Category Archives: Mortgage Business Tips

Apr 10
0

That Elusive Thing Called, “Down Time”

By | Mortgage Business Tips, mortgage coaching | No Comments

stayfocusedFunny thing about finally finding that elusive thing called, “down time”….Once we get some we either A) Choose to do nothing with it. B) Choose to fill it up with non-productive tasks or C) Forget what it was that we swore we were going to accomplish when we did finally get some, in which case A and/or B come into play. So in an effort to encourage the best of the best to use their down-time to catapult their careers, here is a memory jogger list of high pay-off projects to consider…

Get socially savvy-Create Lists in Facebook for your, “Friends” who happen to fall into certain critical categories, such as: Realtors, Past Customers, Prospects, Peers, Teammates and Other Referral Partners so that you can control who sees certain posts and make your posts even more relevant to your specified audiences.

Embrace efficiency-Get your Realtors and other referral partners, past customers, old prospects and new prospects , plus all of those forgotten business cards into your CRM, into your online email marketing portals, into your smart phone and any gift-giving online stores’ address books, such as Amazon, Shutterfly, Send out Cards, etc.

Just do it!-Don’t have a CRM that houses all of your various contacts? NOW is the time to research them on-line and get your most precious business asset (your contact list) organized and receiving branded, pertinent information from you on a regular basis. Remember, just because someone works with you once, doesn’t mean they are going to remember to refer you, use your services again or reach out to you with questions, UNLESS you are top of mind.

Brush-up on your craft-What could you become better at in your career? What experience do you lack? What aren’t you comfortable talking about? What part of your business still has you stumped? What could you read, listen to or take an on-line class about that would give you that edge?

Coordinate creativity-A cluttered outer world clutters our inner world. Do you have files to purge, emails to organize, subscriptions to cancel, files to shred or store? We ALL DO at some level and this is a GREAT time to declutter, reframe, refresh and create space. Remember, creativity is at the crux of all thriving careers and creativity can’t spread its wings if there’s not enough space to take flight.

Now, I’m not saying NOT to take advantage of some of this down time by indulging in non-business growth activities, such as: naps, long walks, game time with the family, binge watching Netflix shows, etc., What I want everyone to take to heart can be summed up in this quote just given to me earlier today by one of my clients and that is….“Champions are made in the off season!”

Jan 06
0

How to Purposefully Follow-Up with Potential Referral Partners

By | Mortgage Business Tips, mortgage coaching | No Comments

Following up with potential referral partners is key to building new relationships and generating opportunities, but sometimes we draw a blank when it comes to exactly HOW we intend on following up with newly met individuals. Here’s a great list of activities you can engage in that will help you to follow up and follow through in order to hit your business growth goals.

Follow-Up Fuels Opportunity

Feb 06
1

Prospect tells you their bank gave them a better rate-Now what?

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

blog2019I’ve had many, many discussions with clients over my 12-year tenure as a Business Coach about being bold and being confident when communicating with leads, past customers and potential referral partners. Asking for what you want,  asking tough questions and setting expectations are paramount to effectively winning people over and closing more deals.

Great case in point…

A client of mine in FL just told me that two weeks ago she took a call from a lady, prequalified her, then when she followed-up with her a few days later, the lady informed her that her bank who she had $500,000 with, gave her a rate of 4.75. Instead of throwing in the towel and letting this woman walk away due to a large difference in rate, my client professionally and candidly told her…

“I in no way can meet that rate, however, I will absolutely get you to the closing table on time, which the banks are notorious in missing closing dates AND I will be in constant contact with you, guiding you, taking your calls , emails and texts the whole way through which will not at all happen for you with your bank.”

BAM!

My client told me that the lady paused and said, “You know what, you’re so right and I really like you, so let’s just move forward.”

And the moral of the story is…

Be confident, be bold, communicate the truth and never assume rate is everything to everybody.

Want scripts like this to get better results, too? Check out Coach Victoria’s latest eBook, Scriptopedia-A Colossal Collection of Mortgage Sales Scripts that Drive Response, Increase Opportunity and Grow your Business!

