Before loan officer software was invented, marketing was conducted mainly through direct mail campaigns, fax machines and cold calling real estate offices. Today, technology drives how most of us do business, including real estate agents and loan officers.

Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools available. It's a way you can easily reach your targeted audience, without the hassle of tracking down agents or the expense of advertising. You can easily measure your results, and best of all, you get agent "buy-in" with email like almost no other loan officer software.

However, email is widely mistreated. A good email marketing campaign is usually different from most loan officers' expectations. Sending rate sheets in the form of a message or sending the details of the latest loan program are items of little interest to real estate agents. If you send out these emails, you are wasting your marketing opportunity.

The Critical First Message

Your first step to a successful campaign starts by securing permission. You only want to send information to agents who want it and when you can market to thousands of Realtors at the click of your mouse, it's easy finding agents who want your information

My clients who make getting permission their first step continue showing impressive results. Take Mike G., a loan officer in Denver, CO., launched his first email campaign using Magnetic Email. He sent his first message, which requests permission to market his services, to a list of 12,500 agents; instantly he got 125 to respond.

That's excellent considering the average response rate using direct mail is only .05% - 1%. But what had Mike bouncing off the walls and calling my office expressing his gratitude was one of the responses came from a broker wanting to introduce him to 51 agents in his office. Gee, we've already spoiled Mike and he's barely started! See how the right loan officer software makes you psychic

Story Selling

For email messages to capture attention your approach has to be different. Traditionally, email is used to send short messages back and forth, not as high octane loan officer software. The big secret to making it work for you is to put intrigue into your messages. Think about your email like a well-crafted novel -- full of surprises and twists the reader doesn't see coming.

In fact, your emails are most effective when you stop soliciting and start telling stories. Use your emails to tell a story; your best ones are about how you've helped clients solve problems. Using a story as the backbone of your email marketing accomplishes several important things:

• It draws the reader in with a real life experience;
• It provides proof of your claims; and
• It establishes your expertise.

Your story sets the stage for the next important element -- the benefits of your service. Real estate agents know all about how problems affect their sales. When you demonstrate how you solved a client's problem, you show the benefit to the agent. Did you save the sale, keep the closing from being delayed, find a loan program that made it possible for the client to purchase? These are all situations that result in a direct benefit to the agent -- saving their paycheck.

Think about the problems or expertise you've used to help clients. Talk with each one to hear their side of the story and then ask if you can use it in your promotional materials. It's like putting loan officer software on steriods. Imagine how powerful your email will capture attention when you follow these steps repeatedly. Magnetic Email helps you do just that

Rather than show agents how you are like every other loan officer, show them how you are different. Use Magnetic Email, powerful loan officer software, to show how you help solve and prevent problems.  You'll get their attention and have them checking their in-box for your next email.