When training originators, part of my preparation is to view students’ LinkedIn profiles so I am familiar with their backgrounds. Time and time again, what I see are profiles that are poor or unprofessional with photos that might include the salesperson’s wedding day or his or her pets. This may seem funny but I find […]
The Little Things Really Matter in Sales Read More »
Conventional wisdom is prevalent in the business world. As we all have seen and even experienced in corporate life, conventional wisdom assumes that old ideas always work and that these assumptions should not be challenged. While conventional wisdom may hold true in some circumstances, it does not hold true in changing situations. Eric Romero, Ph.D,
Why Conventional Wisdom isn’t Smart Anymore Read More »
A recent Stratmor survey revealed that the primary growth strategy of lenders, especially independent mortgage bankers, is stealing market share from other lenders through branch acquisitions. No question that mortgage bankers have committed to this approach. Firms such as Stearns, Caliber, Guaranteed Rate and others have certainly climbed the leaderboard in market share. The critical
Why Market Share Strategies Fail Read More »
A recent New York Times article discussed the virtual reality technology that Halstead, a leading real estate developer, has invested in to provide a realistic walk around its new building construction. Matthew J. Leone, senior vice president of digital marketing for Terra Holdings, Halstead’s parent company, noted, “We sell based on emotion and attaching that
Have We Reached the End of Open Houses? Read More »
Congratulations to the Denver Broncos on winning Super Bowl 50 and Peyton Manning — a class act. Now, on to the world of mortgage banking. A recent Stratmor report on originator tenure revealed that almost 40% of producers have less than one year with their lenders. While this is not surprising to me since I
The Keys to Reducing Originator Turnover Read More »
Most sales managers contend that they want a company of sales superstars but in reality, they manage using a bell shape curve (normal distribution) with 80% as average and two sets of producers at the extremes — great originators and under-performers. The normal distribution model is used for determining pay, resources and rewards. The
Ignore Sales Superstars at Your Own Risk Read More »
Every day there is a new announcement about how this technological tool or that will solve a lender’s production problems. A lot of dreams get crushed and money lost when invariably, the technology doesn’t change sales results. Whether it is Salesforce.com or another vendor, senior sales managers are often disappointed when installing a CRM system
Why CRMs Fail to Improve Sales Results Read More »
Last week, there was no bigger story than the Powerball lottery and the first drawing to hit a jackpot of over $1 billion. Every media outlet asked people what they would do with a $1.3 billion payout. What is so attractive about an activity in which participants had a 1 in 292.2 million chance
What the Powerball Lottery Can Teach Managers Read More »
In a recent conversation, a retail manager mentioned that his company is paying originators 200 bps for production. I have heard high numbers before on comp plans, but this was an eyebrow –raiser. I asked, “Are they top producers?” He answered, “Not really, they produce $8 million in loans a year.” Why would a
Signs that Mortgage Lending Has Jumped the Shark Read More »
Hope your holiday was great! Last year certainly flew by. Now, 2016 is here and the market challenges are upon us. This is a good time to think about what it takes to be a successful manager in a volatile marketplace and what drives failure. For some insight we can look at the hottest
Three Management Fails that Can Get You Fired! Read More »
