As more and more technology becomes available, it seems that many loan officers have forgotten how to write an effective marketing letter. And if you haven't written one in the past six months, you are leaving money on the table. A well-written loan officer marketing letter sent to your database of past customers can produce almost immediately results.

If you include the following three parts in ever loan officer marketing letter that you write from now on, you will gets leads. And that's what you are ultimately after: leads becoming loans, loans becoming larger commission checks.

1. A Powerful Headline. Yes, you will put a headline in your letter. Why? Because headlines have been proven to work in a letter. And don't just plop down any old boring headline like, "Hello From Your Friendly Mortgage Professional!" Your letter won't get read.

The headline needs to have a hook. It needs to give the reader a very good reason to finish reading the letter. A great headline would be, "I Just Saved Jack $586 A Month On His Mortgage Payment - Let Me Tell You How!" You would then explain how you helped Jack by refinancing his existing mortgage. This takes us to the second important part of every loan officer marketing letter...

2. Tell A Story. Do not hit your customers and prospects over the head with a sales pitch. Their guard will go up and your letter will quickly find its way to the trash. You need a more subtle approach. You do this by tailoring a story to what you are marketing for.

You have already seen the refinance example above. Are you looking for first time homeowners? Tell a story about a young couple who came into your officer looking to buy a home and how you helped them. Real estate investors? Tell a story about a misguided but ambitious customer of yours who came in after listening to a few Carleton Sheets CDs and how you educated him on the realities of real estate investing. You get the picture. And finally, the third important part of every loan officer marketing letter...

3. A Powerful Post Script. Besides the headline, your postscript or P.S. will get the most eyeballs. Many people actually read the headline and the post script first before deciding on whether or not to read the entire letter. Don't make it a weak P.S. Restate the purpose of your marketing letter and tell them what you want them to do next.

Using the refinance example above, a strong postscript would be, "Helping Jack has shown me that I may have other customers who could save money on their mortgage payments as well. Please call me at 555-555-5555 so that we can re-evaluate your financing situation and see if you can save money too!"

Writing an effective loan officer marketing letter is not a difficult task if you remember to include a powerful headline and postscript, and tell a story that is related to what action you are looking for. You don't have to be Shakespeare to write a marketing letter, but you do have to write. So I suggest using these guidelines to come up with several different marketing letters and see the results for yourself.