Part two of responding to this question….

Q: I am starting to get nervous about my position.  I love what I do and I did work when the market was not so good.  I guess my main worry is so many refinanced at such a low rates and would we ever have rates like that again?  Will we have to wait 40 yrs?  I feel in my heart there is enough business out there however it will be more like cut throat now and that I do not like.  What do you suggest I do?  Do you think Internet leads will still be good then?  Internet Leads have almost tripled my income and it has saved me a ton of money because I am not driving around, spending on marketing materials etc.  I am averaging 1 or 2 out of 5 I purchase.   

Kelly and about 100,000 other loan officers (Okay, I exaggerate)

A: In every down cycle, the stronger loan officers survive and get strong in the long run (but not with out pain). They do so because—

• They are experts and leaders within their industry;
• They have long-term relationships and provide value;
• They are diversified.

So what would I be doing if I wanted to survive a down cycle? First, I would become an expert and make sure my marketing plan enhanced this position. Being an expert helps me become know within certain niches, such as bankruptcies, self-employment, jumbo loans, subprime, FHA loans, etc.  Writing articles, teaching seminars, participating in organizations all are examples of marketing your expertise. This can be easily done via the Internet, by the way. And the good news is, you don’t have to “purchase” Internet leads. Do I have a problem with you getting leads from the Internet? Only if you are not leveraging them in such a way that they can become a part of your long-term sphere.  In other words--if you don’t lift yourself off the treadmill.  

Second, I would make sure the most important segment of my market—my sphere of influence knew what type of value I bring to the table. To do this you must do more than keep in touch—you must deliver value. If you don’t deliver value, someone else will. In the last day of my three-day school—the sphere of influence exercise we develop is the most important marketing exercise you will ever accomplish.

Let me give an example of what I mean here. Many (including Kelly), express trepidation with regard to servicing “those Realtors.”  But if your most important sphere category—friends, neighbors, relatives—included a top-producing Realtor (say your brother)—would you have a problem serving them? No, because you have a close relationship. Sales is still about relationships. I have been an “in-house” real estate loan officer—and have hired and supervised hundreds of others in this position. Those who develop close relationships with this segment and also deliver value, have no problem in gaining the agents’ loyalty.

In three previous positions I serviced real estate owned mortgage companies—once as a loan officer and twice as a production executive who had as many as 40 loan officers working under me inside of real estate offices. So, I am pretty familiar with what real estate agents look for.  Too many loan officers (and even some sales trainers) say that servicing agents is too much trouble—or they don’t have loyalty. They do have loyalty to those who deliver value. What could this value be?

• Training, especially for new agents. I advise loan officers I teach to go beyond finance training (which agents do need), but to also delve into topics that will help agents sell more homes—including economic analysis and sales techniques. These are topics we introduce in OriginationPro Mortgage School. Loan officers should not attend sales training for loan officers, they should attend sales training for agents. This concept explains why our NewsletterPro Marketing System contains a sales article every month to deliver to agents and other B-to-B contacts (title companies, financial planners, CPAs, etc).
  
• Help them sell using your service tools, including pre-approval techniques, open house support and FSBO support. In my Complete Mortgage Marketing Kit we have a flyer that supports a ListingPlus Program—offering a free home warranty for any prospective seller who makes a pre-approval loan application with the loan officer. This enables the agent to offer a free home warranty to generate listings—the most valuable tool you can bestow an agent. There are also four or five other synergies that can be exploited with this system. Develop independent purchase lead generation systems. Just don’t advertise for refinances! Use your sphere of influence to spearhead these systems.

If you have a question you would like to be answered in my Ask The Expert column—email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

    Dave

Dave Hershman is the leading author for the mortgage industry with eight books and several hundred articles to his credit. He is also head of OriginationPro Mortgage School, the most advanced comprehensive curriculum in the industry, and is a top industry speaker. For more articles by Dave, free marketing materials and a schedule of classes, visit www.originationpro.com.