The Leading Brands To Learn Marketing To Millennials From
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To many people I’ve talked to, about “advertising mortgages to millennials”, marketing is marketing. There are sales and techniques that will work, no matter what. If you invest enough money in a strong advertising presence, online or offline, it’ll work no matter what. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The fact that some companies are more successful with young people than others doesn’t mean that they invest more in marketing. It means that they do it smarter. Read more…
Tips for Attracting the Right Clients
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If you specialize in providing young people and first-time homebuyers with top-notch mortgage lending services, you should (obviously) advertise to them that that’s what you do. You need to know how to reach and approach your target group, where to look for new leads, and how to make sure that your current clients spread the word among their peers. Read more…
How to Get Better at Anything: The Ultimate Guide
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If you think that I’ve gone completely crazy after reading the title of today’s post, give me one more minute of your time, I promise I’ll make it worthwhile.
When it comes to improving our skills, there are hundreds of articles that will tell you how to be a better boss, the best performing loan officer, a great husband or a better painter. I am personally guilty of a portion of these articles, but writing about all the particular skills that we deem important for particular jobs, I realized that there are a number of eye-catching intersections that are common Read more…
The Most Common Financial Mistakes Young People Make And How To Avoid Them
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Being young comes with learning about all sorts of laws that the world functions by, and that learning often happens the hard way. Starting out in one’s career as a fresh graduate, or trying to find a way to maintain a savvy and practical lifestyle both require staying clear of certain (financial) missteps that, in many cases, can result in long-term financial hardship.
Since you’re the person who’s helping young people make their first big financial decisions, you’re also often in the best position to give a helping hand in improving their day-to-day financial management. I’ve put together a few of the biggest financial mistakes that young people make Read more…
Are You a Good Negotiator?
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Negotiation: daily bread for anyone who’s involved in the sales industry. Every sales job listing wants you to excel at negotiation. Mainly because it’s a skill with the remarkable quality that its mastery may become the deciding factor in all of your closings.
Just like everyone else working in sales, I’m sure you want to get better at selling, whoever your customers are and whatever it is that you’re offering them. The goal of good negotiation is to come up with a solution that offers Read more…
Helping People with No Credit History Get a Mortgage
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Not having a credit history is, in some ways, a good thing: no big loans taken out means no big debts to pay off. However, the absolute lack of any line of credit might mean trouble down the line. This is an issue that’s especially concerning all the first-time homebuyers out there, more than anyone else.
For a lender, a client’s credit history is what a CV is to an employer; without it, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get a loan (or a job). If you start working with a client with no line of credit (or a non-traditional credit history), there are many extra obstacles and challenges to overcome. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that people with no credit history aren’t good contenders Read more…
Refining Your Communication Skills
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Communication. The fundamental tool for information exchange between one another that is completely vital for our existence both in our private lives and at the workplace. Also, its mastery is one of the biggest requirements for a loan officer’s job. It’s a skill, and as such it’s easier to acquire and improve for some, but can be a complete nightmare for others. Read more…
How to Build Credit as A Young Adult
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I always tell my clients that when it comes to buying a house, it’s never too early to start with the planning. As early as high school or college, in fact. If your goal is working with young homebuyers, I’m sure you will agree that establishing a good base for a credit score is vital for loan application success in the future — and it eventually doesn’t matter if their goal is to borrow money to buy a car, an expensive gaming pc or even a house. Loans are loans, and a good credit score is necessary.
A great many young people have little to no idea about how credit scores work, and what they can do to improve theirs. Let’s give them a hand and Read more…
Helping Young People Get A Mortgage In Their Twenties
Published on May 15
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
I don’t know about you, but I remember when the people around me started getting mortgages for flats and family houses (some of them, at least), and I remember how difficult it all seemed. I was focused on growing my career, and I was doing well. Still, the thought of buying a home was a little … maybe not quite overwhelming, but at least daunting. And heck, I’d been educated in finance! Do you remember those times? Now just imagine the struggle that people with different educational and interest backgrounds are going through when they start thinking about getting a home of their own. For these reasons particularly, some don’t even consider moving out of their parent’s house. “It’s nonsense,” they think, “there’s no way I can get a mortgage now.”
