Watch the video below to see how this webinar is going to change the way you stay in touch with your marketing list.  Most importantly, it’s going to do it for you.    After the watching the video, register right way.  Space is limited for the webinar and time is running out to get in on this product during the public launch.

 

I thought I would outline the 3 biggest marketing roadblocks that keep sales professionals from truly growing their actual pipeline.

1) Disorganization

The main culprit here is “list management.”  Every sales professional has a list of friends, family, past clients, referral partners and industry professionals.  One key item that seems to get missed is the email address.

Spend a few more minutes each day putting all of your contacts into a good safe database and make sure you have email addresses for absolutely everyone.  Email is still the number one form of communication bar none.

Believe it or not, it’s still the preferred method of receiving communication from sales professionals as well.

2) Inconsistency

You get busy, you stop marketing.  You get slow, you start marketing again.  This creates big gaps in your production and shrinks your overall pipeline in a miserable way.

Do something every single day to make a new contact, get a new opportunity to speak, develop a key relationship to a deeper level, send an email to your list or something that gets your name out there to your target market.  This in and out style of marketing is likely killing your pipeline.  

3) Bad Content

This one is more key than almost anyone realizes.  If you are in the mortgage industry and all you ever send to your list is mortgage related material, prepare to be disappointed with the loyalty of your marketing list.  The same is true for real estate.

People are generally in the market for some kind of mortgage or real estate transaction every 4-6 years.  What do you do when someone sends you stuff that you’re simply not in the market for?   After a while, you stop looking at it all together.  This is what happens in the 3-5 years between transactions for members of your marketing list when all they get is real estate or mortgage related information from you.

Find out what is important to your target market and send them answers and solutions to their questions or problems.  This makes you relevant to them even when they are not in the market for your services.

Marketing yourself MUST be part of your regimen. 

Note:  If this seems overwhelming to you than you should register for a FREE webinar on Thursday August 25^th at 11:30AM.  This webinar will show you a marketing system that is completely “Done For You”.  We’re talking hands free marketing and there’s nothing else like it on the market.  Check out the product and the webinar by CLICKING HERE.

I hope this was helpful.  I’d love your feedback.

BTW:  We’re really good at fixing your client’s credit and converting turn downs into commissions.  This week we had a 90 day turnaround of over 100 points and removed over $3000 in collections off of one client’s file.  The client didn’t have to pay a dime of the $3500 collections before they were removed.  Happy agent, happy lender.  Click Here to Send us a Referral.

ChadGoehring & Melonie Ingvall
CPR Credit Services
651-204-9639

What makes you different?

As a loan officer or a real estate agent you must find a way to display yourself to your community as something special.  Someone they will remember.

This is not easily done.  Consumers generally see “no difference” between one agent or another or one loan officer or another.  “They all do the same thing anyway right?”  “They all have the same programs right?”

Given that this is so vital to consistently getting in front of new crowds and growing your marketing list, I thought I would give you some powerful ways to make yourself different and memorable to your community.

Difference Maker #1 -

Communicate to them in a way that others are not communicating.  
Sometimes it’s not what you say that is different but how the message arrives.  Choose a method of marketing that stands out.  Whether you use post cards, letters, email marketing, video in emails, neighborhood flyers, newspaper stuffers or any other kind of marketing medium to reach your audience – take it one more level up and be different.

For instance:  If you use email, attach a coupon for a local business with every email you send.  This will help people to remember you, feel good about you and anticipate your next email.  Do this every time you send an email and you will become identifiable, different and worth remembering.

Pretty soon you’ll hear people say things like:  “He’s the one who sends the coupons right?”  or “Isn’t she the loan officer that sends out coupons every week?”  This means you have found a way to be different!

Difference Maker #2 -

Choose a niche of society to target.
This is not as difficult as you may think.  2 of my 4 young kids are in Soccer.  I could target the soccer niche.  One way to do this is to sponsor soccer teams.  Not just one, but several across a section of ages.  This is not new but here’s a way to make this strategy different:

Make a statement as a sponsor.  

