look at some of the core benefits of automating your mortgage business, piece by piece.

Top 5 Benefits Of Mortgage Automation You Actually Use

Benefit #1. Reduce Speed to Lead to Seconds

According to the Harvard Business Review, chances of qualifying a lead when responding within the first five minutes are 21 times higherthan when responding within 30 minutes. Yet only 26% of companies manage to respond within 5 minutes. 

You can easily outpace the competition by setting up simple automated onboarding emails and texts to instantly greet every new lead as soon as they share their contact details. 

If you have a team, automation will also help you distribute incoming leads between your agents so that the ones that are the most qualified are aligned with the right prospects.

Benefit #2. Consistently Nurture Your Leads

The money is in the follow up. In fact, some studies suggest that 80% of sales occur after at least five follow-ups with a prospect.

The good news is, almost every follow-up can be automated. For example, you can send highly-personalized email and text drips to your leads with a predefined cadence. This allows you to nurture relationships and build trust with prospects, even before they decide to do business with you.

Automation helps you easily segment leads based on their location, last action, or areas of interest so with the right system you can follow up with the best offer for a particular client.

Benefit #3. Boost Your Loan Processing Speed

Automation lets you process loans faster. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, lenders reduced loan processing time by around 10 days with a little help from technology. And with the rise of online loan applications, borrowers expect loan processing times to decrease even more.

To supercharge your loan processing speed, you can integrate your CRM system with loan origination software and automatically trigger actions and notifications whenever loan status updates.

Additionally, automation allows you to reduce room for error when processing loans and potentially save thousands of dollars in compliance fines and penalties. 

Benefit #4. Increase Your Amount Of Referrals

Ramping up referrals is one of the most powerful lead generation tactics you can employ.

But when you focus on closing as many loans as you can in the moment, keeping in touch with past clients often becomes an afterthought.

And yet 60% of customer referrals happen within the first six months after the loan is closed. 

Automated referral campaigns allow you to stay in touch with your past clients and increase your referrals, without lifting a finger. After a loan is closed, simply set up an automated series of post-loan emails designed to keep the client relationship strong and help you stay top of mind. 

Benefit #5. Easily Scale Your Mortgage Business

It’s pretty difficult to scale a mortgage business that has many manual workflows—and the last thing you want to do is scale your messy and chaotic systems. People make mistakes, and unfortunately, without the right system in place these mistakes will only multiply as your lead count grows. 

In other words, when there are cracks in your systems, you can expect at least some of your leads to slip through them.

On the flip side, when critical aspects of your business are automated, there’s really no limit to how many leads you can work with at the same time. 

Even if you decide to invest in new marketing channels or lead databases, you can rest easy knowing that smart automation has your back. If you want to turn your lead flow on full blast, you can easily and automatically qualify and nurture every lead.

The A to Z of Mortgage Automation: Grow Your Lending Business With A Scalable System

Automated Dialer: Get Your LOs On The Phone With The Right Prospects

Ever thought about how much time you spend punching a dial pad? 

With an automated dialer, you and your loan officers can automatically run through a large database of leads in much less time, increasing productivity by 200% to 300% compared to manual dialling. 

But how can an automated system possibly know who to call when?

Glad you asked. Some sales platforms (Shape included) offer a smart lead prioritization system, which ensures that every call the system makes for you will be targeted to the most promising lead, at the most optimal time.

At Shape, we use a lead prioritization algorithm that analyzes each lead in your database based on a list of 27 key criteria to instantly connect loan officers with the leads most likely to convert. 

Here are just some of the benefits of an automated dialer for your mortgage business: 

• Contact more leads in less time. Save hours by making sure your reps aren’t wasting time manually dialing every lead in your database.

• Convert leads faster. Consistently follow up on your hottest leads at exactly the right time.

• Distribute the right leads to the right people. Automatically distribute via Round Robin or your own custom rules to ensure optimal performance across the team.

• Instantly plug in new lead sources. Quickly work through large databases of potential clients and easily scale lead gen and prospecting up or down as needed.

SMS + MMS: Skyrocket Your Opening Rates

According to a Gartner survey, SMS open rates can be as high as 98%, compared to a mere 20% for emails. Additionally, the majority of people respond to SMS within just 90 seconds.  

Here’s how you can use automated SMS texts to boost lead conversion rates:

• Improve customer experience. Automatically notify clients with texts whenever their loan status changes by integrating your CRM with your LOS.

• Increase engagement with new offers. Send your best offers via text or MMS to maximize engagement.

