Good PR is better than advertising. Make sure that you meet your local journalists regularly and give them general industry comment and newsy stories that aren’t always related to your firm. Press release the best products you have available from lenders and link these with events that are in the news. The overall PR strategy should produce good coverage and get the phones ringing whenever your name is mentioned.
A variation is to sponsor a competition in the local press. The cost could be surprisingly small, but newspapers are often interested in free competitions that produce decent prizes for their readers. The competition questions could be mortgage-related and your firm will receive a free high profile.
Local sponsorship is another good way of building profile, and involvement in the local community will put your name in front of both consumers and fellow professionals.
Looking more inward, too few firms realise the potential of their existing database of clients. Why not plan a telesales session to speak to a targeted group on a particular new product? Alternatively, take the best ‘fee free’ remortgage product you can find and work with the lender to mail your existing clients, offering them remortgage opportunities. The key is that activity breeds activity, so don’t wait for the business to come to you.
Stephen Knight
