Let’s face it, the loan officers that focus on lead generation instead of “chasing bank statements” are the ones that make all the money.

A member of our Mortgage Marketing Animals (and a super cool and smart guy) asked a great question the other day, and I thought I would share his question and my response.  I think you may find this helpful.

His great question:

“In the past I used an online service to help drive consumer direct business, and it ended up being more of a headache than what it was worth….

The idea of being able to provide my realtor partners more leads, and drum up extra business could be worth it. But I was wondering if some fellow animals had any experiences or tactics they want to share.

I like to come at my business from every angle, if it gives me a few deals and keeps a few realtors happy, why not?”

My response:

“Here’s the thing, I work with already successful agents.  They don’t need me to give them leads because they already have listings that do that.  People looking to buy houses generally call agents first, not LO’s.”

“The top 3 complaints of Realtors about LOs are:
1. Don’t close on time
2. The LO doesn’t inform me what’s going on with the loan
3. The LO doesn’t follow up on the leads I give them.”

“The top agents don’t complain that the LO isn’t giving them leads.  Only the struggle bunny agents complain about that.”

“Solve those top 3 complaints, and you will have a very robust business with an army of agents giving you the leads that they already have.”

“#SwimDownstreamNotUpstream”

So do we give Realtors leads?  Of course we do.

When we market to our past database, we refer them back to the agent that referred them to us in the first place.

When our past database refers us to a friend, family member, or a co-working that is looking to buy or sell a home, of course we refer them back to the agent that introduced that person in the first place.

But understand, it’s been my experience (in helping to build a multi Billion $$ lending “empire”) that simply sticking with the main 3 things has been the thing that has really moved the needle for me and the LOs and branch managers on our team.

Most everything else is a distraction and perhaps a feeble attempt to sell us something that we may not even need.

Do those 3 things first THEN we can look to add to those things.

Just sharing my thoughts in hopes of relieving you of what may be unnecessary stress ☺

A buddy of mine, Frank, kind of threw a glass of cold water in my face some time back, to help bring me to my senses, and it really helped me out, so I thought I would share with you.

“You don’t have to remove all of your flaws and insecurities in order to succeed. You just have to accept them and move forward anyway.”

See, when I became a loan officer, I had major doubts of whether it was going to work out. I knew very little about “loans”. Just enough to pass the test.

I also had never done any real sales work, I’m a major introvert (there’s a surprise), easily distracted, and somewhat “technology challenged”. Sound like a recipe for success? Hardly!!

But here’s what I did have (and have always had)…

Take Action Now. Or more accurately, “Take Imperfect Action Now!”

Find what successful people are doing and do what they tell me to do…

Even if I’m afraid, even if I’m unsure, even if

See, most people live in a world of “IF-THEN”…

IF I knew what to say, THEN I would call that Realtor.

IF I had the lowest rate, THEN I would get more loans.

IF I had more loans, THEN I could get some help.

So, if there’s somewhere in your life where you’re doubting yourself, I hope today’s story helps you remember…

That’s totally normal. Even to be expected. And you may never feel 100% ready or certain.

Whatever the “next step” is for you right now, you’re probably far more ready for it than you realize.

So Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway.

Also, when you need any help with structuring what to do next, or even what to first, or what the next step is, or “what to say to who”, feel free to reach out and I’ll totally hook you up.

We are coming into the holiday season already. 

The question that always comes up is, “Should we take time off, or should we “grind” while everybody else is taking time off?”

Here’s what has helped me the best…

First of all, do good focused work on a 32 hour work week for 11 months out of the year, and, as long as we have focused on building up our referral network, and not focused on chasing page 3 of the bank statement, we will build up our business so much that you will have earned the right to take off the entire month of December.

But here’s the thing, most LOs are so busy putting out fires and chasing conditions, that they don’t take the time to work on building up their referral network.  

We are coming into the holiday season! What is the one thing that most loan officers and real estate agents start doing as the holidays approach? That’s right! They stop selling!  Have you ever heard this from one of your real estate agents? Let’s wait till after the first of the year. Or, Let’s talk later.  Or, Hey I want to take some time off! Have you perhaps I said those words yourself?

Let’s chat about that for just a second.  As you know, I am a huge NASCAR fan! Did you know that on the superspeedways like the Daytona 500 that they virtually never put their foot on the brake the entire race, other than when they come in for gas or tires.  They have their foot on the gas pedal the entire time.  When they need to slow down they just take their foot off the gas for a second and then back to full throttle.

This holiday season, take a lesson from NASCAR and consider not slamming on the brakes!

Continue to make your phone calls.

Just consider different topics.  For example, invite them for a coffee just to catch up! Ask about their families.  Ask about what kind of presents they are going to get for their spouse or their kids. Ask what they’re going to do for the holidays. Do they get a real tree or an artificial tree? Do they open their presents on Christmas Eve or on Christmas day? Meet them at the mall and have coffee with them while they’re shopping!

The key is, when January comes, instead of trying to restart your cold engine, simply change your conversations back to “sales mode” and start asking for the business again.