• Use top-performing automated sequences. Combine emails and SMS texts into powerful marketing sequences to keep your leads engaged over time.

• Personalize your texts. Customize your SMS texts by directly using contact details pulled directly from your central CRM or sales system

• Stay compliant. Use a fully compliant platform to make sure your messages aren’t being flagged as spam. In Shape, we queue your messages to send just one text every 4 seconds to mimic human texting behavior for maximum engagement.

Automated Email Marketing: Send Emails That Generate Real Business

When it comes to ROI, not many marketing channels beat email. In fact, research shows that every dollar spent on email marketing can yield as much as $42 in return.

But achieving the highest possible ROI is only doable if you send the right email to the right person at the right time. Thankfully, this is something automation can help you achieve. 

Here are just some of the benefits of automated email marketing: 

• Higher open rates. Set up automated emails triggered by specific user actions and get up to 141.6% higher open rates than your standard business-as-usual emails.

• Boost revenue with automated lead segmentation. The right mortgage CRM will help you segment your leads based on your own custom criteria and send highly-personalized emails that drive 18X more revenue. 

• Create powerful email drip campaigns. According to KissMetrics, marketing automation paired with sequenced email campaigns leads to up to 20% more sales.

• Convert more leads by personalizing your emails. Personalized emails deliver 6X higher transactional rates. Use your CRM system to automatically personalize relevant emails for every lead.

Call Recording: The Power Of Tracking From A Central System

According to Hubspot, the majority of businesses use call recording mainly as a way to increase customer quality service or dispute controversial events. But there are other benefits that call recording provides for mortgage businesses.

Here’s why it’s important to have an automated call recording system for your mortgage business:

• Focused sales. Allows your sales reps to focus on the prospects and actively engage with their pain points rather than taking notes during conversations. 

• Advanced training. Your CRM gives you a full history of conversations with every lead across all channels so that new agents have the full context for every recorded call.

• Protect your business. Stay compliant and avoid potentially paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in regulatory fines by monitoring all marketing and sales activities from one central, compliant platform.

eSignature: Make Document Management As Seamless As Possible

According to Fannie Mae, 66% of homebuyers would prefer to handle their mortgages entirely online. 

No wonder the number of eSignature transactions has increased tenfold within just five years. 

Integrate e-signatures directly into your loan management process to gain the following benefits:

• Save time on paperwork for you and your clients. Add and edit eSignature documents directly from within your CRM

• Process loans faster. Automatically change lead status in your systems as soon as your lead signs, automatically schedule follow up actions in your calendar.

• Improve customer satisfaction rates. Trigger emails and follow-ups based on a change in eSignature status to keep the transaction pipeline moving.

The Power Of Smart Automation

The mortgage industry is changing fast. Loan officers are no longer competing based on who has the best offers or personalities. 

These days, it’s all about the system and service. 

Clearly, the role of automation in separating the best from the rest will be crucial. And yes, automation does take time and effort upfront. But after you set your processes in place, it’s only a matter of making small adjustments that make a very big impact for your clients and your business as an expert loan originator.

Ready to see for yourself? Find out how an automated mortgage marketing and sales platform can remove the bottlenecks from your transaction pipeline and help you consistently generate more leads.

Sign up for your free trial of Shape today!

Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/mortgage-automation

Mortgage podcasts are a great way to get personal access to the most relevant expert advice in the industry.

But how do you pick the best, most engaging mortgage podcasts with so many options to choose from? 

Explore our line-up of 11 incredibly actionable and value-packed mortgage podcasts, hosted by some of the most successful and ambitious leaders of our industry!

#1. Mortgage Marketing Radio with Geoff Zimpfer

With over 300,000 downloads, Mortgage Marketing Institute is one of the top rated podcasts in the mortgage industry. Its host, Geoff Zimpfer, is a National Sales Trainer and Coach with Movement Mortgage who regularly interviews top industry performers. What sets Geoff apart as a host is his unique ability to get to the bottom of the processes of every elite performer and glean actionable advice on generating leads and expanding operations. 

Geoff and guests like Todd Duncan, Tim Braheem, and Dave Savage share with their audience blueprint-like recipes for success in loan origination and mortgage leadership.

Geoff also regularly provides insights on advanced strategies for teaching agent classes and getting more real estate referrals in less time. 

