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Let’s be honest.  There aren’t a lot of consultants or agencies serving the mortgage and title industry when it comes to public relations or marketing commmunications.  There are many reasons for this.  After all, this is a very “hands-on” industry.  Many simply choose to go it alone–even without an “in-house” marketing department.  Many of the smaller businesses place great value on everything but their own time.  I’ve seen small agency owners eschew a $300 plane ticket to make a 12 hour drive at an odd time, solely in the name of cost savings.  And I’m not necessarily condemning this.  But it helps explain why many of the more established PR agencies out there aren’t hanging out at mortgage and settlement services conferences.

It also occurs to me that many (not all, but many) folks in the industry, having little experience with marketing communications agencies or consultants, have questions about the way those agencies or firms go about things.  They question the value of the services, or at least the cost.

So, in perhaps the most self-serving post you’ll ever see from me, I’d like to take a moment to answer a few questions or misconceptions I come across fairly frequently from the good people of the title and mortgage industry.

Myth #1:  Marketing firms/consultants are just too expensive.            Maybe they are.  Maybe they aren’t.  But before you make that statement, take a moment to understand what you are paying for.  You’re  not just paying for the actual “deliverable,” be it a news release, a flyer, an e-newsletter, and so on.  You are also paying for the expertise of that firm, ostensibly acquired over hours, days, months and years of experience focused solely on marketing and PR.  You’re paying for the relationships that firm has spent countless hours forging for your benefit (with the media, with the conference directors, with the printers, with the artists, and so on).  Those relationships are likely with people you haven’t focused on in your networking, but they bring faster and better results to your campaign.  You’re paying for the data and systems that firm has in place to expedite your campaign.  Try to do a news release by yourself.  It’s not just a 400 word document.  It’s the research into the 10, 25, or 100 specially targeted publications in which you’d like to see the release appear.  It’s knowing the name of the editor you’d like to write your story (and knowing when that editor leaves).  It’s knowing that editor A doesn’t like or accept contributed articles, or that editor B is insulted when you ask to have a look at a draft story prior to publication.  Yes, you or someone at your firm can do this.  But if that person is not a marketing director or VP of communications, is it something on which you should be spending that much time? 

Myth #2:  I don’t like dealing with agencies.  I end up paying them just to learn about my industry.

Then stop.  Now, before I continue, realize that most good firms or consultants will need some collaboration.  You cannot expect anyone to tell your company’s story based upon your press kit or a 30 minute conversation.  Not well, at least.  On the other hand, if your firm or consultant has no idea what the industry is about, what you do generally, or even a basic grasp on who you’re trying to reach, then you shouldn’t be charged to teach them.  I’m not saying that a good PR firm with no knowledge of your industry shouldn’t ever be considered.  I’m saying that they should do the lion’s share of the work getting themselves up to speed.  And it shouldn’t be on your dime.  A good marketing/PR consultant only needs to learn YOUR business….not your entire industry.

Myth #3:  I hired a consultant once.  He/she was never available.  When he/she was, he/she was too busy lecturing me to hear what I had to say.  And when I did give a project the “green light,” there were countless unproductive meetings and milestones, missed deadlines and an end result that looked nothing like what I asked for.  So I avoid consultants and firms now.

This is a performance issue.  It does not mean that all consultants or agencies do the same thing.  If an owner has a bad experience with technology, should he or she do away with the thought of processing a transaction electronically, and go back to paper and fax?  In my humble opinion, a good outside marketer may disagree with you on how to best acheive your business goals.  But he or she makes a recommendation, explains it and makes sure you understand why.  Then, he/she does what you want, post haste.  With the caveat that Web sites always take longer than you may think they should, and that one does need to have reasonable expectations on turn time for marketing deliverables, it’s also fair to say that if you sense that your consultant or agency is procrastinating, he/she/it may well be.  If it isn’t clear why things aren’t going as you expect, ask the difficult questions.  If you don’t like what you hear, or get unclear or fuzzy answers, move on.  But don’t hold the agencies and consultants you’re not working with accountable!

Myth #4:  Most of the marketing types I talk to just waste my time.  They just want to play with the latest tools and gadgets, regardless of whether or not they help my business.  They want me to do social media just because everyone else is doing it…

Again, this is a performance issue, not a failure of the entire marketing and PR industry.  Realize that, in many situations, there are valid reasons to use some of the newest approaches.  The title industry, in particular, tends to be conservative.  But it’s latching on to social media (I’ve blogged about why numerous times.).  Use the smell test here, too.  Ask pointed questions about why your agency or consultant believes you should have a blog, or a Facebook page.  Who’s going to be keeping this up?  How will it make money for my business?  If the answers make no sense or are incredible, you may not be with the right firm or consultant.

Myth #5:  We don’t need marketing right now.  Just sales.

Ok.  So you want to limit your growth/revenue to those you can personally reach out and touch?  What’s your conversion rate?  How many sales people do you have on your staff?  Are they fully dedicated to sales, or are they also your closers, COO, general counsel and EVP of Strategy?  How much time does your team devote purely to sales?

My point is that, even a full-sized sales organization handicaps itself without marketing.  Depending on the timeline of your sales cycle, your conversion rate and the market, your sales team likely spends a lot of time striking out—even the best do.  It’s much like baseball: a numbers game.

So if you have more leads than those personally contacted by the sales team; if those leads have heard about your story before the sales guy arrives; and if those leads are firms you had no idea might have an interest in your product, that’s a bad thing?  If so, fair enough.  You don’t want marketing.

Many businesses meet their marketing and business objectives by having an in-house marketing staff.  That’s an equally viable way to do good marketing and PR, and there are certainly pros and cons to going that route, just as there are to using outside help.  Just be sure your marketing staff isn’t also spending inordinate amounts of time on things unrelated, such as closings, pure sales, etc.  That’s no different than hiring an agency to produce a single flier, and then complaining because sales didn’t spike immediately.   It’s also no different than hiring an escrow officer, and having him/her spend 50% of his/her time doing system training.

Marketing, like anything in business, requires a thoughtful, sustained and consistent effort.  It takes time.  It sometimes takes money.  It is not a silver bullet.  But executed well, it brings long term stability and growth.

Even if you have a good marketing team, find out what they really need to succeed.  Sometimes, an agency or consultant can be a good supplement.  They have the time and resources to devote to your marketing projects.  They don’t require benefits and are paid, basically, on a 1099 basis.  And, if performance is lacking or the budget falters, they’re much easier to remove than a W-2 employee.

I’d love to hear from those who don’t believe in using agencies or consultants why they don’t (unless, of course, it’s because they have an in-house marketing staff…which is just as viable and effective.).  Just drop me a line!