Last week I spoke at a conference where the agenda was dominated by technology presentations. This is fairly typical of many industry events. My topic regarding sales personnel and the future sales organization was the next to last session. After my presentation, one attendee lamented, “I don’t know why there is such emphasis on […]
Fixing Mortgage Bizarro World! Read More »
While sales results have not been stellar this year, many mortgage banking managers believe that if their originators would just work harder, production would turn around. Unfortunately, working harder won’t make an appreciable difference amid our dramatically changing marketplace. What will? Succeeding in today’s difficult sales environment requires working smarter and adopting new selling
Working Hard is Overhyped! Read More »
One of my colleagues recently observed that mortgage bankers are facing difficult decisions regarding the fundamentals of their business. Caught between a rock and a hard place, these firms are trying to implement critical fixes while generating volume and revenues to fund the necessary changes — not an easy task! According to my colleague, the
Why Mortgage Banking Should Be \”Open While Renovating\” Read More »
One of my colleagues recently observed that mortgage bankers are facing difficult decisions regarding the fundamentals of their business. Caught between a rock and a hard place, these firms are trying to implement critical fixes while generating volume and revenues to fund the necessary changes — not an easy task! According to my colleague, the
Why Mortgage Banking Should Be \”Open While Renovating\” Read More »
Last week, a National Mortgage News article discussed the results of Fannie Mae’s Q1 2018 Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey which measures lender’s profit-margin outlook. According to NMN, mortgage lenders had the highest level of pessimism recorded since 2014. This is not surprising given the current challenges our industry faces: the decline of the refinance market,
The Four Pillars of Mortgage Sales Success Read More »
Anyone who has ever managed in mortgage banking has had a discussion with their supervisor regarding employees who are not working out as planned. The conversation usually goes something like “If we invest more time and money into this underperforming salesperson, he or she will turnaround and improve.” The problem with this approach is that
When Managers Make Poor People Decisions Because of the Sunk Costs Fallacy Read More »
Today’s customers are smarter than ever regarding the products and services they purchase. The internet has changed everything by providing a vast wealth of information on every topic imaginable including mortgages. Furthermore, customers are rating their experiences from eating at restaurants to buying vitamins to working with mortgage originators. These opinions carry an inordinate amount
Are Your Customers Savvier than Your Originators? Read More »
There is no question that an aging sales workforce is a top concern for many in the mortgage industry. The numbers are frightening when you consider that the average age of mortgage sales professionals is from the late 40s to early 50s. At this point, it is clear that experienced mortgage bankers (25+ years) far
Why Rookie Training Programs Driven by Producing Branch Managers Don’t Work Read More »
Recently, a mortgage executive told me that an originator had asked to use his personal marketing budget to buy leads from third-party vendors. Fortunately, the executive refused the originator’s request. Unfortunately, these requests are becoming more frequent and are indicative of the poor quality of originators at many mortgage lenders today. Before the internet, I
Are Your LOs Demanding Sales Leads? Read More »
During several recent conversations, mortgage managers told me they had planned to start or augment a rookie originator program but weak volume in the first quarter made them pull back on these initiatives. They felt that supporting a rookie program in the face of having to reduce expenses would be a risky move. While I
Why Rookie Programs Are Mandatory for Future Success Read More »