Here are just some of the topics regularly covered on the Mortgage Marketing Institute podcast:

• Advanced strategies for mortgage lead generation

• Digital and social media mortgage marketing 

• Productivity and operation excellence

• Mortgage industry trends

Best episode: How to Close 212 Loans with Agent Teams and Client Events

#2. Mortgage Marketing Expert with Phil Treadwell

The Mortgage Marketing Expert (MME) podcast is a founding member of Industry Syndicate, a podcast network that includes a total of 28 podcast shows for the mortgage and real estate industries. 

MME is hosted by Phil Treadwell, a mortgage industry veteran with over 16 years of experience who’s currently serving as VP of Development and Regional Manager for Mason-McDuffie Mortgage.

Named one of the “40 Most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40” by National Mortgage Professional Magazine, Phil knows top industry talent when he sees it, and every week he invites the most ambitious mortgage and marketing leaders to his podcast.

Some of the guests that have sat down with Phil include Gary Vaynerchuk, Barry Habib, and Dale Vermillion.

Here are the themes Phil covers with his star guests:

• Mortgage systems for sustainable business

• Latest digital content strategies for mortgage professionals

• Strategies to boost market share

• Reputation and brand management

Best episode: Video & Branding with The Mortgage Nerd

#3. Mortgage X Podcast with Christine Beckwith and Jason Frazier

Mortgage X Podcast is hosted by two amazing mortgage industry leaders: an award-winning mortgage marketer in Jason Frazier, and brilliant coach and founder of 20/20 Vision for Success training, Christine Beckwith.

Both co-hosts are well-versed in the most up-to-date and disruptive strategies in mortgage marketing and offer a refreshing, no-holds-barred approach and practical insights into what works in the industry. 

What makes the Mortgage X podcast stand out is its vivid focus on the future of the mortgage market. Additionally, the strategies discussed on the podcast help mortgage professionals stay afloat in a rapidly changing digital environment. 

Christine and Jason interview a wide roster of guests, including top performing loan originators, mortgage thought leaders, and professionals from other industries that offer unique out-of-the-box insights on staying competitive both today and tomorrow. 

Here are some of the topics covered in-depth on the Mortgage X Podcast:

• Out-of-the-box thinking in growing your mortgage business

• Tactics to engage the modern mortgage customer

• Neuroscience and psychology behind mortgage relationships

• Mortgage career advice

Best episode: Let’s get REAL about becoming a Top Producer

#4. Lykken on Lending by David Lykken

David Lykken is one of the moguls of the mortgage industry. After 43 years in the industry, he easily separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to what works in the mortgage industry and what doesn’t. 

For the past 14 years David has been helping companies, C-level leaders, and business owners step up their game and create effective workflows in communication and marketing  that result in market advantages. Listening to “Lykken on Lending”, you can get an inside glimpse into David's winning process and philosophy. 

Each episode of “Lykken on Lending” is a 60-minute show that contains several segments from industry experts providing weekly market updates, legislative updates, tech updates, and tips on financial management. 

Here are some other topics you can learn more about through the podcast:

• Growing a mortgage company

• Data intelligence in mortgage management

• The future of the housing market

• Risk management

Best episode: Improve Your Mortgage Business Processes Utilizing the Theory of Constraints

#5. Mortgage Matters with Guy Rivera

Consider Guy Rivera your inside agent in the mortgage industry. Listening to his Mortgage Matters podcast can make it seem like you’re sitting in a room of friends and colleagues and listening to their best kept real estate secrets.

Guy has been a top producing mortgage professional since 2002. In every podcast episode he openly shares his insights with listeners and encourages his colleagues and friends to do exactly the same during the interviews. 

Here are some of the topics covered by Guy on the Mortgage Matters podcast: 

• Mortgage market updates and trends

• How to build valuable referral partnerships with real estate agents

• Refinance transactions

Best episode: Mortgage Matters from 1st July on Reverse Mortgage

#6. Art of Mortgage Marketing by Doren Aldana

Doren Aldana’s Art of Mortgage Marketing podcast will help mortgage professionals expand their mortgage business through clever digital marketing and boost personal productivity through specific advice, straight from a top performer. 

Doran has helped thousands of mortgage specialists become top performing agents in their market through his Mortgage Marketing Coach training program, gaining a prestigious “Best Industry Service Provider” award from Canadian Mortgage Awards three years in a row. 

On each episode of the podcast, Doran covers a specific workflow or tool that can help loan officers overcome some challenging situations with a client, expand their circle of influence, or increase personal productivity. 

