As a reminder, here is the original 'Ask the Expert question':  "Okay, Dave. You are such a guru—then when are rates going to stop going up? My production is down 75% thus far this year and I am barely making a living. Several loan officers have written and some of the language was not so nice!"

In my previous column, I pointed to two important elements of value: the value has to be unique and of primary interest to your target. In the case of the real estate agent, they are interested in obtaining more business, just like you are. Thus, the final question is: how can you help them obtain more business?

Obviously, if you had leads to distribute, that would be the ultimate value. If every loan officer had their pockets lined with leads for agents, then the value question would be solved. Larger lenders are moving into the purchase market using this very concept—delivering leads to agents. And certainly, an individual loan officer can generate leads from their sphere as well. But an unlimited supply? Not likely. Thus, the next question would be, how can we help an agent increase their business without handing over leads every week?

Here are a few ideas:

• Become a mentor. Instead of giving them a fish, teach them to fish. So many agents are not great at marketing. Thus, if you can help them with social media, CRM’s, sphere marketing, or something else, you become a mentor instead of a sales person begging for business.
• Help them with their activities. Go to their open houses and help them convert visitors into buyers. Or call their previous visitors and try to provide the same type of conversion.
• Hold first time homebuyer seminars with them. Help them market the seminars. Marketing open houses should be a priority as well. By the way, public speaking is a great value-added skill.
• Turn their non-qualified prospects into buyers. Use credit simulators and credit score improvement experts to provide them with a pipeline of future buyers. This would give you a great opportunity to lead seminars in real estate offices (again, using your public speaking skills).

I could continue with the list, but I think you get the idea.

Note: I never said anything about providing programs and service, because that is what every other loan officer is trying to do. Have some additional ideas? Email them to me and I will feature your idea in a future edition. Hopefully I have stimulated your thought-provoking processes!

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..