Blog Archives - Page 40 of 43 - Loan Officer Freedom

Think You Need More Leads? Probably Not.

November 29, 2021September 19, 2018 by Carl White, Mortgage Marketing Animals

There is a beautiful thing about numbers. An old philosopher named Pythagoras summed it up with “number rules the universe”. Basically, numbers can tell you what you need to know about your business. But what numbers should you track? There are only four numbers you need to know. The question is what to do about what they show you.

So I was talking with a loan officer who said he needed more leads. I asked him to show me how many leads he had coming in – that’s the first number you need to know. If you aren’t bringing in enough leads, then it’s all about lead generation activities. (Read Crushing Call Reluctance to learn more about that.)

For example, we’ll say he was bringing in 100 leads / month. Out of those 100 leads, my next question was how many leads were turning into applications – that’s the second number you need to know. Let’s say his answer was 50 leads were turning into applications. That is a soft spot in his business because he should be getting about 90 out of those 100 leads turning into applications. If that number of conversions isn’t happening (anything below 60% of your leads is an indicator something is wrong), there are only two things that could be the cause:

There’s a bad source of leads. I’ll share a personal example with you. I once bought a spot and set up a table at a flea market. Did I get a boatload of leads? Yes. Did they convert? Well, let’s just say that was the last flea market I did with my business.
The follow-up from leads to application is too long. If people have to wait, they’ll go somewhere else because it’s more convenient and they’re ready to get rolling. So if they get your voicemail, or you’re in a closing and they wait 3 – 4 hours before you can get to them, that’s a problem. You need systems to help you turn those leads into apps – somebody to answer your phone or handle your voicemails immediately, or even an online system.

So for this loan officer, he doesn’t need more leads – he needs to increase his conversions to applications. That right there will make a big difference in his business. But let’s keep going.

Once we have the 90 applications a month, the next number to track is how many of those are pre-approvable. Ideally, you want 45-50% of those applications to be pre-approvable. If that pre-approvable number is low, it means you’re fishing in muddy water (aka, flea markets). I once had a referral partner, a real estate agent, who I thought was the best because I was getting TONS of leads – until I figured out that they weren’t converting to apps, much less being pre-approvable. Your numbers will tell you what you need to know about your business. In this case, you need a good lead source.

Moving on… once you have your 100 leads a month, of which about 90 turn into applications, of which about 40 become pre-approvable, then it’s about how many are going to close. That’s the fourth number you want to track. About 50% of your pre-approvables should go to close. If you have pre-approvable apps that aren’t closing, there is only one issue – follow-up.

So you can see that having enough leads is not always the issue; instead, it can be about what you’re doing with the leads you already have coming into your business. You need good lead sources, systems for quick and convenient follow-up, and then to continue that follow-up through the close.

Now, getting leads in the door, converting them to applications, getting those to be pre-approved – all those happen immediately. But your closes will lag behind your pre-approvables by about 90 days because people don’t always buy right away.

Frankly, I talk with loan officers all over the U.S. every day. From what I see, 25% of loan officers have issues in each area – leads, apps, pre-approvables and closes. So 25% of loan officers think they need more leads, 25% of loan officers aren’t getting enough apps from their leads, 25% aren’t getting enough pre-approvables and 25% of loan officers aren’t getting the closes they should from their business.

Do you need a big fancy system to track these numbers? No. (Now, I do have to say my team does because you know I am transparent with you – but you don’t need it.) Just get out paper and a pen and make chicken scratches next to each of the four numbers: leads, apps, pre-approvables, closes. Then watch your percentages – if you aren’t getting a 90% conversion to apps, a 45-50% conversion from apps to pre-approvables, and a 50% conversion from pre-approvables to closes, you have a lead source issue or a follow-up issue.

The good news is that you might be getting plenty of leads to be successful in your business. The uh-oh news is that you might not be giving them what they need to stick with you. But that’s where me and my team can help. If you want a 1:1 strategy session to help sort out what’s happening in your business, reply to this post and let me know. We’ll be in touch.

