With the pro football season finally underway, the enthusiasm for my team — the Philadephia Eagles — is high. When you haven’t won a championship since 1960, every year could be THE year. This season, I find it interesting that the Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has replaced 40% of his team, even though he […]
Is There a Leadership Shortage in Mortgage Banking? Read More »
It seems since time immemorial, organizations have been faced with deciding whether to position themselves as a lowest cost seller versus a provider of value. In fact, just last week, I had this same discussion with an executive regarding a fairly new mortgage start-up. It came as no surprise that the new company believes they
The Continuing Debate of Selling Price vs Value Read More »
Prospecting has been a hot topic for sales organizations this summer. As the industry moves away from a refinance market, generating new customers and referral sources is paramount. The challenge is that reaching customers is not as easy as it was before. Today, there is technology to block prospecting efforts on all fronts. There are
The New Rules of Prospecting Read More »
In a recent MBA webinar, economist Mike Fratantoni made the point that the mortgage banking industry has had 45 years of refinancing volume and would not see another wave like this for many years. Fratantoni estimated that moving forward, origination will be 65% purchase money and 35% refinance — nearly a reversal of what it
What Drives Future Success in an “Irrational” World? Read More »
The recent announcement by Wells Fargo and Prospect Mortgage that they were ending their marketing service agreements (MSAs) with real estate brokers has sent a shock wave through management teams. MSAs have been around for years under the justification that placing a lender’s originators in a broker’s office was a way to guarantee sales volume
What Losing MSAs Means to Lenders Read More »
In a recent sales training class on prospecting, I wrapped up the session with three important keys to the mental side of selling. They are: 1. Keep positive people around you, not negative; 2. Commit to learning because it makes you more confident and; 3. Access experts when you need them. No one can know
Three Golden Mental Rules of Selling Read More »
In my consulting practice, I find that “winging it” is a common approach for many sales organizations. Why are so many companies willing to leave their sales results to chance? One of the primary culprits is when lenders do not have a clearly defined structure that originators are required to follow. A structure
Are Your Originators Winging It? Read More »
There is no more overused term in selling than the words “customer-centric.” Everyone says they put the customer first. Originators will even tell you they know exactly what the customer wants. But thinking that you know what the customer wants is not the same thing as delivering what the customer needs. We’ve heard the same
Is Your Sales Organization Customer-Centric? Read More »
In a recent training engagement with experienced B2B originators, I looked up their profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to familiarize myself with the students. How many do you think were active social media participants or even had an updated LinkedIn profile? None. Zip. Zero. I was shocked. When I asked why this was the
How Does Your ZMOT Rate? Read More »
Today, I want to discuss an issue I often see when reviewing a sales team’s performance. I always ask sales managers what training they feel they need to improve their skill sets. The answer I hear most frequently is that they don’t need any training. I find this interesting because an outside consultant is never
Manager Training is Well Worth the Investment Read More »
