If you’re in the mortgage business and still trying to build your pipeline the way you did five years ago, you’re probably feeling the pain right now.
Lead gen is hard. The market has shifted. Consumers are changing. And let’s not even talk about your DMs being flooded with “lead gen experts” promising to 10x your pipeline with AI automation and no accountability.
That’s why I brought in someone who actually knows what he’s doing—Luke Shankula, founder of Loans on Demand. Luke has generated hundreds of thousands of leads, spent millions in ad spend, and helped thousands of loan officers turn cold leads into real, closed loans.
No fluff. No hype. Just systems that work. Here’s what we covered.
From Reverse Mortgages to Real Results
Luke didn’t start in marketing—he started in reverse mortgages back in 2012, working his way up from post-closing to account executive. When his company shut down in 2017, he didn’t just pivot—he went all-in on figuring out how to generate leads and build real client pipelines.
He started learning Facebook ads, funnels, long-form lead capture, and eventually webinars—all with one goal: helping loan officers build reliable, repeatable systems for lead generation.
The Most Common Mistake Loan Officers Make with Leads
You’ve probably done this (I know I have):
- You run an ad.
- Leads come in.
- You call them.
- Nothing happens.
- You decide “these leads suck.”
The truth? You weren’t ready. You didn’t have a nurture sequence. No follow-up system. No messaging dialed in. And you expected referral-quality results from a cold internet lead.
That’s not how this works.
Cold leads are not ready to buy tomorrow. As Luke put it, “No one wakes up and buys a house the same day. It’s a 6–24 month journey.” You either have the systems in place to stay in the room until they’re ready—or you lose them to someone who does.
Why Most Loan Officers Can’t Compete with Rocket or Zillow
You can’t beat Rocket at being Rocket. They respond faster. Their tech is better. Their funnel starts decades before a lead ever clicks “Apply Now.”
But what you can do is beat them at being human. Luke broke it down:
- Rocket may touch a consumer 80+ times before they convert.
- They use AI, data, and systems to scale.
- But they’ll never send a handwritten thank you card.
- They’ll never call a CPA with a referral.
- They’ll never show up in person at a closing.
Your edge? Personalization, trust, and being different—not “better.”
