In recent conversations with originators, the complaint I hear most often is that they are working harder than ever and seeing less results. They attribute their lower production to an ultra-competitive environment where they conduct pre-approvals only to have the customer go with another lender with better pricing. In many cases, this feedback is coming […]
Are You a Sales Ninja? Read More »
A recent Washington Post article highlighted George Mason University’s new program where Starship Technologies installed robots on the campus to deliver food to students. The article mentioned how successful the robots were in driving students to eat breakfast, a meal that is usually skipped 88% of the time by undergraduates. In my view, the most
The Starship Has Landed Read More »
After speaking at a conference last week on hiring and recruiting, my general impression of the mood in mortgage banking is that it is subdued and apprehensive. Attendees raised concerns about a number of issues from coping with low revenue and volume to productivity challenges to selecting good originators. Most said that this year will
It’s Time to Make Customer Experience a Top Priority Read More »
Last Monday, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette announced a new strategy to save the retail giant in this difficult business environment. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Gennette said that the department-store chain will shrink its less productive stores and cut back on staff at these locations. He said the smaller locations will have
What We Can Learn from Macy’s Turn-Around Strategy Read More »
One of the most common complaints that I hear from managers is how Quicken is soliciting borrowers before the lender’s sales staff is able to do so. By reaching out first, Quicken is able to get loans from bank customers before the bank that owns the account! Lenders are frustrated and upset that their
How Quicken Is Stealing Your Accounts! Read More »
A few short years ago, there was no hotter car company than Tesla who was touted as the next great thing in automobile manufacturing. Recently, the company has fallen on difficult times. In Barron’s last week, Bob Lutz, a former Vice Chairman of General Motors, commented on Tesla’s current situation: “It’s an automobile company that
What Mortgage Bankers Can Learn from Tesla Read More »
Not a day passes when I don’t hear from a manager about how difficult mortgage origination has become. Whether it is battling to recruit top producers or pricing wars regarding interest rates and closing fees, there is no question that competition is fierce. As one sales executive said to me recently, “it is hand-to-hand combat
New Selling Model: Deliver Value Daily Read More »
During a recent conversation, an experienced top producer lamented that companies don’t teach selling anymore. Early in her sales career, the originator learned sales techniques using Xerox Professional Selling Skills, a leading global sales training system. She observed that without a system in place, sales professionals must learn by trial and error which leaves results
Sales Methodology is Key to a Great Customer Experience Read More »
It seems every conference and industry newsletter discusses the latest technology that will make sales organizations more successful. Whether it is the integration of Ellie Mae with Blend or Day One Certainty, a technological solution is often touted as the cure-all for the industry’s issues. Certainly, speed and efficiency are important when providing a
The Impact of a Level Playing Field in Sales Technology Read More »
For years, mortgage banking managers have measured success based on whether the salesperson met the buyer’s expectations. In my opinion, this thinking is outdated because in today’s world of selling 3.0, simply meeting customer expectations is by definition mediocre. Yes, mediocre. A mediocre customer experience is not enough to instill the loyalty needed to generate
The Conundrum of Meeting Expectations Read More »
