Patricia Sherlock

At Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting a few weeks ago, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger was asked what his thoughts are regarding the present state of business and the distrustful culture that most businesses operate under. His response might surprise you. Munger said that “instead of filling your ranks with lawyers and compliance people, hire people that […]

As we move further into the year, it is evident that our industry continues to face significant challenges to success. To be sure, the remainder of 2014 promises to be no cakewalk. Sales organizations that win in 2014 will have sales cultures that are flexible, efficient and passionate. When discussing how to establish an effective

During recent visits with lenders, the number one question I am asked is “How can we improve our sales team’s results?” In my opinion, there are only three things that change sales results — everything else is fluff. If you are serious about having better results, you need to implement these strategies today! One of

Some numbers are sacrosanct especially in sports. In baseball, the home plate to first base is always 90 feet. In basketball, the hoop is 10 feet from the floor. And in golf, the golf hole is four and quarter inches in diameter, a measurement officially sanctioned 121 years ago by the Royal and Ancient Golf

Netflix has an excellent reputation as a business winner. The company’s first victory was that it beat Blockbuster at its own game. You may recall Blockbuster Video — it rented out DVDs and VCRs at retail stores. Then Netflix made it cheaper and more convenient for consumers to get the movies they wanted with DVD

I love March Madness. The games are exciting, upsets happen often in the early rounds and dark horses rise to the top. This year has been no different. Even though my Terps did not even make the big dance again this year, I was enthralled with Mercer coming from nowhere and making a name for

Last week, the MBA published its Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report which reflected the results for the Fourth Quarter 2013. The report was a shocker in many ways and should give all managers a lot to think about it. Our present model of pirating sales professionals from each other and giving outrageous guarantees as the

Based on recent discussions with managers, 2014 is certainly looking like a tough revenue year for many companies. By far, the number one strategy firms are using to address these challenges is to add originators and work them harder. Managers can gain much insight from Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler’s Predictable Revenue, a great book

Last week I attended the Mid–Atlantic MBA conference and had many discussions about what the future of the mortgage industry will look like. It reminded me of a recent New York Times article on a three-day competition called “Hackomotive.” Sponsored by Edmonds, a car-buying website that provides automotive industry research, the event challenged teams to

A recent New York Times article on the decline of Coca-Cola as a brand raised some interesting points that apply to the mortgage industry. The article noted that while Coca-Cola has long been viewed by market analysts as the ultimate value stock — delivering steady returns in good times and bad — a recent earnings