How to Position Your Mortgage Business for Success in a Slowing Market

When the real estate market in your area is hot, it can feel like there’s a never-ending stream of mortgage borrowers lined up around the block to work with you on getting a loan. As the market starts to cool off, however, your pipeline can dry up quickly.

With that said, a down market can actually help your mortgage business succeed if you’re willing to outwork the competition and get aggressive with your advertising. Here are two powerful tips to kick things into high gear if business starts drying up.

Get Very Clear on Exactly Who Your Target Borrower Is

When money is pouring into your market, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to attract anybody and everybody. As things slow down, however, your mortgage business is going to struggle unless you design your advertising and your overall branding to catch the attention of your ideal borrower.

Generally speaking, it’s better to err on the side of niching down too much than trying to cast too wide of a net. If you speak only to your ideal borrower, then you’ll still end up with interest from others in your market. However, the reverse isn’t necessarily true. The key here is to realize that everybody else you’re competing against is probably being way too generic in their marketing, and their errors present an opening for you to “own” a specific customer segment.

Optimize the Top of Your Sales Funnel

Even in a down market, there are tons of leads floating around. In fact, many prospective mortgage borrowers specifically wait for housing prices to drop before they go looking for a loan. However, you’re going to lose these leads if the top of your funnel isn’t dialed in.

If you haven’t ever consciously mapped out the first few phases of your customer’s journey, then now is the time to start. Before you begin, you’ll want to put yourself in your ideal prospect’s shoes as much as possible.

What kind of beliefs about the mortgage process are your target borrowers bringing with them when they reach the top of your funnel? Do they believe the mortgage process will be difficult? Do they believe that mortgage lenders are usually honest or usually deceitful? If you want to retain leads in a slow housing market, you’ll need to answer at least these questions to start with.

There are a huge number of profiling questions you can ask yourself to see your sales funnel from your prospect’s perspective, so you’ll probably need to do a bit of tinkering until you get in sync with exactly what your target customers are looking for. However, putting in this extra work pays dividends. Once you’re able to consistently capture attention in your marketplace, you’ll find it easier to close even the toughest leads.

Closing Thoughts

Although every housing market has uptrends and downtrends, it’s during the toughest times that real winners are made. If you’re willing to drill down, develop a detailed profile of your perfect borrower, and then put some work into your sales funnel, you’ll find it easier to scoop up extra revenue while your competitors are left struggling.

Have questions?  Speak to an expert for more information.