[caption id="attachment_9654" align="alignright" width="150"] Dave Hershman[/caption]

Dave: Interesting that you gave the example of marketing rates and programs in a question about value. It brings us back to an important point regarding value.

Value has to be defined as something your target is interested in--not what you are interested in. Your clients are not interested in mortgages. They are interested in real estate. Your agents are interested in selling real estate.

While I will admit that home loans help purchase real estate, it is not top of mind to their clients. No one says to their spouse on Sunday morning: "Honey, let's go look for mortgages today." Now with refinances, they already own a home and the value may be lowering their payments or paying off consumer debt, but that is another matter.

So, the next question is: how do you help agents sell more homes? If they are holding an open house, the more prospects that come to the open, the more likely they will sell that house. But holding opens is not about just selling the house.

Many prospects who visit are not tied to a real estate agent and, therefore, the agent could help them find another home to purchase. Or perhaps they have a home to sell and they are impressed with the agent's marketing. Now, the agent can pick up a listing.

Going even further, it is not unusual for neighbors to drop into an open house and be interested in selling their own home. Thus, holding opens can lead to a plethora of opportunities for the agent. The more prospects you can help them get to the open, the greater the opportunities that may lie ahead.

My answer is incomplete without some additional specific guidance with regard to the marketing aspect of providing value. It is also interesting that you mentioned you are used to marketing to real estate agents. I say that because many prospects come to an open house either with an agent or because they were directed to the home by an agent. Thus, marketing to agents is very relevant.

For decades, I have been discouraging loan officers from visiting real estate offices with rate sheets and/or doughnuts. Agents are not interested in your rates. They are selling homes. What if you arrived on a Friday with an open house flyer--an event you are sponsoring with one of your top agents? That gives you both credibility and something of value.

Of course, today you don't need to visit offices to get the word out. You should have an email list of key agents and hopefully this list is loaded into your CRM so you can get the word out at a push of a button. While you are at it, why not email your entire sphere?

Today, the world of social media enables us to reach our sphere and beyond. Posting the flyer is of interest to agents and those who might be interested in purchasing a home--or know others who might be interested.

Even broadcast texting services can be relevant--just provide a link to the flyer and/or a video. The video could be a video of the home or a short message from you with an invite. There are a multitude of ways for you to help the agent market the event, again with the goal of getting more people to the open which is the ultimate value you can provide.

Dave Hershman is Senior VP of Sales of Weichert Financial and the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School – the online choice for expert mortgage learning and marketing content. His site is www.OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..