Bridal shows, where soon-to-be newlyweds peruse dress samples, may be the ideal place to meet first-home buyers
Bridal shows, where soon-to-be newlyweds peruse dress samples, may be the ideal place to meet first-home buyers
First comes love, then comes marriage…and somewhere along the line there’s valuable business for savvy brokers. After all, under-45s are more likely to use a broker (42% do) then over 45s (only 28% do), according to a recent QBE report. Occupying a stall at a wedding expo can be an excellent opportunity to meet potential clients face-to-face, providing you do it right.
“It’s my third year (having booths) at trade shows and I have personally found a lot of success,”, Canadian Broker Deepak Bansal told MPA sister title Canadian Mortgage Professional. “I’ve been to the bridal shows, reaching out to first-time buyers; young couples looking to get married, are eventually going to be buying their first home and they need advice.”
Bansal is aware that home-buying isn’t a top priority for visitors to bridal shows, but with thousands of potential clients in one place, he insists they aren’t an opportunity to be missed. “At these shows we have giveaways; we get people to fill in ballots as a means for lead generation,” Bansal explains. “Once they’re at our booth, we talk to them very briefly because we know that mortgage financing is probably the last thing on their mind but we actually take it offline afterwards, we give them a call, thank them for coming to the show and set up an appointment to get them a preapproval.”
It seems that Bansal’s strategy is attracting the interest of other brokers. “The first year I didn’t see any brokers (at bridal shows), but last year I did see two other brokers and this year I noticed two other brokerages there,” he says. “I feel that more and more brokers are starting to see the benefits. There is a large cost involved and I think that’s what makes a lot of brokers shy away from it.”
And if you miss potential clients at bridal shows, you can catch up with them further down the line at home shows, where an older crowd looks for mortgage renewals, refinances and more, adds Bansal.
Have you tied the knot (mortgage-wise!) with any clients after meeting them at a bridal show? Please tell us below
First comes love, then comes marriage…and somewhere along the line there’s valuable business for savvy brokers. After all, under-45s are more likely to use a broker (42% do) then over 45s (only 28% do), according to a recent QBE report. Occupying a stall at a wedding expo can be an excellent opportunity to meet potential clients face-to-face, providing you do it right.
“It’s my third year (having booths) at trade shows and I have personally found a lot of success,”, Canadian Broker Deepak Bansal told MPA sister title Canadian Mortgage Professional. “I’ve been to the bridal shows, reaching out to first-time buyers; young couples looking to get married, are eventually going to be buying their first home and they need advice.”
Bansal is aware that home-buying isn’t a top priority for visitors to bridal shows, but with thousands of potential clients in one place, he insists they aren’t an opportunity to be missed. “At these shows we have giveaways; we get people to fill in ballots as a means for lead generation,” Bansal explains. “Once they’re at our booth, we talk to them very briefly because we know that mortgage financing is probably the last thing on their mind but we actually take it offline afterwards, we give them a call, thank them for coming to the show and set up an appointment to get them a preapproval.”
It seems that Bansal’s strategy is attracting the interest of other brokers. “The first year I didn’t see any brokers (at bridal shows), but last year I did see two other brokers and this year I noticed two other brokerages there,” he says. “I feel that more and more brokers are starting to see the benefits. There is a large cost involved and I think that’s what makes a lot of brokers shy away from it.”
And if you miss potential clients at bridal shows, you can catch up with them further down the line at home shows, where an older crowd looks for mortgage renewals, refinances and more, adds Bansal.
Have you tied the knot (mortgage-wise!) with any clients after meeting them at a bridal show? Please tell us below