Here are some of the topics recently covered on the Art of Mortgage Marketing podcast:

• Busting common client objections

• Building stability in the mortgage business

• Attracting powerful agent partnerships

• Market share expansion

Best episode: How to EXPAND Your Market Share While Everyone Else is CONTRACTING

#7. Million Dollar Mortgage Experience with Jon Maddox

Million Dollar Mortgage Experience is a podcast hosted by Jon Maddox, CEO and co-founder of FundLoans, a wholesale mortgage lender that specializes in non-QM lending. Jon is one of the top industry experts in jumbo loans and shares in-depth knowledge, tricks and secrets that help mortgage professionals originate more loans. 

Although Jon’s niche expertise makes this podcast a great resource for non-QM originators, other agents can also enjoy great insights, as he regularly invites million-dollar industry performers and marketing experts to analyze market trends and share their personal workflows. 

Here are some of the topics covered on the Million Dollar Mortgage Experience podcast: 

• Crisis management

• Mortgage top performer mentality and productivity hacks

• Risk management

• Technology disruption in mortgage industry

Best episode: The Making of a Million Dollar Mentality 

#8. Beyond Mortgage by Dan Trinidad

Dan Trinidad, the host of the Beyond Mortgage podcast, is a seasoned mortgage industry leader who founded his company, Partners Mortgage back in 1988.Since then, he has experienced every imaginable up and down of growing a successful mortgage business. 

In his podcast he regularly interviews mortgage leaders, digging deeper into what it takes to create powerful and fulfilling mortgage businesses.

Instead of focusing on certain loan origination workflows and local tips for closing more loans, Dan dives deep into the power of effective leadership, exploring how mortgage leaders can change their businesses and lives in big ways. 

Here are some of the topics that Dan dives into with his guests:

• Effective mortgage leadership

• Work-life balance

• Customer relationships

• Mortgage team culture and alignment

Best episode: How to Effectively Drive Culture & Work Efficiently From Home w/Debbie Marcoux

#9. The SCL Mortgage Show with Larry Jaeger

The SCL Mortgage Show is a weekly podcast hosted by industry veteran Larry Jaeger. Jaeger is a founder of SCL Mortgage and the successful entrepreneur behind several multi-million dollar mortgage businesses.

In his weekly show, Larry discusses the most recent mortgage market updates and shares advice that you can instantly apply to your mortgage business in the current landscape. 

Larry provides deeps insights on the following topics:

• Loan origination best practices

• Market updates

• Mortgage partnerships

Best episode: The SCL Mortgage Show from 4th July 2020: Loan Score and Prequalification

#10. The Mortgage Brothers Show with Eddie and Tom Knoell

The Mortgage Brothers Show podcast is hosted by brothers Eddie and Tom Knoell. Combined, they have 30 years of experience in the mortgage and real estate industry. 

Both brothers share their insights on the process of getting loans and loan origination information in Arizona.  

Although Tom and Eddie mostly educate loan borrowers, mortgage professionals can also learn how to explain mortgage concepts to clients from their podcast.

Here are some of the topics they’ve recently covered,

• Questions about down payments

• The difference between a home mortgage and an investment

• Home value appreciation

• Dealing with debt collectors

Best episode: 15 Year Mortgage vs 30 Year Mortgage

#11. Housing News by Clayton Collins

The Housing News podcast is one of the best ways to catch up on recent mortgage market news, trends, and opinions. 

The podcast, hosted by Clayton Collins, covers a lot of ground, with guests spanning industries that include mortgage, real estate, and fintech spaces. 

Some of the most recent topics featured on the Housing News podcast are:

• Technology trends in real estate & mortgage

• The state of the mortgage industry

• Real estate job market statistics

• Updates on mortgage compliance and regulations 

Best episode: MBS Highway’s Barry Habib on Calabria, Forbearance and the Job Market

Many of us don't get the chance to hang out with top performers on a daily basis—after all, there’s a lot of work to be done and not nearly enough time. But podcasts give us the unique ability to listen to our favorite experts when and where we want to.

We hope you've enjoyed our lineup of the most engaging and knowledge-packed podcasts. Check out the episodes we’ve picked for you, and we’re confident you’ll hear something that truly resonates with your business needs.

If you’re ready to make your mortgage business more successful and want smart lead gen technology that will help fuel your growth for years, Shape is your answer. 

Leverage Shape and the strategies you learn from our podcast recommendations to take your mortgage business to the next level, starting now.

Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/the-top-11-mortgage-podcasts-for-practical-advice-in-2020

Don’t pour thousands of dollars into student recruitment staff training. Check out these five simple steps to take your higher ed admissions team to the next level.

