Last week, mortgage interest rates rose an average of 13 basis points, according to Bankrate. While mortgage rates are still historically low, many lenders were caught off guard, thinking that interest rates wouldn’t increase until later in the year. Likewise, refinance applications dropped 7% to 68.5% of the total volume. Freddie Mac also reported […]
The recent deep freeze and power grid failure in Texas has raised questions about why state government did nothing to plan for the inevitable, even after receiving years of warnings and experiencing a similar cold snap in 2011. While there are differing opinions on exactly why the Lone Star state failed to take precautions, it […]
One positive impact of the pandemic is that originators have been forced to connect with customers via video conferencing. Before Covid-19 restrictions, some originators incorporated video into their sales process but many producers had not. With the rise of remote working, video conferencing has become a primary tool for personal interaction. Even sales leaders […]
Today, consumers have easy access to an unfathomable amount of information on every imaginable topic under the sun. Moreover, that information is being published at an astonishing rate. Consider that in 2020, YouTube users uploaded 500 hours of video every minute! Who would have thought 40 years ago that 2021 would be characterized by […]
For years, the Golden Rule has been applied to the realm of marketing and selling. Treating people like you would like to be treated seems not only morally right but a good practice in the business world. Throughout history, this maxim has been upheld as a key to professional and personal success. But, when […]
The most common selling mantras are based on the concept of “doing more.” Managers have forever emphasized that if originators simply work harder, knock on more doors or make more calls, sales success is guaranteed. While this sounds reasonable, it is not correct. It takes something else to succeed in origination. In selling, the “doing […]
In mortgage origination, declining interest rates can result in overwhelming volume, as the industry experienced in 2020. While companies and producers alike racked up record profitability last year, a robust refinance market can distract lenders from focusing on critical long-term success strategies. When business is humming along, it is easy to become complacent and […]
In mortgage banking, it is commonplace for originators to adopt the practices of successful producers. If one salesperson rises at 4:00 a.m., everyone else feels they must follow suit. If a top producer is active on LinkedIn, other originators will incorporate the platform in their own marketing strategies. Likewise, lenders are copycats too. If […]
Traditional selling as we know it has been dead for a long time but the global pandemic was the nail in the coffin for the order-taker sales model. This strategy is rooted in the days when salespeople went door to door fulfilling customer demand for products. In that era, products were limited and information […]
In a recent Inman article, a Keller Williams executive discussed the challenges facing the company in 2021, noting that like other large legacy firms, “while we have a profitable business, it takes time and effort to adapt to some of the industry’s big changes such as compressing commissions and increased competition pushing agent splits […]