YOU'RE WELCOME

Some words roll off the tongue and give out positive vibes like magic and "welcome" is such a smoothly powerful word that has been shown to lower the heart rate and anxiety of whoever hears it.

So many of us get in the habit of not using the word nearly enough, apparently just to save our vocal cords from uttering a few extra syllables. When people say "thanks" or "thank you", we all know the proper response is "you're welcome" yet so many people respond with a "sure" "yep" or the dreaded "uh huh."

Welcome is also a huge word to use in the first few seconds you meet someone in your office. People like to feel welcome, especially in new surroundings.

We humans all react pretty much the same to certain stimuli and the word "welcome" is always welcome in our ears, minds and most importantly in our hearts!

LOOKING FOR YET ANOTHER WAY TO IMPRESS CUSTOMERS?

Hopefully you are, so here is a little tip that is always sure to please.

Unbeknownst to the general population is the factoid that social security number prefixes are assigned by state. But what is so cool about that?

This knowledge allows you to instantly determine what state a customer obtained their social security numbers in. Not only do people think it is cool that you know that, but everyone has a special place in their heart which is usually where they got their number.

To pull of this trick you could do as I did and take almost twenty years experience in looking at social security numbers and take a very educated guess what state your customer is from. Or better yet you can use the chart found at CLICK HERE.

THE TWO KEYS

Would you like to be shopped less, earn more per loan and enjoy more referrals?

I know what you are thinking... of course I do, everybody does, is Michael Jackson odd, is the Pope Catholic, etc...

In order to accomplish more for less you must possess the two keys to mortgage mastery.

The first key is that there is an immediate impression that you possess an extraordinary knowledge and competence in your area of expertise. Displaying your knowledge to the customer is one thing, but dazzling them and making their heads spin with your expertise is where the real power of persuasion lies.

The second key is that you instantly send a message that you have the customer's best interests in mind.

These two keys go hand in hand because no matter how brilliant your customer thinks you are, if they perceive you are playing for yourself, they will look elsewhere. On the flip side, if they perceive that you have their best interest in mind but don't possess extraordinary knowledge, they will probably still keep shopping around.

Within minutes of talking with an Originator who has mastered the two keys, borrowers are no longer focused on rates and fess, They are already on to more important issues like early retirement, financial independence, funding education and savings.

Our efforts ultimately (end hopefully) result in a mortgage but it is our knowledge and intentions that dictate our success by setting us apart from everyone else who is just peddling a commodity.

To be continued...

THE MERCENARY SHOPPER

We know that bad clients produce bad returns. What many don't realize though, is that "bad returns" can actually mean negative returns with some customers. So trust your instincts when dealing with questionable people. If something feels wrong, it probably is.

Also, please beware of the other type of "negative return" customer, the mercenary shopper. This is the person who cares only about price and continues to shop you before and after they signed a lock agreement. These types of people either don't see or don't care about the value in your services. They will be hard to please at every turn and they are more likely to complain about you to their friends than sing your praises.

So take in all the business you can, but remember that being somewhat selective about who you work with will always pay dividends in the end!

CAUTION AHEAD

As we all work towards creating new referral relationships, a few words of caution are in order...

First of all just because someone is in a position to refer you business doesn't mean you should do business with them. Starting, building and nurturing relationships is difficult anyway and doing it with the wrong people is just brain damage. Those who constantly complain, demand too much or have questionable ethics, will most always prove to be a counterproductive waste of time.

Let's take Realtors for example. Most Loan Officers have a difficult time establishing referral relationships with kind, experienced, honest Realtors because they are already taken. Bad Realtors, on the other hand, are usually easier for the Loan Officer to "get in" with because many of them have already been through most of the other lenders in town who couldn't work with them either. They care about one thing... their commission, and many will do whatever they feel they can get away with to get that commission with little or no regard for you or the customer. 

"You can not cut a bad deal with a good person and you can not cut a good deal with a bad person." This old adage is as true today as it was the first time someone said it. Lousy clients produce lousy returns! 