For some higher ed institutions, problems with inexperienced staff have plagued recruitment efforts for years. Now, as students become more and more selective about where they attend school, a lack of experience in student recruitment is a problem that must be solved.

While many higher education businesses can afford to pour tens of thousands of dollars into training their 8, most universities simply lack the resources and knowledge to do the same.

And the cycle of want can be vicious.

In an equation? Less resources to train sales staff equals less trained staff, less students recruited, and, consequently less resources to train sales staff. 

(After all, a mere 37% of colleges met their recruitment goals in 2019.)

As they battle shrinking budgets and declining enrollment rates, many private colleges and universities simply don’t know how to break this cycle.

So, if you’re the Head of Enrollment at a higher ed organization, how can you establish an effective sales training strategy and transform an inexperienced admissions workforce into top-level sales agents, without going bankrupt along the way?

There are many wrong answers, but fortunately, there’s also a right one:

Stop wasting money on training sales staff, and create a repeatable system that produces top performing recruiters out of new hires on autopilot.

It’s not an easy ride, but with the right tools and consistent approach, you can methodically build

A student recruitment system that works.

Here’s how to do it.

How to recruit more students in 2020:

1. Create a Student Recruitment Plan

2. Train Your Staff The Right Way

3. Upgrade Your Student Recruitment Outreach Templates

4. Automate Your Recruitment Bottlenecks

5. Merge All The Student Recruitment Workflows into a Cohesive System

Step 1: Create a Student Recruitment Plan

If you want a high-performing student recruitment team, first get clear on what you really need from them.

This is where a student recruitment plan comes in. This can be a simple 1-5 page document that includes your enrollment goals and ideally, a set of specific actions that help you achieve these goals.

A good plan helps you understand in detail what currently works for you and your staff, and where your resources are best spent. In fact, just the mere act of preparing this plan might reveal enrollment opportunities you didn’t notice before. Let’s dive in.

Here’s what you need to know to prepare a successful student recruitment plan:

• What already works. Who are your best students? Where do they live, what are their demographics, and how did you recruit them? It’s important to learn what works for you now so that you can scale these strategies later.

• Enrollment trends. Has the 2020 crisis affected student demography? What’s the latest app every student is using? Any information that impacts your current student profile goes here.

• Your goals. Is sheer number of applicants your top priority? Would you like to recruit a certain demographic? This information will help your recruiters focus their efforts.

After covering these questions, you can form two very specific documents that will become a part of your student recruitment plan and greatly increase the efficiency of your sales personnel:

1. Target student persona. A target student persona is a highly-specific description of your perfect students. If your university or trade school generally attracts men in their 30’s, you’ll have more success if your recruiters focus on this specific demographic.

2. Recruiter goals. Recruiters are much more efficient when they know there’s a particular objective they need to achieve. Sales quotas have been a driving force for businesses for years, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t use them as well.

Pro Tip: Regularly update your student recruitment plan based on the data your recruiters gather about engaged prospects and profitable lead sources so that you can adapt your recruitment policies and tactics based on the latest market changes. 

Step 2: Train Your Staff The Right Way

With a plan in place, it’s time to start training your recruiters. Of course, there is a small problem with the traditional way of doing this: professional sales training can cost thousands of dollars. While some institutions provide their staff with superficial training and others neglect training altogether (usually due to the cost barrier), there are ways to effectively and affordably train your college recruiting team.

Here’s how you can train your recruiters without spending a fortune:

• eLearning. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on inviting the latest sales superstars to educate your workforce. With the current advancement of online learning platforms, you can get access to top industry minds at an affordable price.

• Re-use critical information. If you end up inviting consultants or participating in expensive masterclasses, make sure to share the knowledge with your sales agents: record webinars, create guides and ebooks. Strive to create an inner knowledge platform that can continue to serve your staff for years to come.

• Create a strategic onboarding policy. It’s important to set the right expectations between your institution and recruiters from the start, and to detail each team member’s goals and clear expectations about the ways in which they achieve them. The onboarding period is also a great time to educate people in your sales processes.

Remember, you are not training sales stars on your team, so don’t pour thousands of dollars into training individual salespeople. As business often goes, your stars are usually the ones that will be off to new positions before you know it anyway.

Instead, focus on proper onboarding and creating inner knowledge systems. This way,  even newly hired recruiters will get instant access to your most efficient workflows and be able to operate on a high level shortly after their start.

Step 3: Upgrade Your Student Recruitment Outreach Templates

There’s a good reason the sales industry has been using templates and scripts for decades: they work.