Carl White, Chief Officer of Coolness
Article Originally Published on LinkedIn

P.S.! Come hang out with me for 3 Days in beautiful Clearwater Beach!
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The Old Ways Are New Again In Business

November 29, 2021September 10, 2018 by Carl White, Mortgage Marketing Animals

Life happens fast. Maybe it always has been but there was a time when people had real conversations with each other. People took the time to learn about each other’s lives and thought about how to help them get what they wanted in life. Maybe then it looked like harvesting crops or raising a barn but it’s not so different today, really. People still want to harvest the good things they have coming in life and they still need a roof over their heads. That’s where you come in, right?

Let’s talk about what our grandparents just ‘knew’ in their bones about handling business with compassion, courtesy and competency.

Know that community is important. We aren’t designed to live without our community, our tribe, our people. Take the time to participate in your community – from Boy Scout pancake breakfasts to volunteering at the local soup kitchen. You might be surprised at who you meet along the way.

Invest in people. Your interest in and making time for someone else’s experience makes your world bigger. This isn’t about a ‘transactional’ relationship – it’s about a mutual investment that gives you (both) a sense of belonging as well as access to more resources. And yes, that might turn into business opportunities too.

Help when people need it. Back in the day when people fell on hard times, it wasn’t a judgment on their character, but an acknowledgment of how hard life can be sometimes. Other times, people just need an extra hand to help walk their dog or drive their kids after school or get an introduction to someone they want to meet. In ways large and small, do what you can with what you got to help someone else.

Be respectful. It’s an oldie but it holds true today. Call people at normal hours of the day, unless you have advance permission to call on evenings or weekends. Care enough to make sure the other person understands what you just said. When someone says they need to go, break off your conversation. Forgive them when they rush or don’t do what you expect or want them to do. Treat people the way you want to be treated.

Make sure the deal is fair. Nobody likes to feel taken advantage of, especially in business. The goal is for each side to feel like they got the better end of the deal. Sometimes this is simply a language thing in how something is said, while other times it’s about how much compromise is needed to make a deal work. Whatever the case, do what you can to make sure the deal is fair for everybody.

There is a lot of talk about how the customer should be the focus of business – from customer-oriented to customer-centricity, like this is somehow a new concept. The reality is that business has always been about people, especially in the mortgage loan business. And you have the power to do the right thing through your business by taking care of your people, your community and your deals with transparency and integrity. Do what your grandparents would have done and your business will take care of itself.

Carl White, Chief Officer of Coolness
Article Originally Published on LinkedIn
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P.S.! Come hang out with me for 3 Days in beautiful Clearwater Beach!
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The Evolved Loan Officer: What You Need to Know to Be Successful

November 29, 2021August 29, 2018 by Carl White, Mortgage Marketing Animals

I sit around and think about stuff… like, what stops people from being their best? How do the most brilliant people I know sometimes struggle in their business? What would it take for people to really fire up their inner greatness and go for it?

And then I remember that somebody somewhere along the way said something that became their reality. Maybe they were told they would never be good enough, or that they would never amount to anything or that they should just settle for what they could get. Those are the voices that get inside a person’s head, especially if they hear them when they were kids. (Ask me, I know…)

Anyway, I’ve come to learn that one of the sorry / not sorry things that life does is it brings us what we need to become our best self. Challenges and mistakes and “failures” only happen when we don’t know something – yet. We do our best to avoid those things but the reality is that they help shape who we are over time. They make us stronger, smarter, better.

I read somewhere that personal evolution is about stripping away what isn’t you, shattering the myths that hold you small and taking apart the belief systems that you never questioned before until you know what you really, authentically stand for in life. That doesn’t sound like much fun.

But if you think about it, growth inherently means discomfort because you are going past what you know into places you don’t know. And, really, personal growth means you’re always going to the unknown so you’re going to be uncomfortable until you figure it out. That’s probably one of the secrets to business success right there – get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

To get back to the subject, what does all my thinking mean for your business?