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE

People's incessant need to feel important is exactly why the number one complaint about Loan Officers is taking too long to return phone calls. Just remember that whenever you are tardy in returning a call, you are likely making your customer feel less important which we now know is a very bad idea!

When your delay in returning a phone call lasts longer than the expectations of the customer, they begin to feel slighted. They start imagining you speaking to other customers, helping them, laughing with the, and procrastinating in favor of someone else at their expense.

Please remember business goes where it is invited and stays where it is well treated! So invite all the people you can to your "party" just make sure you can make them all feel as important as they are!

LOOKING OUT FOR #1

Who is the most important person in the world?

If you answered Bush, Cheney of Greenspan you are way off. Although most people consider the aforementioned folks very important, the most important person in the world is you! If you asked your customers the same question you would get the same answer. They are the most important person in the world. After all, it's their world; you are just a part of it!

Consider how you feel while waiting too long in a restaurant for your food while another table who was seated after yours is eating already. Most of us bristle at just the notion without even considering the potential extenuating circumstances of the situation. We do this not because we are petty or impatient but because we feel slighted and unimportant in such a situation. 

Every customer to whom you provide service has a huge need to feel important that can never be understated! Like it or not, people take customer service mistakes personally because it makes them feel that someone else must be more important than they are. So please treat them like the significant folks they are and reassure your customers that they are important to you every chance you get!

To be continued...

THE PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATION

There are many ways to strike up a good conversation with a previous client (a worthwhile data base call.)

One very easy subject to discuss and break the ice with is that person's birthday. Calling on or around their birthdays will get you a warm response every time. Every time!

If you don't have access to their birthdays or if you know they were born in October but you cant to call them in April, there is one very important thing to keep in mind when you make these calls. 

You are a tremendous resource!

Consider the words of Mathon the gold lender in the book "The Richest Man in Babylon;" "Many men come to me for gold to pay for their follies, but as for advice, they want it not. Yet who is more able to advice than the lender of gold to whom many men come into trouble?"

The truth is you have valuable information that almost everyone is interested in. Mortgage rates, home appreciation rates, credit, market trends, legislative changes etc. The list goes on and on.

So call your past clients with a plan. Sometimes the call will go so well you won't need your plan of what to talk about. Calling your past customers is one of those disciplines that is slightly awkward at first, but the more you do it, the more enjoyable and profitable it becomes!

BETTER THAN 50/50

If the weatherman armed with technology and millions of observations from the National Weather Service, can't tell us what is going to happen in the next few hours how could we possible expect to predict the future?

Those who win at things like gambling and market forecasting understand that any time you use your resources to put the odds in your favor 51% of the time you are doing well. And to continue to be better than 50% requires that you play the game by the book and never deviate from your system.

These people are making a conscious decision to look for the circumstances they want rather than leaving it to "chance". They understand the presence of chance in their endeavors but they tip the scales in their favor as much as humanly possible by seeking the right situations rather than letting situations seek the,.

You too can manage your business and your life this way. Find the circumstances you want, and take control over every variable you can in order to tip the scales in your favor.

The butterfly effect gives us reassurance that what do has an impact, but it also reassures us that the forecasting of future events, like interest rates, is far too dependent upon events and factors out of our control to even think we really know what is going to happen next more than about 51% of the time!

HEADS YOU LOOSE!

Yesterday we looked at the "hinge of history" and how simple decisions and actions like where to have lunch, turn left or right, stop or keep going, can change your life and that of many others. Like life, most sports are games of inches which can be both glorious or painful depending on the slimmest of margins.