Provide all the beverages to for each team for each game.  Then throw a party for the team at the end of the season.  Meet the coaches and show up to games every so often with a special treat for the team.

Don’t just give money to have your name or logo on a jersey.  (This is boring and not different)

Pretty soon you’ll hear folks say things like:  “That’s the guy I want to sponsor my team”  or “She gets what it means to be a soccer team sponsor”.   This makes you identifiable and memorable to a very large group of people.  

Difference Maker #3 -

Be consistent!
This is the big fail point for most people in your profession.  Trying something a few times and then giving up on it or not making it a priority.

Do something every single week or every other week without fail.  Being consistent alone can often make you different because so few LOs or Agents ever stick with their marketing plan.

Consistency is a Hill to Die On.  Pick something to do all the time and people will start to recognise you as the one how does …    or the one who always give out …

This is good, memorable marketing and it makes prospecting for new customers about 100 times easier as time goes on.

I hope this helps.  We would love your feedback.

Chad Goehring & Melonie Ingvall
CPR Credit Services
651-204-9639

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PS:  CPR Credit Services just had another banner month.  See for yourself why we are getting stronger.  Send your referrals to CPR through this simple process.  Click Here to submit a referral now. 

PPS:  If you or your clients have outstanding judgements, please click the banner on this page to learn about our JES Program.  We are the only company in the country that offers this program. 

Loan Officers and Real Estate Agents have been told over and over that social media is where it’s at for the future… and I say it’s true.

But that does not mean we should think of social media solely as a marketing tool, even if that’s your only reason for engaging it.

Here’s the fatal flaw that is killing the efforts
of a lot of lenders and agents:

—> SPAMMING <—

SPAM is basically forcing people to see your commercials.

Just this week, I have visited several Facebook profiles and fan pages of folks in our industry. Most of the posts on these sites were promotional.

Think about it… would you watch a TV station that was 100% commercials 24/7?

Most of us would not. One of the powers of social media is that people are generally interested in how other people live their lives. They may even be interested in your WORK life.   Who you work with, how big your company is, how high up in the organization you are, is it casual or formal, do you have fun or is it uber corperate?

People are NOT generally interested when you only post your most recent listing or your some blurb about how great of a time it is to buy a home or refi.

So here’s a tip:
Dont SPAM!!!

Make this your rule of thumb:
Use the 80/20 rule. Post fun, engaging, helpful, interesting, personal, glimpses into your life or office – 80% of the time.  Show your likability.  People do business with people they like, right?  Post promotional type stuff about 20% of the time.  Honestly, even 10% would be enough and it will work better than if you did it 100% of the time.

Then, try to engage in conversations with others:
“Like” stuff that they post and make comments when you can. People love when you comment on their posts because it means you are paying attention to them and that makes them feel worthy of your time.

CPR Credit Services could just send out “Beg for business” style content but we don’t because we know you get emails like that about 200 times a day.  Our goal is to help you with your business.  We believe, in return, you’ll give us a chance to serve you and your clients well.

Now, if you want to send us a referral right now because you feel so great about this fantastic, business building information… by all means do so and we will be very grateful.  Just go to www.MyClientNeedsCPR.com and we promise to do everything possible to turn that bad credit prospect into a commission giving client.  (See how subtle that was?)

I would love your comments so please make one

Chad Goehring
Melonie Ingvall
CPR Credit Services

651.204.9639

This training video should give you the perfect way to respond to your clients when this question is asked.

Things you’ll learn:

• What factors cause foreclosures to have such a big impact on credit?
• What is it that gives a Short Sale a little more flexibility than a foreclosure?
• The shocking truth about which one actually makes your score go down more?

The video is a little over 9 minutes long but it’s packed with info that you really need to know so it’s worth your time.
I would love your feedback or questions so let us know.