In my mind, there is such a thing as ‘desirable discomfort’. I mean, you’re going to have some discomfort along the way but, for me, if I can choose what it is and when I’m going to experience it, it somehow makes it a little easier to get through it. And I think that’s what it means to be an evolved loan officer – you know it’s not always going to be easy and you show up anyway.

I don’t think that being ‘evolved’ means you sit on a bed of lotus flowers with a gong bell every day. Instead, I think ‘evolved’ means that you got the experience and the commitment and the courage to keep going in the face of what could be daunting odds. An ‘evolved’ loan officer is someone who understands that people are behind the deals… that the deal is not about the property but the family whose life will be changed by living there. An ‘evolved’ loan officer gets out of their own head enough to say yes to being the best self they can be that day, to being greater through service to others, to making the calls and having the meetings and working with their team to get the deals done because it’s all about helping people with every deal.

The evolved loan officer has the responsibility, and the capability, to bring together all the elements needed to drive deals to help people get what they want – the family who is buying the home, the realtor who is making commission to feed their family, the team member who gets paid for their contribution. It’s a whole system – and the evolved loan officer puts it together and makes it happen.

9 Things You Can Do to Be an Evolved Loan Officer

1. Stop making it about you and focus on others. If you don’t show up, a lot of people will miss out on the opportunities you would generate by finding deals and making them happen.

2. Make sure you are current in your knowledge and credentials. If you need to upgrade your skills or licensing or credentials, just do it. Anything less means you are out of integrity.

3. Revisit your business plan to see how you’re doing. Be honest with yourself. Make sure that what’s on your to-do list really matters. If you’re off-track, catch it and course-correct it now.

4. Stop listening to the voices and start acting on what you know to be true. I guarantee you that each and every one of those critics in your head are dead wrong! Every time one of them squeaks, take immediate action. Just like darkness cannot live in the light, those voices don’t matter when you’re doing the right thing.

5. Get out of perfection and get on with it. Today is it – this is all we ever get, really. The only moment that matters is right now. Good is good enough. That’s it. Imperfect action is better than perfection that never happens. Just go make that call or see that client or celebrate a victory with your team – that matters more than waiting for the perfect circumstances to take action.

6. Automate routine tasks. You need to focus on high-yield activities – the ones that only you can do. If a task can be automated, or delegated, that’s the right way to handle it. Nobody else can do what you do. Your team, your family, your clients, your realtors are all depending on you to do what only you can do. So figure out how to get everything else handled and go do what you are uniquely qualified to do.

7. Teach people. People don’t like to be changed – but they like to learn. More educated realtors means more deals. More educated clients means cleaner, faster-closing deals. More educated team members means less hands-on work for you. Invest in the people around you with your knowledge and it will pay off big-time.

8. Create a business culture that puts people first. Putting people first means your customer service will be excellent, you will be more creative in solving problems, your team will have their GPS on how to make decisions and your company will be a good place for people to contribute their time, energy and expertise. That creates teams, loyalty and good ‘feels’ (which can help carry you through the tough times too).

9. Live your values. When you are aligned with and act from what you know and believe, you are congruent. Relationships, conversations and activities become simpler. You have transparency and authenticity and clarity when you know and live your values. You make business decisions from that deep place within where you know what’s right for you (or not). Your values are like a GPS that help you walk away from deals that aren’t a fit. And you can make the most of opportunities that come your way because you just *know* when they’re right for you.

So being evolved is an everyday, right-here, right-now way of living and working. It’s a philosophy and a way of operating in the world. It’s a way to create next-level success that can exceed any of your wildest dreams.

And, just in case you do happen to get a big gong bell in your office, let me know. I’ve always wanted to ring one of those…

Carl White, Chief Officer of Coolness
Article Originally Published on LinkedIn

The Top Opportunities for Loan Officers Today

November 29, 2021August 22, 2018 by Carl White, Mortgage Marketing Animals

Loan officers are smart, make the most of their resources, build relationships and live on making things happen for their clients. After all, that’s the nature of our business. But I have another take on that for you… here are what I would say are the top opportunities for loan officers today, should you choose to accept the mission behind them.