Then a big life event comes, such as a major job offer or surprise pregnancy, and there’s no way around it. It’s time to get on their own feet. Read more…
4 Skills You’ll Need for A Job in Finance
Published on May 11
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Whether you’re pursuing a career as a loan officer, processor, banker, accountant, stock broker, analyst or any other kind of finance-oriented position, you’ll know that it takes a certain skillset and personality type to be good at what you do. But it’s not all about mathematics and analytical thinking.
I’ve spent some time thinking about these requirements, and I’ve put together a short list that will give you an overview of what to concentrate on when improving your finance skills and building a base for career advancement. Read more…
The 3C Formula for Success
Published on May 9
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
The 3Cs are three steps, but don’t get too excited. I’d love to tell you that all it takes to improve your and your team’s skills is to stop drinking coffee, smile at your co-workers and do some yoga in the morning. As much as I wish it were true, I know just as you do that boosting leads and improving revenue is by no means a question of a day’s worth of miraculous changes.
In the world of finances (and not exclusively there, of course), getting better at what you do takes hard work, constant education, and learning from (often costly) mistakes.
I’m not going to give you any magical tricks, any zen miracles, nor “add water” success. What you will get, though, is… Read more…
Why You Should Treat Your Website Like Your Online Office
Published on May 5
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Whether we like it or not, life’s all about first impressions. The bad thing about them is that they’re easily wrong. The great thing on the other hand is that if they come out just right, it can be the first step to having a client for life. That being said, it’s much harder to turn a bad impression around than to maintain a positive one, and with this statement I’m getting to the point I’d like to make today.
Look at your office (provided you have one). Think about what you see, and tell me how you think people feel when they come in. Read more…
The 5 Uncomfortable Skills That Will Make You More Successful:
Improvement Through Discomfort
Published on May 4
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Every career has dozens of blogs covering the skills requisite to that career — from how to be better at closing sales, to how doctors can better diagnose specialty conditions. I’m not here to do that today. Today, I want to talk about 5 skills that will absolutely make you a better loan officer, but have nothing to do with sales.
Getting on top of things usually requires stepping out of our comfort zone, and doing uncomfortable things. Not all the time, and not over the top, but regularly and with control. Read more…
The 1 Career Lesson I Wish I Had Learned In College
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
A skill is something that sets you apart from the crowd, something that opens doors and leads you to new opportunities.
Back when I first started in sales, I was a completely different salesman than I am now. Experience, of course, has played a key role in my junior-to-senior transformation, but looking back, it isn’t just me who’s changed. It’s also the world of sales itself that has undergone some serious shifting. With that as background, I’d like to talk about college for a moment. College teaches you to engage in Read more…
Financial Education
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
It’s common knowledge that people are not thoroughly educated about financial matters. It’s always been a silent wish of mine to replace advanced mathematics or biology in high schools with practical stuff for the kids to use in everyday life, part of which should be financial education. Not every parent is able to give their children good financial habits, plus money is really something we all work with every day, so it’s good to know what it’s all about. Just look at the numbers. 39% of American adults have ZERO Read more…
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
It’s human nature to make mistakes. However, it’s also human nature to learn from them and avoid repeating them over and over. In the modern mortgage industry, everything has sped up. “Internet speed” and “network effect” apply to more and more industries every day — and if you haven’t noticed, ours is already one of them. To be sure, financial services in general, and the mortgage industry in particular don’t move as quickly as some others; but that doesn’t mean we don’t move. And that pace of movement accelerates every day. Failing to keep up is, effectively, the same as making a mistake. So, let’s look at three “mistakes” many of us make every day, and see if we can’t work through them. Read more…
4 Steps to Amazing Borrower Satisfaction
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Are your customers satisfied with doing business with you? If your answer is anything but yes, today’s post is for you, because I’m going to talk about how to make the borrower experience as smooth and pleasant as possible.
People (young people especially) are getting used to fast and comfortable solutions on their five-inch touch screens, and their customer footprint is extending in all industries, forcing those industries (including ours) to adapt to the “anytime, anywhere” approach. Your job is Read more…
The 3 Skills You Need to Acquire to Become a Top Performing Loan Officer
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Everybody keeps talking about skills. You need skills to do a job, or to have a hobby. Everything you do and the way you do it is based on how good you are at doing it, in other words, how skilled you are. Anything you want to do, you need to acquire the skills for.
The great thing about skills though is that, unlike abilities, they can be acquired and refined — Read more…
On My Way to CRM Mastery!