Scriptopedia eBook

 

 

 

Sep 24
0

Business Plan Development Rule #1-Start with the Numbers

By | Mortgage Business Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments

numbercrunchingI can tell you from a Business Coach’s perspective that forecasting one’s sales numbers and setting clear income goals is an exercise most often overlooked by solo-entrepreneurs and is exactly WHY it is the 1st step in my own, proprietary business plan development process with my clients.

If you don’t set your earnings goal, and you don’t break it down to numbers you can
track on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, how are you holding yourself accountable to the grander visions of your business?

How do you gauge when you need to put the pedal to the metal, or when you can give yourself some deserved time off? You can’t! Hence, the feeling of overwhelm, and eventual burnout.

When determining your income goal this year, avoid being too conservative or getting mentally stuck in the here and now. Remember, you are embarking on a new adventure of building your business. Opportunities will spring from the goals in your business plan that you simply cannot predict right now. So go ahead, astonish yourself and set the bar a bit higher.

For example, if you made $82,500 last year and you’re thinking that there’s a good chance you can make $100,000 this year, push yourself a bit beyond what you think you know to be, “realistic.” Tack on another 10% to cover all the unforeseen possibilities that your new business focus will generate. The number you choose should feel like a stretch but still motivate you.

Have you ever heard the saying, “The numbers never lie?” Well, there couldn’t be a truer statement when it comes to your mortgage business.

Knowing your numbers and tracking results is the ultimate way to treat your business like you mean business! So charge into 2019 like the C.E.O. you truly are and eliminate all excuses to attaining your grander visions of your life and career.

Jul 16
0

Creative Agenda Ideas for Networking Groups

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

Pull some of these creative, purposeful and fun ideas into that tired Agenda and get your networking group re-inspired and motivated to grow the group.networkingagenda

Adopt a Book-What’s one thing that has really resonated with you so far in what you’ve read of this book…how do you think you can apply the lesson in your business life?

Declare your Goal-Everyone states one, specific goal, no matter how tiny or big to tackle for that particular week, then report the next week in one minute or less about success or challenge of implementing that one goal and how they can solve or breakthrough any challenges they may have experienced.

Win for the Week-What one thing made you feel good about your business this week-State out loud in one minute or less.

Tool Time-Everyone shares one time savings tip, marketing tool or gizmo, website tool, iphone app, social media tool, anything that you felt was cool for your business that you learned about (This could be something that occurs the 3rd meeting of every month)

Marketing Mastery-Once a month someone is selected to showcase something they did that month to market themselves, bring in examples, show on their laptop, talk about how they implemented it, what was easy, what posed a challenge.

Change of Venue-Once a month, vote on a different venue to hold the meeting-museum, park, library, coffee house, restaurant, pastry shop, someone else’s office. A change of scene can spark creativity.

Jun 16
0

The Time Management Blame Game

By | Food for thought, Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

choice

It’s important to think about time management as a choice, not so much as a tool.

What I find is that many mortgage professionals battle between freedom and discipline, that is, they indulge in the freedom of not being stuck in a 9-5 job with a Manager overseeing their hour by hour production, but don’t embrace daily disciplines and practices to ensure the production they need AND then they beat themselves up for taking the time they took to be with friends, attend to family and/or personal to-dos during peak productivity time.

So, if you find yourself blaming a lack of time management as the cause for an unstable pipeline, the first thing to investigate are the choices you are making on a daily basis.

There are only so many hours in a day and only so many hats one person can wear. Be at peace with your choices. Be realistic about your potential production. Or start making changes.

May 30
0

Do You Manage Loan Officers in Need of a Boost?

