Patricia Sherlock

According to a recent New York Times article, the hottest customer service consulting firm isn’t the well-known McKinsey & Co. or Harvard University’s executive management teams but Disney. Yes. Disney. Why Disney? Companies are feeling the pressure to improve the quality of their customer interactions. From the NFL to Chevrolet, organizations are hiring the Disney […]

In mortgage origination today, loan officers and account reps must sell in an environment where customers are much more knowledgeable than they were just five years ago. The balance of power has shifted to the buyer of services and not the seller. In all types of businesses, the seller is facing customers who research before

Recently, Greg Smith, a former Goldman Sachs executive, wrote in a NY Times Op-Ed article that he was leaving the firm because it had changed values from looking out for the customer to making as much money as possible by whatever means necessary. According to Smith, Goldman views clients as “muppets” and does not really

Last week, at the 2012 MBA Regional Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., I presented our study results on what originators really know about sales knowledge. In Fall 2011, we tested more than 100 LOs at four national firms on the six critical components of the sales process. What we found was that even “experienced” LOs

In mortgage banking, some firms are on the verge of separating from the competition and there will be a new group of top 15 companies. How do I know? In speaking to countless executives, it is clear that some are preparing for it and others are stuck hoping that Harp 2.0 continues forever. One indicator

Why is it that experienced salespeople who once were successful seem unable to adjust to changing circumstances? You see it in sports and sales often. For example, my favorite baseball team, the Phillies (I admit I am a longtime fan—even when they had 10,000 losses!) have had a successful track record but in the last

One of the greatest stories in sports this year has been the rise of Jeremy Lin, a point guard for the New York Knicks. A Harvard graduate who was not drafted by professional teams, Lin finally got a chance to play after some of the Knicks’ stars succumbed to injury. Unbelievably, Lin led the team

I recently saw an episode of the television show “Glee” where Ricky Martin, the new Spanish teacher at McKinley High, makes a point about how Hispanic and Latino demographics will impact American society. So, how large will the impact be? In 2011, Wharton published a report addressing this same issue: the projected impact of a

With the exit of major players in the mortgage sector, I think that there has never been a better time to capture market share. Increasing market share centers on having the best sales professionals in the trenches — those who are knowledgeable, driven and can connect with the customer faster than ever before. Sales professionals

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and their interest in grading an originator during the sales process. While no one knows exactly how the CFB will accomplish and evaluate an effective sales call, one thing is certain: a lender’s sales process and the interface between