When faced with reduced loan volume, there are a number of business strategies lenders can take to navigate the tougher times ahead. But, rarely do I see management teams deciding to manage better and hold employees accountable for their performance. Many managers believe this strategy takes too long to execute and worry that it might ruffle the current sales team’s feathers.
In an excellent Harvard Business Review article, The Tough Work of Turning Around a Team, Bill Parcells, the legendary football coach of the New York Giants, Jets and Patriots, shared important insights about how to lead losing teams to success that are especially relevant for mortgage bankers today.
Parcells noted, “the challenges that I’ve faced are not all that different from those which executives deal with every day. The toughest challenge I’ve faced as a coach is taking a team that is performing poorly and turning it around.”
In his coaching career, Parcells said he learned, “You have to be honest with people — brutally honest. You have to tell them the truth about their performance — you have to tell them face-to-face and you have to tell them over and over again. Sometimes the truth will be painful, and sometimes saying it can lead to an uncomfortable confrontation. So be it. The only way to change people is to tell them in the clearest possible terms what they’re doing wrong. And if they don’t want to listen, they don’t belong on the team.”
So, my question for you today is: Are you holding your originators accountable for their sales performance?