Highly-converting templates and scripts are a direct continuation of your inner knowledge system. They let your new hires quickly get on par with more experienced colleagues. Plus, there’s no better way of transforming inexperienced recruiters into top industry performers than by leveraging templated strategies that already work.

But let’s face it: not every script or template will do. You’ll find plenty of sales scripts for real estate agents and talent recruiters, but those just aren’t relevant to the kinds of conversations your staff needs to be having with future students.

Here’s how to ensure your templates will work wonders for your higher ed recruitment process:

• Make sure they are specifically developed for education. Simply taking the usual sales scripts and replacing every “client” with “student” won’t work. The best templates should be those extensively tested in the education recruitment field.

• Make sure there are templates for every channel of communication. Although the sales process is similar everywhere, the most effective words for every channel (email, SMS, phone) will be different. Make sure you have templates for each.

• Improve your templates regularly. There’s no template that works forever, so you’ll need to adjust what your recruiters say based on current enrollment trends, your programs, and changes in student demographics. Schedule an automated reminder to adjust your templates and scripts on a regular basis.

Having relevant and up-to-date templates will help keep your recruiters ahead of the competition, but how do you make sure they are actually using them?

Here’s where CRM software can play a crucial role.The right higher ed CRM ensures every member of your staff always has the appropriate script or template in front of them, exactly when they need it. Of course, there are also several other advantages of using a CRM:

• Get the right template for the right medium. Whenever recruiters contact their prospects using a CRM, the most relevant templates can pop up automatically depending on the medium of communication and stage of the recruiting process.

• Centrally manage your templates and scripts. Updating sales scripts is a tough task, and eventually all recruiters might be using different templates or worse, some random combination. A CRM allows you to easily update all your templates at once or add new ones.

• Access the best student recruitment templates. Shape is the only CRM that partners with leading education organizations like Woz U and SCI to offer institutions the best-performing templates for engaging prospects and converting them into students.

Step 4: Automate Your Recruitment Bottlenecks

No matter how well you train your recruitment staff, there’s always a chance that things won’t go as intended. A missed email, a misspelled name, an unwelcome phone call—sometimes even the smallest mistakes can lead to lost prospects and ruin weeks of marketing efforts.

That’s why one of the most powerful ways to prevent potential students from slipping through the cracks is to automate specific parts of your sales process.

Here are some of the ways you can automate your student recruitment process and keep prospects from slipping through the cracks:

• Automated email campaigns. The goal of email marketing is to send the right message at the right time. A timely automated email with information about your programs or school culture will effectively keep prospects engaged.

• Personalized messages. A well-designed CRM system will allow you to easily send personalized marketing messages to your prospects by automatically inserting their data into designated templates.

• Triggers and events. The right message is half the win, but sending the right message at the right time is the perfect combo. Send important information to your prospects right after they perform certain actions on your website or campaigns.

• Prioritize your leads. One of the main areas that both experienced and new recruiters struggle with is how to prioritize their leads. Shape is the only higher ed CRM that provides recruiters with sorted lists of leads based on a comprehensive 28-rule algorithm.

Step 5: Merge All Student Recruitment Workflows into a Cohesive System

Investing in training a team of student recruiters will boost your enrollment rates for one semester, but investing in recruitment processes and systems is a surefire way to improve recruitment rates for the long term.

An airtight student recruitment plan makes sure that no matter how many people leave or join your team, your staff always knows exactly which steps to follow to boost student enrollment.

A well thought-out enrollment plan, proper onboarding policy, proven industry templates and smart, natural automation can allow you to quickly transform inexperienced recruiters into top performers.

Additionally, these steps and systems help you quickly adjust your enrollment goals however you’d like, and consistently fulfill admissions quota while staying ahead of your competition.

If you’re looking for a system that will supply your recruiters with the most effective sales workflows to date, try Shape.

With our best-of-breed templates, easy-to-use automation, and full customization, you’ll start to see improvements in your student recruitment process within the first two weeks.

We’re ready to back up this claim by giving you a free 14-day trial so you can experience the power of our platform for yourself.

Ready to recruit more students and finally hit your student enrollment goals? Try Shape today! 

Article Source:- https://setshape.com/blog/sales-training-for-student-recruitment-5-simple-steps-to-boost-your-college-admission-teams-productivity-starting-now

They say nothing in life is free, but when it comes to software for your mortgage business, we’ve gotta disagree. Whether you’re a seasoned LO or just starting your own shop, the number one tool or “hack” that is going to save you tons of time and money is CRM software to make you more efficient.

