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 […]
What LOs Can Learn from Tom Brady’s Phenomenal Success Read More »
I often hear from managers asking about training their underperforming originators. With the marketplace shift to purchase money, leadership teams have put underperformers on their radar as they try to address lower volume. When the market was hot last year, underperformers were there but overlooked because refi volume was off-the-charts. Now, with a less
When Does a Training Investment Make Sense? Read More »
Last week, Jeff Bezos released his final shareholder letter as CEO of Amazon. His yearly shareholder letters are always worth reading because Bezos often provides important business insights that are meaningful for other companies and their employees. In the most recent letter, he reflected, “If you want to be successful in business (in life, actually),
An Originator’s Key to Success According to Jeff Bezos Read More »
In my 25+ years in mortgage banking, one thing that has remained constant is that most lenders recruit sales professionals who are experienced in mortgage origination instead of hiring rookies. These companies hire experienced “C” players rather than potential “A” producers who need to be trained and developed. There are two main beliefs that
Are You Evaluating Sales Candidates for Willingness to Learn? Read More »
Last week, I spoke to a leading sales group in mortgage banking on what it will take for lenders and originators to succeed in 2025. I realize that it is hard to focus on the future when the present is so hectic in mortgage origination but, 2025 is only 1,500 days from now. It will
Four Keys to Working Smarter Read More »
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.
What Car Salespeople Can Teach Originators Read More »
Change is a topic that is discussed every day in the business world. Whether it is a better way to manage stress or learning social selling techniques, adopting new habits is essential if an originator wants to succeed in mortgage banking. For most of us, the hard part is making the necessary adjustments in
Baby Steps: The Best Way to Make Selling Changes 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 »
In a recent Business Insider article, Mark Abadi discussed the difference between amateurs and experts in Scrabble. He said inexperienced players don’t utilize the option to exchange tiles for new ones, thus losing the opportunity to improve future moves which may have higher point values. In essence, Scrabble experts would rather play the long game
What Scrabble and Marshmallows Can Teach Originators! Read More »
Last week, I spoke at the Michigan MBA conference. This is a terrific group and I was very impressed with how active they are. If you are a mortgage banker in Michigan, you should definitely join them and support their work. While there, I had an interesting conversation with an originator who does about $8
Three Keys to Transforming Comfort Zone Originators Read More »