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments
helpupHave a few of your loan officers fallen off the track in terms of their sales, engagement and activity? Try pulling them back on course by offering to act as a power production facilitator. Every sales person needs a boost now and again. Be the type of leader willing to provide structure, ideas, the space and time to help others to help themselves.
Here’s an example of how to immediately kick-start and facilitate a successful Power Production Group:
Invite your select loan officers-Send out a recurring meeting invite to meet twice a month for a period of 6 months. Express in your email invite that you feel they are on the cusp of greatness and you want to help push them over that edge and unearth solutions for what may be holding them back from hitting their goals.
Communicate expectations- Each loan officer who agrees to participate in the Power Production Group will NOT focus on excuses, frustrations & complaints, but rather they will focus on solutions, accountability, sharing, possibility and opportunity.
Ask for commitment-Agree to become a part of this group ONLY if you can commit to the meetings, leave your frustrations/excuses at the door and be open and willing to exchange ideas and try something new.
Share your agenda-The agenda should include, but does not have to be limited to the following: brainstorming networking strategies, sales strategies, building referral relationships and marketing ideas, follow-up strategies & scripts, hands-on training for tools & technology, time management best practices and organizational tips, product & industry knowledge.
Apr 08
1

Are you a Loan Officer Suffering from, “Just Enough Business?”

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

willtosucceedIf there is one thing I ask my seasoned loan officers to change right out of the gates when they first engage in coaching with me, it’s their, “willingness level.”

You may want more business. You may want more Realtor partners. You may want more direct consumer leads, BUT, the most important question to ask yourself is, “What am I willing to do to get more of what I want?”

Your willingness level will always dictate how much opportunity you can expect. And, to be clear, one’s willingness level is not measured in words, it’s measured in action.

Here are a couple of examples of what I tend to hear from seasoned mortgage professionals struggling with a lack of will…

“I did all that networking stuff before and it never works.”

OR

“Yes, I know I’m supposed to be calling my past customers, but I don’t want to feel like I’m begging anyone for business.”

The examples above are rife with assumption-Assuming there’s no new networking opportunities, no new way to glean business from networking events and that their past experience with networking won’t be any different, today. Assuming their customers don’t want to hear from them and don’t want to help them.

All of these assumptions are simply knee jerk reactions to protecting the core issue, which of course whittles down to that nasty, four-letter “F” word…FEAR!

Everyone feels a certain measure of fear when faced with situations that makes them feel vulnerable or requires them to commit to a game plan for the long haul.

At some point, many (not all) mortgage professionals become complacent, too comfy and stop stretching themselves. They want more business, but they’re not in enough financial, “pain” to be willing to get out of their comfort zones to make more happen.

If they’ve got, “enough” in their pipeline, then they’re mildly happy. When the pipeline dips again and they don’t feel like there is quite enough, then they get frustrated, spend money and time here and there on different, “shiny gems” hoping for a quick fix.

99% of the time the, “shiny gem” doesn’t pan-out, the money spent doesn’t lead to the leads they hoped for and the one networking gig they begrudgingly show up to, is a bust.

Then, ‘thank God’, a few good leads suddenly come in from one or two of their old, stand-by referral partners and ‘gratefully’ they immediately turn ALL of their attention to those leads and the cycle of, “just enough business” is set into motion all over again.

If this sounds even mildly familiar, read on…

If one accepts that there are no short-cuts to growing their mortgage business and much of what it took to get going in this business in the first place is still required today in order to grow, then all that’s left to consider is…Are you willing to feel the fear and do it anyway?

Here’s what works to grow the business, always has and always will. The GREAT news is that there’s a variety of creative approaches when engaging in the following activities and I should know, I have an entire roster of mortgage professionals I coach who are tackling these business builders in different ways:

  • Various networking (social, business, charity, etc.) and continued follow-up, WORKS!
  • Staying in touch in a personal way (live calls, video, client appreciation events, social media) with our past customers, WORKS!
  • Making sure we are calling on our Realtors and seeing them face to face (socially and professionally), WORKS!
  • Asking for referrals, WORKS!

Stop assuming-Find the will-Get committed-Feel the fear and DO IT ANYWAY!

If you need help getting committed to your business growth goals and getting out of the rut you’re currently in, reach out to me and Ask for a Complimentary Business Coaching Session!