You can encourage your real estate partners to do the exact same thing. It’s much easier to go from 50 to 200 miles per hour than it is to go from 0 to 200. There’s a lot less wear and tear on the car and the engine!

This holiday, do what other loan officers are not willing to do! Keep making your calls! Come January, you’ll be thanking me

The worst call is a past client calling you to refi.  The reason it’s the worst call is because you should have called them first. 

(standby, I’m going to give you my $1,000,000 past database script)

Think of how many of our clients could use our help, but they don’t know what you know.. or another LO is calling them and helping them with their new purchase or refinance…

… and cashing “your” commission checks in the process (ouch).

… and what about all their friends, family members, or co-workers that they would refer to you, if they were simply called on from time to time.  (there goes even more of those commission checks)

So why don’t most loan officers do that? 
Less than 3% do…. Oh, and the 3% that do, well, they close 84% of the loans…

The issue most the time is the LO doesn’t know what to say.

I’m going to help you with that right now by giving you a script that has made myself and other LOs millions of $$ in commissions. 

Let’s just call it another random act of coolness. 

Because, you see, for every 100 people in our past database (or list of friends and family members), that we are calling 4 times a year with “Carl’s past database script”, we close an additional 1 to 2.7 loans EACH MONTH for each 100 people.

So that means if you have 300 people in your past database, I would expect you to close another 3 to 8 loans EACH MONTH. 

So let’s just use as an example that you make $2,000 per loan, that would be an extra $6,000 to $16,000 PER MONTH… EXTRA each month.

It’s like paying $16,000 NOT to call your database. 

And if you have a past database of 600, well, you can see the numbers get crazy.

I mean after all, a Rolls Royce Dawn convertible goes for about $5,000 per month.  For many LOs, simple by calling their dataset, it’s like getting a free Rolls Royce convertible… or even 2 of them… one for you and one for your best friend… (I need a new one if you are looking for a new best friend).

OK, back to the script.  It’s super simple.  Here’s the basic 3 things in it:

1. Remind them who you are (it may have been years since they last heard from you)

2. Purpose of call is to thank them

3. Call to action

Here’s what that sounds like:

“Hey <insert in their name>, this is Carl White with ABC Mortgage, I helped you with your mortgage last time.  How are you guys doing?”

<let them respond>

“The reason I’m calling is I simply wanted to thank you for letting me help you last time with your home financing, so thank you for letting me help.  I also wanted to let you know when you have any real estate or mortgage questions, you can call me.  Do you have a pen to write my number down or do you just want me to text it to you?”  (this gives me a chance to get their cell phone number if I don’t have that yet)

<let them respond and give them your number the way they want to receive it>

“OK, well, I want to be respectful of your time, so I’ll let you get back to it.  One more quick thing if I may.  Can I ask you a quick favor?”

<let them respond, they always say “yes”>

“Can I count on you to give me a call any time a friend, family member, or co-worker is looking to buy, sell or refinance, can I count on you to give me a call, would that be ok?”
<they always say “yes”>

“Ok, thank you so much, again thanks for letting me help, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon.”

That’s it. 

Imagine making thousands and thousands of dollars, just that simple.

We try to overcomplicate things and buy all kinds of widgets that likely have much less results than that simple script.

So put on your big boy or big girl pants on and let’s see what an extra $16,000 or more per month could do for you ☺

… by the way, I like the Pearl White color on the convertible Rolls best…. Just saying…

Do me a favor, reach back out and let me know how many new loans you get in the next 90 days using that simple script…

Set up your 1:1 coaching call here: https://wrgo.io/TheMarketingAnimals/18309

Act to find a better way, not the “right way”.

One thing that keeps LOs from taking action and getting epic results is they are waiting to find the “one right way.”

Breaking news, there isn’t “one right way.”

Keep finding a better way to talk to referral partners and borrowers, working on even better scripts and to improve your conversion rates, better ways to get more referred leads.

So get off of thinking “What’s the right way”, instead, think and work on, “what’s a better way”

So many get stuck on what’s the one right way.

Instead, work on actually doing the activity and continually work on what’s a better way to improve what you may already be doing now.

Work on doing a better way, then a better way, then a better way.  

Act, not just to do the “right way”, but on making it better, then better, then even better. 

You are acting to get feedback on the way you are doing it, then improving on that.  If you aren’t doing anything, you aren’t getting any feedback.

If you aren’t sure what to work on first, here’s my formula:

1.   What will make your first dollar first (to get positive reinforcement)

2.   What strategy will you actually complete (no judgment here)

3.   What strategy will you enjoy doing (we don’t do stuff we don’t like doing)

4.   Which strategy can you delegate out once you get it up and going with results (measured by actual loans coming in to you)

We need to be able to delegate out these things, otherwise we have created a “job” and not a “business”.  A business that is scalable!

Read more on how you can reverse engineer your dream life.

Work on being “better”, not perfect.  Searching for perfection will freeze you in your tracks from ever starting…

One more thing, a sincere thanks for letting me be part of your day today.  It’s a true honor.  Really. Book Your Complimentary Strategy Call to learn how to successfully plan out your days and make more while working less – schedule a call here.