What percentage of your LOs are consistently hitting – or exceeding – their sales goals? If you’ve settled for the status quo, it may cost your lender long-term stability and success. Why it matters: • Lackluster sales results are a clear indication that your sales team’s selling skills are at or below average. The problem? […]
An increasing number of home loan prospects – about 25% – find their lender online, according to Zillow Group’s Consumer Housing Trends Report 2021. This means LOs must be adept at transforming leads from initial contacts to satisfied customers. Zillow recommends several tactics for optimum success. Let take a closer look: • Act fast. Once […]
As an avid football fan, I am amazed at Tom Brady’s incredible performance week after week in a sport where the average career for most professional players is just 2.5 years (Chron.com). Athletes in the quarterback position average about 3 years on the playing field. Brady’s phenomenal success in one of the most competitive […]
In every conversation I’ve had regarding the 2022 mortgage banking forecast, it’s clear that the year ahead will be challenging for lenders and originators. For those new to the industry, this might be a shock but experienced producers are all too familiar with the industry’s boom-or-bust cycles. To be sure, interest rate fluctuations, housing supply […]
During a recent conversation, a mortgage banking executive shared how difficult it is for some originators to transition from the easy business of borrowers shopping for lower interest rates to the arguably tougher sell: Convincing prospects that financing a home loan for 30 years is in their best interest. Even when producers recognize and admit […]
Many originators believe that sales success is driven by their lender’s products and technology. A lender’s ability to compete in a commodity market such as mortgages requires these basic elements to be in place. But, what really determines an originator’s success comes down to the individual’s sales capabilities and skills. Whether they’re selling widgets or […]
In my training classes for originators, I often compare selling to sports to help students understand key concepts. The analogy works because students can easily relate to the similarities — the competition; the emotional highs and lows; and the identification of clear winners and losers at the end of a game. While all of […]
Last week, shock waves rippled through mortgage banking after 50 basis points were unexpectedly added to refinance loan fees. This action took a lot of lenders by surprise and sent many originators into panic mode. This is yet another example that the business world is filled with events that can seemingly come out of nowhere. […]
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the normal way of doing things is being redefined on a daily basis. Many financial experts consider this global pandemic to be a “black swan” event. From Nassim Taleb’s “black swan” theory, the term refers to rare, unexpected events of large magnitude with potentially severe consequences. While predicting the future […]
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 […]