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sales tips

Peter Said: “Stop Hiding”

by Chad Weber on April 4, 2008

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So I was having a conversation with another trainer last week about 2 great book I just read. (For the second time) “Triggers” by Joe Sugarman, and “The Well Fed Writer: Back for Seconds”, by Peter Bowerman. The 2nd book was a shocker for me, as it was meant primarily for author’s and/or individuals who make their living as writers.

In retrospect, I would have to rate this book as my #1 recommendation for anyone who is in the sales field. If your income depends on sales, you should read this book. My bookshelf is dangerously close to falling over from the combined weight of over a hundred (No exaggeration here folks) sales and marketing books. If my house caught on fire and I only had time to grab one book, this would be it. (And my cat “Puff” of course - Puff as in a ‘cotton puff’)

The reason I say this is because of the blunt, yet encouraging tone of the author. Peter looks past the surface, and really has a firm grasp on sales behavior. To sum up one of my favorite chapters: “Sales people hide from themselves on a daily basis. They spend their days finding ways to keep themselves “busy” doing unimportant, but safe work. Safe from what? Rejection and reality.

So with 90% of their days spent pushing paper, true down and dirty prospecting is ignored, or given only a token effort. The rest of the day is spent “planning” or “researching”, and ultimately complaining about how no money is coming in.

If you’re feeling down and out, or that the money is no longer there, it’s time to look in the mirror. Stop glossing over reality with excuses about the market, or how terrible your place of employment is. When it comes down to it, you can find originators and real estate agents in ANY state, and in ANY market who is doing great. You simply have to be prepared to make adjustments.

We kid ourselves with mental images of these individuals who have unfair advantages, and excellent superstar sales personalities… I must tell you, some of the highest producers I have met had some of the most grating personalities, and in one case, almost shy mannerisms. My number one student right now (Who originates in one of the hardest hit states of all) insulted me when we first met. I laugh as I look back on it now, but what I mistook as rudeness, was a forwardness that has served him well in his career.

My point is that I buy wholeheartedly into Peter’s observations. We spend so much time worrying about conversion ratio’s, avoiding rejection, conserving money by not marketing, that we kill our own progress before it’s had a chance to grow. Whwn you’re so low on funds that you are worried how the bills will get paid nxt month, who cares if super secret origination technique #1 pulls 5% better than super secret origination technique #2 ? It’s a moot point. The time spent arguing about which technique is better could have landed another application. It’s time for action, not theory.

This happens all over the country in all sales professions, not just the mortgage and real estate industry.

Ultimately, no one can bail you out unless you’re ready to take full, and 100% responsibility for your career. This market is not half bad if you are open to change. Last week I received an email from a loan officer who used to do refi loans exclusively. (You know who you are) He kept banging his head against the wall trying to find new ways to get his old “groove” back. Finally, he realized that the answer was to stop trying to force the market to conform to his world, but to rather force himself to conform to the new market.

In other words, stop worrying about how things used to be, and focus on what new opportunity awaits. For the loan officer in question, he generated 73 leads last week, (How much money would he have sent to BUY those leads?)and sent me an email begging for tips on how to handle that volume! I was refreshed to hear him complaining about how busy he is taking new apps, and closing loans. What a wonderful problem to have! It all stemmed from his realization that his problems lay not in the changes of the current market, but rather, in his perception of why he was having problems, and ultimately, his attempted solution.

Once he faced himself and his fears, we crafted a marketing program that has delivered leads to him he didn’t even know were there. Chances are, you may be sitting on a goldmine of leads, and new closings as well. The real question is, what are you doing to uncover these leads? Have you taken a hard look at your efforts in the mirror lately? What is your day spent doing? How have you grown? Do you have an open mind, as well as the motivation to do something proactive, if not a bit outside your comfort zone?

Ultimately, ACTION is king. Take action today to improve your career. Jump on the phone until you have a solid prospect, network, call up your SOI, learn a new skill that will benefit you… Mediocre sales skills combined with a proactive personality will beat out a superstar salesperson with spotty activity any day of the week.

Just a few thoughts… I wish you all a profitable day and an enjoyable weekend.  :)

 Chad Weber - www.fsboleadportal.com/blog - www.loanofficermarketinglab.com

PS - I’ll touch on the book by Joe Sugarman next time.   ;)

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3 Things you Must Know…

by Chad Weber on March 12, 2008

3 Things you Must Know…

In a difficult market, the smart loan officer will take a step back to review his/her options. No matter how difficult things become, the fact remains that millions of loans close each and every year. You have two options available:

1 - Improve your conversion ratio and make more out of the database and leads you already have

2 - Find a more reliable way to generate more leads

It’s that simple. You either make more money with what you have through improved sales skills and follow-up, or you find more sources of quality leads. Regardless of how simple this concept is, no one said it would be easy. There’s a reason it’s called work.

With this in mind, let’s take a quick snapshot of 3 skills that every loan officer should be working to improve to accomplish at least 1 of the goals listed above.

1 - Writing: The fine art of writing is one that is neglected by most in the sales field. I’ve always been stumped by this because there are many instances where a customer will move forward, or go elsewhere based on what he/she reads. You website, your emails, blogs, follow-up letters, advertisements and more all demand a well thought out message.

On the web, with thousands of other options only one mouse click away, the potential borrower will form an opinion in mere seconds based on what is read. A large majority of originators seem to rely on canned text from website service providers.