There are 4 critical stages of credit repair. If one is attempting to repair their credit and increase their credit scores, they must address all 4 of these critical areas.  Not completing all 4 of these stages can be frustrating and even dangerous to one’s credit.

What does it take to fix bad credit?
One of the most important aspects of fixing credit that cannot be missed is that if you do it wrong, it can make it nearly impossible to fix it in the near future.

So I’m going to give you the four stages to fixing your credit.

The four stages are called: Validation, Investigation, Negotiation & Construction

(Each of these four stages are outlined in more detail with separate videos on this site)

These stages are tested & proven and they are designed to work in sequence.  They overlap a bit but they must be done in the correct order or you will be unhappy with your results.

Here’s what you should know before you watch these videos.

All four stages of this process are critical to the success of your credit restoration process.  Miss even one stage or do them incorrectly and you will have spent an enormous amount of time and energy and still end up frustrated in the end.

You should also know that – no matter what others may tell you… this is not easy and it will take a lot of personal time and great organization.  You can do this for yourself if you have the time, energy, patience & learning capacity.

The good news is that it can be done, you can get started quickly and you can even have it mostly done for you.  These four stages are the exact steps that CPR Credit Services uses to often achieve unbelievable results for our clients.  If you want to make sure it’s done without error, without hassle and as fast as possible – you should talk to us at CPR.

If you have a specific credit question, you can submit that question from this site as well.  One of our credit experts will respond to your question within 24 hours.

Finally, also available on this site is a Free Credit Success Pak.  This is NOT optional information.  If you are even thinking about fixing your credit or just want to get the inside scoop on how credit really works, you need this info.  The Success Pak also helps you know how to handle collectors and their often nasty tactics.  This pak has extreme value so grab it while we’re giving it away.

Be sure to check out all the great information on this site.  CPR is available to help you in any way we can.

Stage #1 is called Validation –
The primary law that you are leveraging in this step is the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act which came about in 1978.

Validation focuses on any outstanding debts you have on your credit report from Debt Buyers or Primary Debt Collection Agencies.  This step does not apply to 1st or 3rd party collectors.  1st party collectors are the original creditors and 3rd party debt collectors are simply hired to collect on behalf of the 1st party creditor.  This step DOES apply to collection agencies that have purchased the debt from the original creditor after they have been charged off which is usually once the debt becomes 180 days delinquent.

Debt validation is done by sending a letter to the collector asking them to validate the debt.  They need to prove that the consumer is indeed the one who owes the debt and the amount that is legally allowed to be collected.  The debt buyer will usually attempt to provide an original contract with account numbers or statements that link the consumer to the debt along with a balance.  There is no time limit for the collection agency to respond but they must stop attempting to collect from you until they do respond.  The fact that they stop attempting to collect however, does not remove the negative item from the consumers credit report.

If you do not receive validation from the collector, stage #2 comes into play.
If they do respond but can’t provide the information you asked for, send a letter demanding removal from the credit file because they cannot substantiate that the debt belongs to you and go to stage #2.

One important point to keep in mind is that collection agencies are rather brilliant at conveniently losing or not receiving your letters so make sure you send your validation letters via certified mail and schedule a follow up call to make sure they got it.

Record all conversations, dates, times and representatives in a notepad for reference and for likely future use if they attempt to deny you of your rights.

Stage 2 s called Investigation –
The Primary Law you are leveraging in this step is the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 and the updated Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

This step goes right to the 3 Consumer Reporting Agencies: Experian, Equifax & TransUnion.  I will refer to these agencies as the CRA’s going forward.

The FCRA requires the CRA’s to investigate any items that you ask them to.  This is generally referred to as the dispute process.   Every negative item has to pass three tests.

1.  Is the item 100% accurate – if not it needs to be made accurate or removed
2.  Is the item 100% verifiable – if the reporting creditor cannot verify the item, it must be removed.
3.  Is the creditor able to provide this verification information within 30 days of receiving the investigation – if not the item must be removed.

