Tag: Loan Officer Coaching

Seems that every 5 minutes there’s a zoom meeting or video going on about rates going up, inventory is down, and other things that you, me, and Pharaoh’s army can’t do anything about.

So it’s not that those conversations aren’t important, it’s just that they are not a function of my activity that actually increases my market share.

It may help for my own personal investing in the stock market, but for my mortgage business, those things are what they are, and they are that way for all lenders.  So it’s still a level playing field, even if the playing field is at altitude and the oxygen is a little thin.

I often times think that when I do focus on those things, it’s really me looking to not do those activities that actually make me money, you know, doing the actual activity that makes the phone ring so that we can take yet another application. 

“So Carl, what do we focus on?”   3 things

1. Sell what’s on the shelf.

Look, the vast amount of time, we are all selling the same programs and the same rates.  Nobody has “Magic Money”.  If my rates go up, so do yours and everybody else’s.  

So, some of the time that you may spend on charts and graphs that is guessing what the rate is going to be next December, I’m going to spend that time getting more customers and selling what’s on the shelf, both now and in December. 

By the way, whoever focuses on getting more customers… gets more customers..  

2. Keep your eye on your profitability.
Here’s the thing, some months, seasons, and years we sell more loans than others.  When we close a bunch of loans, we need more help and resources.  When we close a few less loans that “season”, then we need less help and resources. 

As a general rule of thumb, I have 5 to 7 loans per full time employee.  Those numbers keep us very profitable, yet leaves breathing room in our teams’ schedule so that at the end of each call when they are talking to the listing agents and the borrowers, our team can ask for yet even more referrals on every call…

… and guess what, when they ask for yet even more referrals on every call, we close more loans.  If they are too busy to use our “New Way To Say Goodbye” script to get more referrals, well, that’s costing me way more business than the rates going up or down.

If I have less than 5 loans per full time employee, somebody needs to be laid off, otherwise we are all in jeopardy of losing our business 90 days from now.  You can’t operate a business without a profit for very long.

3. Lastly, Save 25%.
This part has saved my butt more than the other 2 put together.  For the last decade or so, the lovely Mrs. White and I have saved 25% of net income.  So whatever is on the paycheck after taxes, we have saved at least 25% of that each month. 

Was it easy at first… NOPE.

Now that I’m sitting here with an 8 figure net worth, am I grateful that I did it… YEP!

Even if it’s tough, do it.  Rates go up, rates go down, I still live in a nice house, drive nice cars, my kids live in nice houses, we go on dream vacations, we support 4 other families (2 completely), we built a center for abused women in Columbia, South America…

…we set up scholarships for kids that otherwise couldn’t go to college, we give large amounts of money to many local charities, we paid cash for a car for a single mother that needed one, helped another single mother buy a house by giving her $70k, and my company is on very very very solid ground.

I don’t share these things to brag, but to inspire you to focus on where the real money is.  While most are looking up to see if the sky is falling, I’m sticking to the pro-active activity that actually sells more loans, and helps me be profitable so I can help more people.

Those 3 things I can control, and those 3 things have made rates going up or down a simple inconvenience, and certainly nothing to sweat about.

Sell what’s on the shelf!!

Want help on what specific activities to focus on to sell more loans so you can help more people?  Meet me here.

Your homie, 

Carl White

Ok, no shenanigans or anything here (that’s not the way I roll), I didn’t put “I left you a review” as the subject line to trick you.  I did it to share a simple and great idea that was shared at our Freedom Club meeting on Tuesday (that’s us in this pic).

I love the SIMPLE IDEAS THAT WORK and that somebody else can do for you, thus taking zero of your time, yet you get even more referrals… you know those leads that actually close. <gasp>

OK, here’s how it works.

Every time you have a closing, give the buyers’ agent, the listing agent, and the title company an on-line review.  You know, on FB, Google, Linkedin, basically any and every site that they have a profile (remember, an assistant can do all this for you… automatically).

Then, call them and let them know you enjoyed working with them and their team and that you left them a review.  In that call, just use a simple “call to action” to either have a coffee meeting or simply ask them for a referral…

Yeah, it’s just that simple.

Now, some less experienced LOs may think the ol’ fable of “I need to bring something of value before I can get a referral”…
Ok, no shenanigans or anything here (that’s not the way I roll), I didn’t put “I left you a review” as the subject line to trick you.  I did it to share a simple and great idea that was shared at our Freedom Club meeting on Tuesday (that’s us in this pic).

… but see, that’s the beauty of this, YOU ALREADY DID GIVE SOMETHING OF VALUE..

You left them a review and you said, in a very cool way, that you liked them.

And we all know, people do business with people they like..

And people like people who like them.

Now one thing to keep in mind here, we only do this with agents that we actually liked working with.  If somebody wasn’t pleasant, well, don’t do this, because this strategy likely will have you working with them more… perhaps MUCH MORE.

If you catch their voicemail, simply leave a message stating what you did, that you would like to meet with them or, if they are further than you care to drive, that you would like to meet with them virtually or simply tell them you would like to work with them some more.

Then send them an email with the subject line “I left you a review” and just repeat the same message in the email.

I love these simple ideas that actually work, and the dude that shared this idea with us said it’s really a cool way to get referrals (and an assistant can do it automatically every time).

If you need any help with the scripting, or what to say during these “coffee meetings” (whether you do them face to face or virtual or simply on the phone) and actually get referrals from these meetings, just schedule a strategy call and I’ll totally hook you up <no charge>.

The key is to take action with this right now.  Whoever does “it” first and fastest will always win.  It’s not who does things best, it’s who implements the fastest.

Talk soon.

Carl White