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
You know what my job is?
It’s to build the single most friendly sales environment on the planet, for loan officers. Period.
To that end, at the end of February, I took a two-day trip to California, to hang out with some of the most impressive people in the mortgage business, but, more importantly, to get a crash course in what I believe to be the best mortgage CRM on the market today. The platform is called Read more…
Technology & Banking: Getting to Millennials
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
As unbelievable as it sounds, I still know people who refuse to put their money in a bank, let alone handle their finances online. But millennials see things differently: “Changing attitudes towards online financial services and a distrust of major banks mean that more than half of millennials would now consider taking out a mortgage with Read more…
A Young Family’s Guide To Buying A House
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Being a first-time homebuyer and starting a family at the same time isn’t easy. But exactly the fact that it isn’t easy gives you the perfect opportunity to step in as an expert, and give a helping hand in their time of need.
Below I’ve attached a simple guide for young homebuyers that can help your clients find their way around their first big, home investment. Read more…
Paying off student loans & affording a mortgage: Possible?
Published on March 6
Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
When we’re talking about first-time homebuyers and their motivations to buy and general role on the real estate market, one of the biggest topics that usually comes up as the number one setback is student loans. Young and inexperienced homebuyers have several things at play against them, such as Read more…
Bring Your Mortgage Online
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
These days, it takes a whole lot of material and originality if you want to stand out of the crowd, and it’s especially true in the ever-evolving world of online marketing. Luckily enough, the Internet is so forthcoming and comprehensive that there will always be enough space for everyone’s business promotion. Space, yes. Audience, not so much. Attracting the right audience and gaining profit with your online advertising very much depends on how you decide to approach the huge but rickety advertising platform that the Internet turned out to be. Read more…
Going Digital
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
We’ve talked about the fact that millennials, the promising twenty- and thirty-somethings, are the enormous but challenging future of the worldwide housing market. Although they’re a generation who tends to leave their parent’s home the latest due to their student debts and a fierce housing market that has not yet adapted to the newcomers, they are coming into the picture now.
Millennial Mortgage Boom Ahead
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
As you may have noticed, my articles are based on helping you market mortgage solutions to millennials. But why did I choose this topic, and why is the “biggest generation” so important for the housing market? Let’s talk data and shed some light on it. Hopefully by the end of my article you’ll realize that millennials should be your number one priority.
Simple Marketing Hacks to Attract Young Homebuyers
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
The famous millennial generation is coming of age and becoming the major moving force behind the world’s economy. They’re finishing their studies, building their careers, starting families, and, yes, looking for a place to call home. However, their views of life, including their spending habits, information acquisition,and expectations regarding communication are different than what we’ve been used to. If you want to do some effective marketing, regardless of the product you’re selling, you’re going to need to adapt to their expectations.
A Gift for Millennials- First Time Buyers Guide
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
If you’re going to market to Millennials, then one thing you’ll have to learn is to provide valuable content that isn’t completely pushing your own agenda. As a mortgage broker or banker, one of the ways you can do that is through giving them great content on social media. To help you out, I’m give you a first-time buyer’s guide.
Mortgage Myths Keeping Millennials from Owning A Home
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
When I originally conceived this post, I thought it was going to be relatively easy to research and write. My expectation was that I was going to come up with 5-10 “myths” that you all could use in your marketing efforts, to help convince Millennials that the time to buy is now, and you’re the one from whom they should get their loan. Weirdly, that didn’t happen. Instead, what I found was that there are very few “myths”, and that the reality is that most Millennials aren’t buying either because they flat-out can’t afford it, or they can’t afford it within the context of their lifestyle (e.g., they might afford a house outside of Jersey City, but they want to live in Brooklyn).
So, that’s busted. What now?
The 1 Secret You Need to Know to Market to Millennials
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Sean Zalmanoff – Regional Manager at USA Mortgage
Though I’m based in St. Louis, I cover a large area of the country, and one of my favorite cities in my region is Nashville. Of course, Nashville’s famous for country music and the Grand Ole Opry, but for me it’s also a great business city because of its unique demographics.
Nashville skews young. A third of the population is made up of Millennials, and the median age for the city (33.9) is four years younger than the median for the state as a whole. And that means, if I’m going to be successful in Nashville, I’m going to have to be successful with Millennials.
