In my consulting practice, one of the most common mistakes I see is when mortgage firms fail to address having salespeople who lack prospecting skills. Many current originators have not had to prospect for new accounts or new business in a very long time. Why has this happened? For most salespeople, their careers have coincided with a period of prosperity where the customer has come to them. During the refinance market, there was incredible demand for the mortgage product and salespeople could be passive or reactive and still generate profit. These often highly relationship-oriented producers might have done well in the past but now that times are changing, they are a mismatch for what is required to succeed — they won’t prospect!!!
Non-refinance markets require producers to find and open up new relationships. Strictly relationship-oriented sales professionals will not do well in the new market where their inability to bring solutions to new customers becomes all too evident. Top salespeople don’t wait for the company to provide leads. They proactively target prospects to keep their pipelines full.
Individuals who are best matched for success in mortgage origination have a high degree of self-reliance and eight other essential personality traits. No training course will make an individual who does not possess these traits prospect. (For more details on the nine personality traits, see our 2013 Sample Assessment Test. View the PDF.
Have you hired individuals who will prospect?