Monthly Archives: August 2017

Are you Behaving in Ways that Lead to Success?

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

successleaderI have been coaching mortgage professionals for over 10 years now and I can tell you there are 3 telltale signs of a person which indicate to me a very strong probability that they will hit their stated goals and then-some…

The most successful Mortgage Professionals tend to be:

1.   Self-disciplined

2.   Action-oriented

3.   Risk takers

Self-discipline is at the top of the list because without it, most sales folks will fall victim to inconsistent lead generation, revolving door relationships and wasting time constantly recreating the wheel so to speak.

Some characteristics of a self-disciplined mortgage professional:

  • Writes and reviews goals
  • Adheres to positive habits and when they fall off the wagon, they’re fast at getting back on it
  • Plans out their weeks ahead of time
  • Creates systems
  • Gets fueled-up by completing task lists

Some characteristics of action-oriented mortgage professionals:

  • Asks a lot of questions about how to get things done
  • Engages in a fair amount of networking
  • Doesn’t have a tendency to get caught up in details
  • Rallies others to help them implement tasks
  • Produces a variety of opportunities from week to week

Some characteristics of risk-taker mortgage professionals:

  • Significant income growth
  • Creates various streams of income
  • Involved in community/strong public identity
  • Speaker/Presentations
  • Manages a significant support staff

The Most Common Mistakes of Struggling, Producing Mortgage Managers

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

overwhelmedmanagerOk, for all you thick-skinned producing mortgage managers struggling to juggle it all and feeling like you’re the only one who can’t seem to handle the competing work load in front of you, such as:

  • Originating loans
  • Recruiting
  • Managing
  • Networking
  • Marketing
  • Trouble shooting
  • Training
  • Corporate meetings
  • Sales meetings
  • PNLs, Expense Reports, Tracking overhead and all other Corporate-related documentation, surveys and reports you are required to submit…

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Reality is that when you opted to have your cake and eat it too, you knowingly or unknowingly accepted the fact that being an A+ Sales Professional and an A+ Manager at the same time, would be a near impossible feat to achieve.

Now of course everyone’s definition of what it means to be A+ at something is going to vary and at the end of the day what really matters is that you go home from work feeling accomplished, satisfied with your efforts, up for tackling tomorrow’s challenges and fully expecting victories.

But what do you do if you don’t feel that way much of the time and after some introspection and a thorough review of your business numbers you find that you’re not setting the world on fire in your origination and your team seems to be sucking wind, too?

First, read through the following most common mistakes of struggling, producing mortgage managers and jot down everything that you can honestly admit that you are guilty of and willing to change.

Next, set a goal to focus on 3 of the items for the remainder of the year and certainly feel free to reach out to me for a complimentary session as the solutions to each of these issues are abundant and I’m happy to share my insights on what would work best for YOU and your particular set of circumstances.

Top 3 Most Common Mistakes of Struggling, Producing Mortgage Managers:

Poor hiring practices: Does not cast a big enough net to locate candidates-Lacks a standard interviewing process-Does little to no background investigation of ability to produce/sell-Hires based on personality vs. sales abilities-Hires friends/family members- Hiring out of desperation to fill seats, rather than waiting for the, “right” team players to fill roles.

Poor management style: Acts as a crutch, a motherly/fatherly figure rather than empowering team players and teaching them how to find their own solutions-No set on-boarding & training schedule for new hires-No set scheduled time for employee concerns, questions, suggestions, loan challenges, etc.-Brings personal issues/shares personal issues at work-Leans towards wanting to be liked more than wanting to lead- Blames Corporate for challenges-Passes the buck-No accountability measures-No formal progress reviews-Does not walk their talk-No communication regarding goals & vision, expectations & boundaries.

Poor planning/poor time-management: Does not engage in daily planning-Does not review and reset goals on a weekly basis-Does not review business numbers consistently-Lacks a Business Plan-Lacks a proper project management system-Does not fully utilize/embrace tools & technology-Does not properly delegate-No set work hours-Allows too many personal/family interruptions.