In fact, a recent study from Nucleus Research shows that for companies that use a CRM, the average return on their technology investment is $8.71 for each dollar spent. 

Not yet using a CRM? That kind of return on investment is like printing money for your business. 

Whether you’re a seasoned mortgage pro or just starting your own shop, this how-to guide will dive deep on the automation essentials for mortgage business, how a mortgage software will pay for itself, and what the ideal features you need in your next CRM.

CRM Automation is Your Mortgage Business’s Secret Weapon

Whether it’s streamlining your lending workflow, integrating all the tools you use into one central place, automating client follow-up and marketing, or anything in between, the benefits of automation software for lenders are simply staggering.

Consider a recent study by Instapage around the various benefits of automating different areas of your business with software:

Closing Deals

• Automation is proven to boost sales productivity by 14.5% and reduce marketing overheads by 12.2%

• CRMs can lead to a 30% increase in deal closures, an 18% reduction in sales cycle, and a 14% reduction in sales administration time

Marketing

• 90% higher customer retention rates can come from marketing automation

• 80% of marketing automation users see increased leads, and 77% see increased conversions

• 60% of users say marketing automation has increased the quantity and quality of the leads that get passed to sales

Productivity

• 40% of productivity is lost to multitasking and task-switching

• Lost productivity and poorly managed leads cost companies over $1 trillion annually, some of which could be saved with automation software

Customer communication

• Automated emails have a 70.5% higher open rate and 152% higher click-through rate than generic email newsletter

• Companies using marketing automation software are 2x more effective in lead generation than those using only blast email software

• Automating lead nurturing with well-timed emails and offers has been proven to generate a 10% or greater increase in revenue

How a CRM Will Transform Your Mortgage Business

We’ve already established that smart LOs and teams know that to stay competitive you’ve got to keep up with the latest trends and technology. We’ve evaluated dozens of mortgage software tools on the market and collected the top 6 reasons why you need to be using a CRM right now to transform your mortgage business into a money making machine:

1 – Save hours on administrative work every day.

Loan officers are responsible for a variety of paperwork, tasks, and client interactions at any given moment. These procedures are often both complex and dynamic. A paper and pencil system no longer makes sense.

Not only does it make sense to adopt a modern, upgraded business management system - it’s what your mortgage clients have come to expect. Use a CRM to automate your daily to-do list and spend more time helping your clients.

2 – Strengthen relationships with prospects and clients.

Relationship building used to require a lot of time and energy. Thanks to marketing automation software included in CRMs like Shape, creating or improving relationships can be automated, authentic, and successful. 

3 – Automate follow ups.

Fact: Following up with prospects helps you win more business. About 80% of sales require five follow up touch points. For busy mortgage professionals, following up with every lead that many times isn’t sustainable.

At least not without the right software. A proper mortgage software system can send perfectly timed follow-ups at any stage of the sales lifecycle. Customizable templates and automated email delivery triggers make those five follow ups a snap.

4 – Calculate amortization payments with ease.

Accurate and real-time payment data is critical for your business. After all, it’s what’s used to make some of your most important decisions. Plus, your customers have come to expect quick results so having a handy system for crunching these numbers is a necessity.

5 – Improve your intake process.

The hope most people have when they first adopt mortgage software is that the program will cut down the time they spend on everyday tasks. The intake process can be time consuming when done manually. But it’s one of your most powerful customer service tools. Automate the process with e-Signature capabilities, reminders, and status updates sent for you.

Mortgage businesses who automate parts of their onboarding see turnaround times shrink from weeks to hours.

6 – Score your leads by quality.

What if you could have a system that seamlessly reviewed every new prospect, assess their needs, and generate a score based on their interest and urgency?

The right mortgage CRM will automatically score your leads based on data from your company as well as any specific parameters you can set and manage at any time. Once your leads are scored you can concentrate your efforts on reaching out to those with the highest ROIs first or even automatically assign them to marketing campaigns.  

The Top Mortgage CRM Features You Need (and how they help you)

Everyone wants the biggest, baddest, most robust software that money can buy. But when considering a mortgage CRM, it’s most important to understand how essential certain software features are to your daily business. 

Do you get a lot of inbound leads and have trouble keeping up with inquiries? Do you use other software tools that you need to integrate with? Are you wanting to score and assign your leads to your team quickly and automatically? 

Depending on how you answer, you can start to get a fuller picture of your needs and which software systems will be the best bang for your buck. We’ve reviewed dozens of mortgage CRMs on the market and spoken to top firms about the most essential features you need on a day-to-day basis.

