There they are in the produce aisle at the local grocery market. Heads of lettuce ready to be chosen by the consumer. Wait a minute – they all look the same. They are the same color, same size, same price, same packaging, and even marketed all the same way. You know, the spinach is really starting to look good right now! What can the spinach do for me that the lettuce can’t? Are you just another head of iceberg? Just sitting there waiting to be passed up because you are just like all the others in the pile?

I recently visited with another mortgage broker in my area. He was complaining about not having any business and not making any money. He informed me that he would probably be closing the doors to his business in the next 30 days if nothing changed. I let him go on and on about how bad everything was and how the mortgage world is coming to an end. Finally, I could not take it anymore. I had to find the root of his problem. You may be thinking right now why would I be helping my “so called competition”? Well if you are, you are no different than him. See, I have NO competition – NONE! To most loan officers, they fear other banks and mortgage companies.

In my county alone there are over 500 loans closed monthly by mortgage companies, banks, and credit unions. I only want to close 8 – 10 of those monthly. Everybody else can fight over the other 492. However, truth be known, I market in several other cities in my state and normally only close 2 out of 8 in my own county of residence.

In addition to fear, loan officers are doing the same exact marketing strategies others are doing. I call that “me-tooism”. Hear is what I mean by “me-tooism”; when you do not know how to generate new business, you look around and do the very same things all your so called competitors are doing (if it works for them – me too). In an essence, you are just another head of lettuce that shoppers can choose from. Have you picked up a Homes Magazine or even a newspaper lately? All the ads are the same, we have the best rates, we have the best service, we can do everything anytime….they are all just heads of lettuce – same size, same price, same washed out pale green color. Boring and bland!

The mortgage broker I visited with was just another head of lettuce. His business is no different than anybody else and he is wondering why his phone does not ring! Today in this blood bath competitive market, we are seeing major lenders close their doors, loan officers, appraisers, title companies and realtors leave the industry at a record pace. I shared with him that if he was to survive and wanted to stay in our incredible industry, he would need to immediately make some changes.

Here is a small list of recommendations I told him he needed to implement NOW:

1. Find a niche and become an expert in that niche and let the world know it. No more rate shoppers! Become the spinach.
2. Stop being all things to all people. Become the spinach.
3. Stop chasing borrowers and have them chase you. Become the spinach.
4. Focus on 3 – 4 marketing strategies to create lead generation (direct mail, Radio Show, Homes magazine, etc…)
5. Have automated systems in place to take care of your lead generation (800 hotline capture system, Mortgage Web Success, 18 Minute monthly newsletter, Teleseminars, Magalogs, and etc…)
   Become the spinach.
6. INVEST in himself and his company through books, cd’s, dvd’s, coaching, seminars (Phoenix May 17-19, 2007), and etc…
   Become the spinach.

I discovered something very scary and frightening during our conversation which explained why he most likely will fail Unless he takes my FREE advice and takes massive action. He confessed to me that he never has invested in himself and truth be known he has always looked at seminars, books, coaching, and other educational information as an EXPENSE rather than an INVESTMENT in his business.

In the past 14 years in this industry, I have invested in myself and have spent thousands of dollars to make myself a better person and loan officer. I still continue to invest and I realize that the older I get (the BIG 40 in October 2007), the less I actually know. To survive and thrive in this down economy today, you MUST separate yourself from other loan officers and stop being just another head of Lettuce.

Brad Cooper is a nationally recognized mortgage expert and is the managing owner of Cooper Financial Solutions and Loan Officer Success .