Now – Caution!!!

If you dispute the wrong types of accounts, you could inspire a law suit so be careful.  More information on that is available in the Credit Dangers section of CPR’s Credit Success Pak which you can get for free on this site.  This is so important because no one wants to get sued just because they didn’t know NOT to do something.

Another caution has to do with dispute timelines.  If you dispute items on your credit file, you need to wait an entire 45 days before you send the CRA’s any additional information.  That’s because they essentially restart the time clock on all of your investigations if they receive additional information while the disputes are in process.

Patience is key here.

Items that can be disputed are late payments, collection accounts, judgments, technical errors in reporting, fraudulent accounts.  Don’t dispute anything that you know is 100% correct because it’s a violation of the law and as I’m sure you know, breaking the law is not usually a good thing.

So the last item in the dispute stage that I want to mention is to NOT use the online dispute process that the CRA’s offer from their web sites.  These have proven to be ineffective and a waste of time.  You need to send letters and you may even want to send the letters certified mail so that you have proof of their receipt and tracking of the timeline.

Stage 3 of the credit restoration process is both daunting and powerful at the same time.
Negotiation.

Now some people think that you can negotiate or even speak directly with the 3 CRA’s Equifax, Experian or TransUnion but they are virtually untouchable to consumers but keep in mind that they only report the data that is sent to them.

Negotiation must be done directly with creditors and collection agents which can definitely be an interesting experience if you don’t know what to expect.  You will specifically negotiate with creditors who have passed the validation test in Stage 1 of the credit restoration process and the investigation test in Stage 2.

Most of the time these creditors claim that you still owe them money so you’ll have to now deal with the balances they claim that you owe.  The goal of this stage is to negotiate settlements with these collectors but more importantly to get the creditors to delete the negative item from your credit file as if it never existed.

As you can imagine, collectors are very resistant to this agreement.  They will claim that it is illegal because they are obligated to report items correctly to the CRA’s.  But what they don’t tell you is that they are not under obligation to report the item at all.

Therefore, you will need to request that they stop reporting the item all together.

Be very, very careful with this step.

If you settle on a collection account that is older than 6 months old and it reports to your credit file as paid or settled with a renewed date of activity, your credit score can actually go down.  Yes, I said down.

Even though you paid the account there are two reasons why this can happen.
1.  Anytime an account is reported as settled for less than the full balance, the credit models will read that as a negative and will penalize you with a lower score.

2.  If the collection item was over 6 months old, it was starting to have a diminished affect on your credit score.  If the date is renewed, it refreshes the life of that collection account and looks like a new collection and again, your score will go down.

In order to avoid this, you must be sure the collection account is updated appropriately.

Of course the goal is to have it deleted so you should always go for that, but if they will not delete, you must try to get them to report it as paid or paid in full.  NOT settled.  In addition, you will want to be sure that they do not update the date of activity on the credit item.  The challenge, is that the collector will be very resistant to agree to do anything other than report it as settled.

Sometimes the collector will do nothing in terms of updating the credit file.  You need to know that they will tell you what you want to hear in order to get you to pay.  They don’t always follow through.

Negotiation is a powerful element of the process because it has the biggest opportunity for impact.  Taking a derogatory account that has a balance owed deleting that account and the amount owed all at that same time can and most likely will, have a dramatic impact on your credit score for the better.

I will be honest however, negotiating with creditors can be very frustrating and you must be emotionally detached as you do it.  Don’t try to argue with them as they will always win.  You need them to feel like you are working to solve the problem but you need them to help you too.  Some will be very nice and others will be downright mean.  It comes with the territory.

CPR is one of the only credit services organizations who actually picks up the phone and negotiates with creditors on behalf of a client. We do this because it gets the best results for the client.

If you have a question about negotiation you can submit that question from this site and one of our credit experts will reply via email within 24hours.