So everyone in the real estate, mortgage, and title business knows that there have been some massive compliance changes like TRID.
The big question is how do you use these industry regulations to drive more revenue?
Old-time marketers tell you that the best way to market your business is by advertising the obvious but overlooked.
Today I’m going to give you a few suggestions on how to use compliance to your advantage and market compliance like the beer industry did in the early 1900s.
The story below comes from a copywriter’s website and is about how a famous marketer, Claud Hopkins, helped turn around the Schlitz beer company in the early 1900s.
At the time, all brewing companies advertised the same way.
They all yelled and screamed in advertisements about how pure their beer was. In fact, some companies even took out full page ads so they could get the word “PURE” in bigger letters.
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But it didn’t mean anything to the public because all beer companies claimed their beer was pure. Now, Hopkins didn’t believe in doing anything until he really understood the products and the people who bought them.
So Schlitz brought him out to their brewery for a tour.
Hopkins finds out what “pure” really meant
On the tour he was shown plate-glass rooms where beer was dripping over pipes. Asking why they did this, Hopkins was told that those rooms were filled with filtered air, so the beer could be cooled without impurities.
Next, he was shown huge expensive filters filled with white-wood pulp that provided a superior filtering process. The manufacturer then went on to explain how they cleaned every pump and pipe, twice daily to assure purity. And also how each bottle was sterilized not once or twice, but four times before being filled with beer.
Then, Hopkins was shown the 4,000 foot deep artesian wells dug to provide the cleanest and purest water available, even though the brewery sat right on the shore of Lake Michigan. (At this time Lake Michigan was not polluted and could have provided clean water.)
Finally, Hopkins was led into a laboratory and shown the mother yeast cell that was a product of 1,200 experiments to bring out the robust flavor. And he was told all the yeast used in making Schlitz beer was developed from that original yeast cell.
The Revelation
“My God,” Hopkins said, “Why don’t you tell people in your advertising about all these steps you are taking to brew your beer?”
But, the Schlitz people told him, “All companies brew their beer about the same way.”
“Yes,” Hopkins countered, “but the first one to tell the public about this process will gain a big advantage.” Hopkins went on to create an advertising campaign based on what he’d learned from the tour. Essentially, he told the story that every brewery could have; but didn’t.
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The Results?
Within six months, Schlitz became the number one selling beer in America. Why? Because rather than telling people the same thing everyone else in their industry was saying, they actually explained what it meant and gave people a reason to care.
How does this relate to title insurance, you ask?
Here are a few examples from my area of expertise, but they’re probably are many other ways to spin this in your favor.
Advertise Security & Compliance
If your website isn’t already, you should secure it with an SSL certificate. SSL is the technology used for PCI compliance and to protect credit cards online.
You know the little HTTP and HTTPS in a website URL. Well the S in HTTPS means secure.
This will protect any NPI that a customer or prospect puts in your website – say a social security number in your contact form.
Marketing Compliance
To market it, you must explain it in a way that your customers will care and appreciate you for it. Something like, “with all of the identity theft and insurance fraud going on today, we secure our website to protect your data from the moment you reach out to us.”
Now you see why that is so important right?
It is far better than just saying “ALTA Best Practices Certified.”
Nobody but your peers will know what that means.
The same is true if you are SSAE SOC2 compliant.
Shout it from the rooftops but in a way that it will matter to more than just the lenders you work with.
Advertise Service
Another idea is to use testimonials to your advantage. What do testimonials have to do with Compliance?
ALTA’s Best Practices has Pillar 7 – which states that you must track consumer complaints.
But my suggestion is to turn that on its side and ask for feedback after the closing. This will not only get in front of any complaints but if asked correctly should also give you plenty of testimonials that you can use in your marketing.
Having someone else sing your praises is some of the best marketing you can do. Especially when a new prospect can relate with the person that left you the testimonial.
For example, a mother with young kids might relate to a testimonial from a family who you helped purchase their first home. A couple looking for a retirement home might relate to a similar couple that you closed, so on and so forth.
Conclusion
Again, there are likely many other ways to use compliance to your advantage as a marketing tool.
Are you doing anything different to market your title agency?
Remember just because the other title companies must also comply, it doesn’t mean they are using it to that compliance to actually drive more business.
So this week I challenge you to think about how to market your title compliance like beer.
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