Mortgage CRM Feature: Lead Prioritization and Lead Distribution

Why you want it: An automated feature that allows your mortgage CRM to accept inbound client leads, score and prioritize them based on your criteria, and intelligently route them to your team. It also reduces manual work and wasted time reviewing and assigning leads to your team. Instead, stay connected with interested clients in an instant and drive more business instead of losing out to your competition. 

Mortgage CRM Feature: Duplicate Lead Management

Why you want it: Helps filter out multiple inquiries from the same leads and keeps your pipeline clean and organized. The right system will also alert you when previous leads re-engage with you or your marketing.Duplicate lead management is more than just organization. When your CRM leverages smart sorting and filtering, you can make closing deals from interested prospects much more likely. 

Mortgage CRM Feature: LOS Syncing

Why you want it: With a CRM that has seamless LOS syncing, you can streamline the entire loan process from start to finish by exporting your files. Look for systems compatible with the popular Fannie Mae 3.2 File, Encompass, and LendingPad.

Mortgage CRM Feature: Marketing Portal

Why you want it: You ideally want a tool that allows you to easily customize flyers, draft emails, and post-closing cards with the correct branding in place you will elevate your mortgage business to the next level. Look for a CRM that has all these tools incorporated so you don’t need to pay for costly marketing automation software - it’s usually overpriced and too niche for most LO’s.

Mortgage CRM Feature: Integrated Dialer with Texting

Why you want it: With click to dial, inbound & outbound calling, call recording, local presence, SMS messages, and more, the right integrated dialer will give your team professional, enterprise-level sales features they need to close every deal. Being able to contact prospects via text - when they are at home or on the go - is so critical in today’s fast-moving society where people are often not in front of a computer.

Mortgage CRM Feature: Lead Status Automation 

Why you want it: Backlogged when new leads pour in? Your CRM should intelligently automate overflow prospects into a shared lead pool based on status or timeframe. This prevents leads from “window shopping” with other firms in your follow-up window!

Mortgage CRM Feature: Team Collaboration Tools

Why you want it: You 100% need a CRM that allows leads to have multiple owners which means your team gets complete visibility and transparency into all activities for every prospect. Having these types of tools is essential for growing mortgage teams as they allow for quick collaboration and attribution when putting deals over the finish line. 

Mortgage CRM Feature: Email and Calendar Sync

Why you want it: This one’s a no-brainer, but so many CRMs on the market exclude both. Having syncing for your calendar and email keep your team up to speed and on the same page and allow you to schedule follow up appointments in a click and keep you organized. Nothing worse for closing a deal than missing a meeting you forgot you had!

Mortgage CRM Feature: Reporting

Why you want it: We’ve known way too many LO’s who do zero to analyze where their prospects come from, how much their marketing ROI is, how well they’re team converts, and so on. Not having data is a huge liability to your business. Your CRM must 100% include reporting and analytics tools to help you make more informed business decisions.

In addition to data, Maintain compliance with reporting as well. You should track cost allocations, distributions and payments.

Mortgage CRM Feature: Integrations

Why you want it: You might not be ready to give up your legacy tools, or some are just too different from what a CRM has to offer. No worries - make sure whatever CRM you pick for your mortgage business integrates well with some popular tools like Twilio, SendGrid, MailChimp, Zapier, Ytel, and tons more.

Mortgage CRM Feature: Email Automation 

Why you want it: Still manually sending every email? Get out of the 1990’s and join the wave of LOs saving tons of time using email automation. Send perfectly timed follow ups, build nurturing drip campaigns, automate status updates, and more. Email automation does more than just free up valuable time - it keeps your process consistent and compliant!

Mortgage CRM Feature: Payment Calculator

Why you want it: A CRM with a payment amortization calculator is a must - it will easily help you provide accurate and real-time payment data your prospects need to make decisions. Cut down turnaround times and boost client satisfaction in one simple tool. 

Mortgage CRM Feature: Prospect Intake

Why you want it: You must, must, must have a pipeline tool that helps youmanage your entire intake workflow in one place. A great CRM will let you build robust intake forms, manage leads, and send online contracts and important documents securely with a built-in eSignature. Only a few CRMs on the market offer this robust combination, but it’s worth seeking out!

Mortgage CRM Feature: Team Chat

Why you want it: As great as email can be for communicating with clients, it’s terrible for your team. Trying to push a deal over the finish line and need quick info? A CRM with team chat is the way to go. When your LO can get in touch with a processor in seconds, deals are done more efficiently and clients needs are exceeded.