Screw Up
Yes, you read that right – screw up. Bad. Really blow a deal out of the water every which way you can… miss deadlines, communicate in vague terms, screw up the paperwork, etc. If you’re gonna mess up, get it all out of your system in one blazing shebang of a bad deal. Why? Because it will never, ever happen again. You will learn more from a deal gone sideways than a dozen deals that go flawlessly, so long as you’re paying attention. So screw up, learn from it and never go back.

Exhaust Yourself
Loan officers will often get up with the sun and work until all hours of the night. That’s awesome! Do it again tomorrow, and again the day after that. Do it so that you don’t even know what day or time it is… do it so your family has to introduce themselves to you and you don’t know the meaning of a hot meal. Exhaust yourself so utterly and completely that you can’t fight your own success because, when you’re that exhausted, you’ll either get out or get smart. If you get out, this industry wasn’t for you in the first place. But when you get smart, there’s nothing like it. You can literally create the lifestyle of your dreams when you build your business right. So exhaust yourself until you have no other option than to work smarter. (Been there, done it. This works.)

Get Rejected
I mean it – get more no’s than you thought people could say in a day. Get to love the word no because it’s the one word that will inevitably lead you to a yes. You won’t know when it will happen but, at some point, you will hear a yes. Some might call it working the numbers but I call it working the no. This is literally the fastest way to learn the fine art of turning rejection into revenue.

(Bonus: ‘working the know’ is a play on words that I might explore in a future post. Are you interested in that? Let me know.)

Play Small
Let the phone be bigger than you in your business. Take only the cherry-picked deals – not the ones that need a little elbow grease. Close one, maybe two, loans a month if it’s a good month. Live on ramen noodles and cereal. Cross the vacations and massages and new car off your to-do list. Don’t push any conversation if it might make you look ‘sales-y’. Keep doing what you’ve always done to stay small, invisible and safe. In fact, reduce whatever you’re doing so you’re only closing one loan every other month. Play small until you remember in your cells what it feels like for life to pass you by… play small until that bigger part of you says NO MORE! That’s your pivot point. That’s when you know, like you know you are a man or a woman, that you will never, ever experience playing small again. You got that lesson. That’s when you can get on with being your best self, serving your clients and living a bigger life.

I know I said that these are the top opportunities for loan officers today – I still mean that. There are times when you get knocked down and you have to get up again in business, whether you have to crawl or claw or fight. You have to be able to take it and keep moving.

And yes, there are times when you have to learn the hard way. I prefer to think of it as learning through opposition, because the learning – the kind you can’t forget – happens when you experience the opposite of what you really want.

In fact, in my experience, going through these kinds of situations is almost a rite of passage for loan officers. Selfishly, I want to help you change that. Sharing what I know gives me indescribable joy when I see the difference it makes in people’s lives. But sometimes people just gotta learn their own way.

If you’re one of those people who need to learn the hard way, then I wish it’s as easy and quick as possible for you.

But if you’re one of those people who want to make it as easy as possible to learn, go and grow, then get my latest book – www.CrushingCallReluctance.com – and take advantage of the free session I am offering there. Seriously.

Now I want to learn from you. What do you see as ‘opportunities’ that didn’t feel like it at the time? What ‘opportunities’ grew you and your business because you endured them? What were some of the nightmares that caused you to become better at what you do?

I want to know because I want others to see your story and be inspired by it. Share what you’ve experienced loud and proud in comments below – and then comment on others’ stories to let them know you’re inspired by what they’ve shared.

After all, to paraphrase a teaching I read, these kinds of opportunities show that we’re all just walking each other home.

Carl White, Chief Officer of Coolness
Article Originally Published on LinkedIn

Are You Meeting Your Own Expectations?

November 29, 2021August 15, 2018 by Carl White, Mortgage Marketing Animals

Being a loan officer is a big responsibility. Because of what you do, a family will have their dream home – or not. A single young adult can buy their first new home – or not. Your family gets the lifestyle they want and deserve – or not. You get to do what you love – or not. When it’s the ‘or nots’, that’s when you are probably not meeting your own expectations around your business goals and results.