Sure, much of that text sounds glossy and professional right? In my own personal opinion, within this industry, “glossy and professional” might as well be “large and faceless.” Most people want to do business with a human, not a large and untouchable organization that conjures images of endless voicemail navigation just to reach someone.

Why not add a personal touch and let your personality shine through? Show your prospects that there is a person behind the ads, websites and emails. This doesn’t mean you have to become a professional writer of course. Rather, spend a few hours refining your writing skills. (a “how to” book can make a drastic difference) Even a minor improvement can equal a much higher conversion ratio, which I’m sure sounds good to most reading this.

2 - Sales: Yes, I do realize that I’m playing Mr. Obvious here. Sales skills are certainly needed in todays market. The sad truth is that the average sales professionals in the U.S. spends more time planning their vacations each year than they do on improving their one major professional asset - their sales skills.

As a trainer, I ask nearly every originator I meet with prior to coaching how they rate themselves on a scale of 1 - 10 when it comes to sales ability. It’s rare to hear anything less than an 8 or a 9! So are we all just that good, or are we just afraid to admit that there is room for improvement? Most career professionals with level 8, 9 or above abilities spend their whole lives fine tuning the subtle art of sales. Professional training and continuing education is a month to month reality for these individuals.

Yet in the mortgage industry, most just coast along secure in the belief that they are great at sales. Well, the closings per month usually tell the real story. What is your closing percentage? Do you track your numbers? (If not, how do you know whether you are improving or not?)

No one ever said that we all need to be ’super closers,’ but if you choose a career where your primary function is to sell, then how can you go wrong by giving this area some much needed attention?

Consumers do not just buy from the person who makes the most logical argument. Emotion, timing, calls to action all play a major role in who goes home happy with an extra loan in their pipeline, and who just goes home. If you improved your closing rate by 10%, what would that do for your paycheck?

3 - Follow-up: I consider this category a bit of a hybrid. It involes sales, writing, technology and more. I couldn’t leave it out of this list though, as there is a gaping hole in most lenders business plans that tends to treat follow-up as an after-thought.

Sure, it’s easy to knod your head and agree that follow-up is important, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Most loan officer’s follow-up ends as soon as they find out the prospect is no longer a prospect for an immediate closing.

Anywhere from 10 - 15% of your standard database will need the services of a loan officer each year. Refi, purchase, debt consolidation. There’s a lot of need out there, and unfortunately, most loan officer’s are not there at the right time simply because they failed to follow-up at regular intervals. A drip email campaign, occasional notices, a phone call placed at strategic time periods all would drastically improve the average loan officer’s closings per year.

Who wouldn’t want that? Give a little extra attention to these critical skill-sets, and you will find that great things can happen even in a “down market.”

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Loan Officers: How Will you Survive?

by Chad Weber on February 22, 2008

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Everywhere you look there is news about the hard times  facing the mortgage industry. Some weeks it’s rising interest rates, other weeks all you hear about is dropping house values. No matter how you slice it, you can no longer just “ride the waves.” (Yes, I realize this is not news to you…)

Does this mean you have to sit back and just take it? Of course not. There are plenty of strategies that can help you assure a steady flow of closings each and every month. All you have to do is take that first step and commit yourself to moving forward.

There are dozens of possible niche and vertical markets you can choose to target. First you must decide to take action. Many loan officers have such a fear of failure that they are operating in what I like to call “safety mode.”

The irony of this situation is that success and growth rarely if ever come from a person who is just playing it safe. Imagine your career as a football game. If 1 team simply focuses all their efforts on not letting the other side score, what are their chances of winning?

At some point you need to score some points right? Often, this will require you to put yourself out there, or to take a leap of faith. You will most likely need to spend some money, (When money is in short supply, this may take some self convincing on your part) and also spend plenty of time planning.

But what if it doesn’t work? “What will I do if I don’t make any money? How do I know what marketing system to buy? Where should I get my leads?” These are all common questions, but not the first questions you should be asking yourself.

The first question should be: “What will happen if I don’t take action right now? While there is always a chance your marketing plan will fail to produce the results you want, there is a 100% chance of failure if you sit around and worry, and ultimately do nothing.

Action is the key to success, even if it’s not the best possible action. As you move forward, you will have the opportunity to learn, tweak, and grow. Experience is a great teacher, but unfortunately, most loan officers are not showing up for class.

My own personal business did not grow until I decided to step outside my comfort zone. This meant spending money even though I was very low on funds at the time, and participating in marketing and sales activities that made me feel a bit uncomfortable in the beginning.

See, up until this point I played a lot of the “what if” game as well. What if this happens, or what if that happens? I felt I was saving my income by avoiding potential failure and doing anything that made me feel uncomfortable.

However, as I look back on my career now, I see that all I did was delay my success. Lack of action or lack of a proactive approach to sales and marketing will almost guarantee a mediocre career.

There are too many talented loan officers who are unhappy with their results.  Invest in yourself and step outside that comfort zone. This doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind; but it does mean being proactive in all areas. (Not just the areas that are easy and low risk) Phone calls, personal sales, face to face networking… These activities all contain the potential for failure or rejection. However, each of these activities also holds the potential to revitalize your career, and help you to grow. You will be a better loan officer because of it!

Chad Weber - www.loanofficermarketinglab.com

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