Closing Gifts What Was A Dud, and What Was A Home Run

One of our Freedom Club members (our top-level LO mastermind group) asked a great question…

“I am seeking some ideas for unique closing gifts that I can send out. Ideally, something universal that I can leave a lasting impression and that has my branding on it. Any ideas you can share with me?”

My response:
Great question! Here’s the thing, we have found that we don’t need to leave a “lasting impression”, as we will be contacting them quarterly with a phone call (using our past database scripts and the automated system) and monthly with our “handwritten” note (also done automatically).

Think of it like not needing a lasting impression when you leave a friend’s house after playing cards. You’ll be back next week….

Follow-up out trumps a closing gift every time.

The follow-up we do is 3-fold:

1. Call with a simple script 4 times a year (this is the most powerful and we have figured out a way to automate it).

2. Snail mail once per month. This has proved to give us huge results. The trick is to NOT send a newsletter or corporate looking postcard. We have found that an actual letter produces more goodwill and leads than anything else (I can show some examples of what we do).

3. And finally, a weekly email. The email we have found that gets us the best response isn’t about mortgages, it’s about what’s going on this weekend around your area. At the end of the email, there is a simple call to action that we call the“Super Signature” which has proved to be the secret sauce.

When I did a closing gift that had a “last impression”, it had zero effect on my closings from those past clients going forward. It wasn’t until I added the 3-fold follow-up strategies that I saw an explosion in my measured results.

This follow-up approach gives us an average of 1 closing per 100 people in our database per month. So if you have 500 people in your past database, that would be 5 closings…. PER MONTH, just from this simple strategy.

Now, to answer your most excellent question, I found giving them pizzas on moving day worked very well for me. After all, it’s what friends do for each other.

So, to schedule a time where we can map out, show you samples, and share how we do all this, along with my proven scripts, click here and I’ll get you set up.

If you have time, we can also show you all the benefits of members that you may be missing out on, but either way, it’s all good and totally cool.

After all, it’s what friends do for each other….

How They Recruited 50 LOs In 6 Months

Welcome to Loan Officer Freedom, the #1 podcast in the country for loan officers, hosted by Carl White.

In this episode, your host, Carl White interviews Wayne King and Paul Marsh, founders of Encompass Lending Group, discussing their successful strategies for attracting established loan officers to join their team.

They delve into the importance of shameless self-promotion in the mortgage industry and the significance of having a clear value proposition when recruiting loan officers.

Wayne and Paul share insights on their recruitment process, including targeting strategies, multiple touchpoints, and the use of video texts for effective communication.

They highlight the octopus method of marketing, emphasizing the need for a multi-faceted approach that includes events, agents, title reps, social media, emails, cold calls, video texts, and centers of influence.

Additionally, they touch on the importance of a structured onboarding process and the significance of utilizing tools like loan officer production lookup services for effective recruitment.

Don’t miss this insightful conversation with two industry leaders who have mastered the art of attracting top talent.

Contact Wayne King at wking@encompasslending.com or call the office at 281-644-0062 for more information or to connect with Encompass Lending Group.

Schedule a one-on-one free coaching call, click here or visit LoanOfficerStrategyCall.com.

Lock vs. Float: Help Guide Clients Through It

In this video, Carl White discusses the age-old question: should you lock or float your mortgage rate?

Carl shares his insights based on years of experience in the industry, emphasizing the importance of focusing on marketing and lead production to drive success in your business.

He highlights the potential risks of floating rates in today’s volatile market and offers a solution to maximize your loan closings.

Tune in to learn how to make the most of your marketing efforts and increase your lead generation.

Don’t miss out on this valuable advice to boost your mortgage business!

For more tips, strategies, and scripts – we invite you to a completely FREE coaching call here.

Going from 6 per month to 20 this month

Welcome to Loan Officer Freedom, the #1 podcast in the country for loan officers, hosted by Carl White.

In this episode, your host, Carl White sits down with John Moore and Nick Rocco, to discuss their successful partnership in the mortgage industry.

They emphasize the importance of their partnership in balancing work and life, leveraging each other’s strengths, and holding each other accountable.

They attribute their recent success in closing loans to following the Daily Success Plan (DSP) and utilizing tools like Mortgage Coach and MBS Highway.

Don’t miss this inspiring conversation about teamwork, growth, and success in the mortgage industry.

Connect with John and Nick at nick.rocco@CCM.com.

Schedule a one-on-one free coaching call, click here or visit LoanOfficerStrategyCall.com.

Surprising LO study results

Good news:
A recent large study showed that 54% of all borrowers only speak to 1 originator.. which happened to be the 1st one they talked to. Remember, they only talked to a grand total of “1”.

Get this, 92% closed with 1 of the first 2 that they spoke with.

So that means that for the vast majority of us, only 8% are “shoppers” and the other 92%, as long as we actually answer our phones, we have a very good shot of closing the deal.

What that all means is, if we are finding ourselves with more than 8% shopping us, we likely have 1 of 2 issues

read on…

The ONLY 2 issues that would have an LO getting shopped more than 8% of the time is…

1. The source of your leads
2. Your scripting

As it turns out, “referred leads” close at about 25%. So, want 8 closings for the month? You just need about 1 referred lead per day.

Just that simple.

(by the way, we can show you how to get even more referred leads on this call)

If you find yourself significantly lower than 25% on referred leads, it’s likely a scripting issue.

More good news…

I can significantly help you with scripting.

If you don’t think scripting is a big deal, try giving out your phone number with 1 number missing or 1 number changed… well, the desired result changes DRASTICALLY with just that one small change. That’s scripting.

The same is true with how we make our offers to real estate agents to start or continue referring to us AND when we make our offers to our prospective borrowers.

It’s a big big big deal.

I have spent my entire career crafting my messages, and working on my scripting. It has been a very very very good use of my time.

When you are ready to hang out on a Zoom and bounce ideas back and forth, whether it’s scripting or “How to get even more referred leads”, I’ll totally hook you up on my dime.

Just pick a day and time here. It’ll be a very good use of our time.

Cheers to being the 1st one they talk to (holding up my glass of herbal tea as a toast)

Loan Officer Freedom