So let’s break this down… what is the anatomy of not meeting your own expectations?

Well, you probably get excited about the outcomes and start out strong. You make your calls, looking for the win and, when you get no’s or a lack of interest or lots of voicemails, your enthusiasm kinda shrinks up. You had high hopes and expected things to go the way you wanted but, when they don’t, you take it as a personal hit to your confidence. You aren’t meeting your own expectations.

Now chances are, if this is the case, you’re probably an attractive person. And no, I’m not just saying that to suck up! Seriously – attractive people just don’t have practice with the ‘no’s’ in life. So that’s the first thing here – look in the mirror and smile at what you see because the smile is what people are going to remember about you.

Next it’s about how heavy that phone gets as you are making your prospecting and touch-base calls with people you know, referrals, previous clients and people you want to meet. If you find yourself distracted by, well, anything, call reluctance is probably getting in your way.

If that’s the case, congratulations! The most successful salespeople have experienced call reluctance too. That means you are destined for greatness because you are in touch with the fear. Now let’s get you past it.

Are you following through on what you know how to do in making your calls? Do you have the contact information you need ready? Have you set aside dedicated time to make your calls? Do you have someone answering your phone for callbacks while you’re dialing? Do you have a script to help prompt you through the call when you reach someone on the other end? Do you have your calendar open so you can schedule a face-to-face meeting?

If you aren’t sure about how to set yourself up to be successful in meeting your own expectations when making calls, I can help you have the confidence you need to get it done. In fact, me and my buddy Kevin Gillespie wrote a whole book on this – you can see it at www.CrushingCallReluctance.com. But I digress…

Only One of Four Things Can Happen

When you have yourself geared up mentally, and you are prepared with a proven system (like what we teach), only one of four things can happen.

1. There’s not a love match.

Sometimes, even when you execute perfectly, you and that other person just aren’t a good fit to work together. In that scenario, remember that your true commitment is to help those who want to be helped – by YOU. You are developing a relationship to help them get what they want. You are both servant and adventure guide in the process. If you aren’t a fit together from the first call, it’s going to be painful for both of you. Just let go and move on.

2. You got unexpected training.

Making mistakes in a sales process are never easy or comfortable while you’re in the middle of them. If you said something that just didn’t fly or make sense, apologize and make it right. If you don’t know something, say so and commit to getting the right answer. Make sure that what you’re saying is what the other person is hearing so there’s minimal miscommunication. Then chalk it up to training – be authentic and transparent about it. Sometimes that is the way you will create bridges with another person who recognizes you are doing your best and they genuinely like you for that.

3. Not right now.

Timing is everything. Part of why you make calls consistently is so that you stay top of mind and you’re right there when that person is looking for a loan or to make a referral. But if and when that doesn’t happen right now doesn’t mean it will never not happen. (Think that three times fast – sheesh.)

The point is that if they didn’t say yes right now, the timing might not be for right now. That just means you have more time to build that relationship until they’re ready to say yes.

I know a loan officer who made his calls every Monday for more than a year. One Monday, he didn’t make his calls and one of his real estate agents – who never picked up the phone – posted on Facebook that he must be dead or it’s not really Monday because he didn’t call! And then all that agent’s real estate agent friends got to see his name on her Facebook wall, so he got even more connections from that post! So make the calls and trust the timing is happening on a bigger calendar than the one you use to schedule appointments (get it?).

4. They say yes.

What? They said YES??? Yep, that’s what happens when you use your system, are consistent in showing up and making your calls, build your relationships over time and are in the right place at the right time.

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Now, it may take a lot of those first three scenarios to get to the fourth one where they say yes – but it’s a numbers game. The more no’s you get, the closer you are to that ‘yes’ scenario.

And if you want a system that works to help you with CrushingCallReluctance.com, check out my new bestselling book. It’s the investment that will pay you back – I guarantee it.

Carl White, Chief Officer of Coolness
Article Originally Published on LinkedIn