Patricia Sherlock

“The customer never buys a product. By definition, the customer buys the satisfaction of a want. He buys value.” — Peter Drucker It’s a pattern that’s repeated often in the financial sector: New leadership is brought in and given a short time frame to boost results. As products and price points in the industry become […]

“Continuous improvements in any area eventually transform the operation.” — Peter Drucker If the industry forecasts are even half right, we know business is going to be tougher next year. Working harder won’t be enough to make a difference. Working smarter will. Now is the time to invest in training and education. Evaluate your team’s

\”The first and crucial question in defining business purpose and business mission is ‘Who is the customer?’” — Peter Drucker It’s hard to believe we’re only 60 days out from 2010 but here we are. If you haven’t done so already, right now is the perfect time to put together a plan to succeed in

“People are a resource and not just a cost.” — Peter Drucker Managers everywhere are keeping an eye on various industry forecasts for 2010. While many firms had a successful year due to the refinance market, some of the predictions for 2010 are not for the faint of heart. Analysts in one report believe that

“Crossing the divide into the new realities.” — Peter Drucker While the recent refinance market has helped many financial companies and producers have a successful current year in production, change is on the horizon. According to an MBA forecast for 2010, the refinance market is receding and the industry is moving toward a traditional business

“Some of the greatest impediments to effectiveness are the issues of yesterday, which still confine our vision.” — Peter Drucker In nearly every industry segment, I see companies holding on to a “sales by the numbers” strategy where management believes if enough sales professionals are hired, some of them are bound to produce. Sales by

“No organization can do better than the people it has.” — Peter Drucker The way I see it, sales managers who want to improve profitability have two choices: reduce costs or increase revenue. While cutting expenses is a great start, you can only go so far with these efforts. The next step is to increase

“Specialized knowledge by itself produces nothing.” — Peter Drucker It’s a scenario I’ve observed many times over the years: A testing vendor sells sales assessment tests to a company and promptly vanishes. The reality is, in order for pre-hire assessment testing to be effective, you need more than just a test. After the sale, training

“Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to tolerate nonperforming individuals in important jobs.” — Peter Drucker At a recent industry event, I was surprised to hear that average production for a particular market segment was one loan per originator per month! I wondered, “Have we lowered our standards to

“The proof of the sincerity and seriousness of management is uncompromising emphasis on integrity of character.” — Peter Drucker Next month at the MBA Annual Conference in San Diego, I will be discussing what the sales force will look like in the future considering recent changes in the origination market. While there are many factors