Consider the example of how something incredibly simple can have such a huge impact. Back in 1979, the NBA used to flip a coin between the two teams with the worst records for the number one pick in the draft. The Chicago Bulls called "heads" and the coin cam up "tails", thereby giving the first pick to the New Orleans Jazz. But the Jazz had to give the pick to the Los Angeles Lakers as compensation for signing one of their free agents. That number one pick became Magic Johnson from Michigan State. The next season, led by their rookie guard, the Lakers became NBA champions and there would be several more. The New Orleans Jazz moved and became the Utah Jazz without playing another game in Louisiana. And if Chicago won the coin flip there is little doubt that they would not have been in a position a few years later to draft a player by the na,e of Michael Jordan.

This is why you never give up and never underestimate the powers of your actions and their accompanying reactions. Because you never know where or when you'll find your "Magic"!

AS THE WORLD TURNS THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE

There are always some decisions which seemed inconsequential at the time yet they changed your life forever. We all have them. A chance meeting with a person who winds up a spouse, best friend or employer. The accident you just avoided by leaving your office two minutes late. The seemingly meaningless conversation which changed your decision at a future crossroads.

Life leads us down many paths and the simple decisions we make can have huge consequences on not only ourselves, but hundreds and sometimes even billions of people. Indeed the relatively small actions of one person can change history as we all know it.

In 1981 Secret Service Agent Timothy Mc McCarthy took a bullet in the stomach that may have killed Ronald Reagan. Had his dive in front of our nation's leader been a split second too late, our lives would probably all be different in some ways. On the other hand, had someone said "Hey Oswald what are you doing with that rifle?" back in 1963 near what is not CTX headquarters, history may have been unknowingly changed forever.

And then of course there is the biggest game of chance of all... which sperm penetrates the egg? The random outcome of this event (with such lousy odds for each swimmer) is fairly obvious within most families. Will that child grow up to be a Ronald Reagan or a Lee Harvey Oswald?

Life, like most sports, is truly a game of inches and much of our lives are left to chance. However, it is what we make of the chances we get that determine our destiny!

More on this subject to follow...

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

"Butterfly effect" is a phrase that embraces the idea that small variations in the initial conditions of a dynamic system can produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. A common description of the effect says that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas months later. "The butterfly effect was quite possible inspired by the 1952 Ray Bradbury short story A Sound of Thunder. In that story, a time traveler accidentally steps on a butterfly in the distant past, causing broad changes in the present.

The practical consequence of the butterfly effect is that complex systems such as the weather and the stock or bond markets are difficult to predict over any useful time range. Finite models that attempt to stimulate these systems still don't possess the ability to fully account for the system and the timing of events. These errors are magnified as each unit of time is stimulated until the error bound on the result exceeds one hundred per cent. It is at this point, that the butterfly could have actually caused the tornado!

THE HINGE OF HISTORY

Like it or not, chance is still a major factor in our lives that can not be eliminated. Random events transpire billions of times per day which keep our futures in a constant state of flux. At times we are swept helplessly by the tide of events yet other times the small force we all command can become decisive in changing the course of history. Nature dictates that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and the idea that "when a butterfly flaps its wings" has profound impact on all of our lives. Trying to predict or fully adjust to the chance inherent in life is impossible, but making your own luck is not!

To be continued...

THE MORTGAGE POLICE

Bill Tidyman is a retired FBI agent living in Arvada, CO. Since retiring from the FBI, Tidyman has started his own thriving investigation business and he only has three clients, but they are three of the country's largest mortgage insurers. Whenever there is an early default or the appearance of fraud on a mortgage insured in his area, the call goes out to Tidyman, whose job it is to reverify all of the facts of the loan application as well as to interview the borrowers. Approximately half of the cases he investigates involve no fraud or deceit on the part of anyone, but that leaves the other 50%, which more often than not involve fraudulent activity on the part of the Loan Officer and only rarely on the part of the borrowers. in fact, the number of instances where the borrowers were "coached" into the fraudulent activity by :Loan Officers is staggering. Had those Loan officers known that a former FBI investigator would be re-verifying everything on the 1003 and conducting an extensive borrower interview, chances are that even they would not be so stupid as to attempt to close the loan in the first place. in fact, some of these Loan Officers have probably operated in the fraud mode for years, but their time is up. As if we need it... further proof that conducting business with honestly and integrity is the only way to operate!

WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT

We have learned that there are four things our customers expect from us... Accurate disclosures, to close on time, proactive prompt communications, and knowledgable advice.

The survey also told us that there is one amazingly simple thing we can all do to improve our customer's likelihood of future referrals and that is to make a phone call to the borrower prior to closing. Those who remember getting the pre-closing phone call were 20% more likely to refer a friend or family member than those who did not receive the phone call!

The pre closing phone call should immediately become part of your standard operating procedure. This is your moment to shine with your customer and a great opportunity to ask for referrals, because by that time you have truly earned the right!

THE 80/20 "BUBBLE"

FHA's market share may be down right now, but be assured that unless HUD wants to get out of the single family origination business, they are just losing a small battle right now and eventually they will win the war.

The primary culprit of FHA's market share decline is 80/20 financing which is built on an actuarial risk model as rock solid as a cliff house on the san Andreas Fault. Despite all the debate over a "housing bubble" and the fact that Real Estate is a historically great investment, common sense tells us that ups and downs are expected.

Real Estate prices will flatten out and decline in some areas in the future and when this happens second mortgage lenders will start racking up losses in a big way. This may take a year or five but it will happen. FHA's risk model, however, is much sounder plus if they lost money they can basically ask the government for more.

So despite increased competition, loan amount ceilings, multitudes of Loan Officers who only understand 80/20 loans for their cash strapped borrowers, and reduced MIP refunds, FHA will survive and thrive in the future after the second mortgage industry pays dearly for the 80/20 craze!

THE FASTEST LUMBERJACK

One day two lumberjacks were squaring off in the national finals. They were surrounded by a huge crowd and had a giant log in front of each of them. When the bell sounded they both began chopping very aggressively. One lumberjack noticed that his opponent had stopped chopping so he figured himself to be way ahead. This happened two more times but the lumberjack was dumbfounded at the end because his opponent won. Afterwards he asked how he took three breaks and still won. 

The victorious lumberjack replied, "I wasn't taking a break, I was sharpening my ax!"

KEEP IT PRIVATE

Make no mistake; there are times when blame is clearly appropriate. Sometimes people just screw up big time and the sooner you accept that axiom of life the better.

However, few things are more distasteful to any person than being blamed. it is hard on the self esteem and we all make mistakes from time to time. And please remember that even if the blame was well deserved it is always better to correct someone in private rather than publicly.

Also, isn't it funny how those who never admit to their mistakes are usually the first to blame and nobody likes a "blamer." When things go south, losers blame and winners convert the situation into the learning opportunity that it truly is!

THE BLAME GAME

Things will go wrong sometimes. This basic fact of life is so easy to understand yet incredibly difficult for many people to accept. We don't have to like it when things don't go as planned, but most of us can certainly deal with it better.

Regardless of the situation, when adverse things occur, our tendency as human beings is to blame.

Blame rhymes with shame and lame for good reason.

Blaming is just a tremendous lost learning opportunity. When we blame someone or some circumstance it gives THEM power over the situation. "I was tired because..., he didn't do..., she didn't listen to... etc. This is our natural reaction of rejecting responsibility by blaming another person or situation for the mishap.

So next time rather than blaming, try accepting some of the responsibility and fixing things yourself and learn from the situation so it doesn't happen again!

THE HARDEST THING

Turning away business is hard to do, but the sooner you get good at it, the better off you'll be. Rather than trying to do every loan, consider a strategy of creating your own referral network of other lending professionals who do not compete against you.

Use these loan opportunities to start reciprocal partnerships with people who will not only take care of your customers better than you probably could, but also send you business as well. Plus the long term benefit of doing what is best for the customer will return in the form of bigger dividends later.

So be careful with your time and keep your long term goals in mind. Balance is key to the life but not necessarily Loan Origination!