Build Trust and Authority to Earn More Clients

Last week, I was talking with a mortgage loan officer on the phone about online marketing. He wanted to create some landing pages that he could use to capture leads. He would give them some basic information on the page to start. Then, if the lead wanted the rest of the information—the good stuff—they would need to fill out a lead capture form to gain access.

His thought process got me thinking. Does he have it all wrong?

In this scenario, the client must commit to you before you’re willing to commit to the client. You’re making no effort to provide value. And you’re certainly not building any trust or authority about the subject for which they’re seeking information.

Freely Sharing Valuable Information Builds Trust and Authority

I know that many mortgage professionals are worried that “no one will buy the cow if they’re giving the milk away for free.” I understand this fear. It’s hard to put your knowledge and value out there for free. Especially when you’re unsure if a potential client will see your value and call you vs. taking your information and running with it.

Now, there will definitely be some people who will digest the information you provide and never use you. Those people will likely never use you anyway, so I’m not sure I would worry about that too much.

However, I would argue that by freely sharing your knowledge through blog posts, audio podcasts, videos and more, your potential for converting your website’s visitors into new clients is very high. Because sharing knowledge and providing value does something very powerful for you.

It builds trust and authority.

When you provide valuable mortgage content to your website visitors, you’re building trust and authority with them by showing them you know what you’re talking about. You’re making the first step in building a trusting relationship with them and they’ll appreciate the effort. When you do meet face-to-face, the hardest part is already over.

Now, let’s put this thought to the test.

Make Yourself Memorable

Let’s say your mortgage website, with its lead capture form, goes toe-to-toe with someone else’s mortgage website, only theirs is freely sharing any and all information I could ever want on this particular subject. I visit your website first, and I’m not quite sure if I’m ready to jump right in and give you my information quite yet. I poke around at what is available, bookmark your site, and continue searching.

Next, I land on site number 2. There’s so much information to read, I get lost for almost an hour reading word after word and page after page of great, high-quality, very informative content. In fact, I get so lost that I completely forget I ever went to your site in the first place.

It’s been a couple of weeks and I’m feeling much more educated and ready to talk to a mortgage professional. Who do you think I’m going to call?

Try It Yourself

Take this scenario and apply it to something in your life. Let’s say you’re trying to find out how to fix something on your car. One site wants your information before they’ll give you anything. Another site has content-rich articles with diagrams and photos on exactly what you’re looking to fix. Which site will you remember when you need to order the parts to complete the project?

If you really want more clients, prove that you deserve their business by providing them value, gaining their trust, and building your authority. Do these things, and you’ll have more clients than you could ever dream.

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