INSECURITY BLANKET

Insecurity is something we all possess. Whether you are a brand new Processing Assistant, top producing Loan Officer, or a Key Executive.

Like almost everything else in life. Insecurity must be kept in balance. Too much is crippling, not enough is dangerous and a little is good. Kind of like Goldilocks porridge.

Those with very high levels of it are constantly in crippling fear and those with not enough of it usually don't have enough fear to perform their responsibilities to their potential.

Insecurity is another form of risk and great things never happen without risks and the insecurities that accompany them. In fact, most of our top producers possess a significant amount of insecurity, and to this day, it is what keeps them going at such a high level.

So the next time you hear the words "insecure" used to describe someone else, know that you are too and it is not necessarily a negative. Unless of course it is too hot or too cold!

IT'S ALL MY FAULT!

Did you just have a great month? Gain a new referral source? Win a loan that was heavily competed for? If so, you are probably willing to accept to accolades.

However, what if you just had a lousy month or lost a referral source? I hope that you are willing to accept responsibility for that too.

Accepting responsibility for your actions is always a lot more fun when your actions are successful because taking responsibility is just another form of accepting blame. For better or worse.

Successful people take resonsibility for everything they do and everything that happens to them. So take responsibility now for your actions and decisions. Blaming others and blaming circumstances are certain paths to mediocrity.

Please remember that blame is the antithesis success!

 

OK. I'LL TAKE IT ALREADY

Trying to close customers too soon is a common pitfall of most salespeople. Many times it is from lack of proper training, other times poor execution but there is one underlying reason that we salespeople all have a tendency to close too soon.

The reason is not that we are pushy, impatient, uncaring, unclean or uninformed. The reason we salespeople tend to close too fast is because that is the way most of us like to buy.

Salespeople are buyers all the way. Once they find what they need, they simply buy it. They don't need long sales pitches and they won't drive across town or call ten people to save a few dollars. Does this sound familiar to you?

For most of us selling to another salesperson is usually easier and more fun because we are conditioned to buy first and maybe ask questions later. That is how most of us like to shop. We are there to buy not browse. You customers, however, usually have a lot more browser in them than we do. So close every opportunity you get, just be careful to remember that what you consider an opportunity may not be an opportunity just yet in the eyes of your customer. 

"I REALLY WANT YOUR BUSINESS, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY"

“Asking for business before asking a customer’s needs is sales malpractice.”

Referral sources are invaluable in our business and they are never won over with sales pitches that come in the first few minutes of the relationship. Who wants to consider doing business with someone who asks for their business before they ask question one about their business or how they may fit in?

If a title rep or appraiser approached you with the "we want to earn your business" line before even asking anything about your business, how many seconds would you hesitate before throwing away their card?

Most likely, you would discard it immediately, so please make sure that you aren't doing the same thing!

AHHHHH SALESMAN!

We have all heard it before.

That really forward statement from a salesperson we just met that instantly makes us feel uneasy and looking for a fast escape. A classic example of this is the car salesman who uses the ancient "we want to earn your business" line. For most of us, that one immediately puts us on the defensive and changes our focus from that of leisurely looking at cars to nervously looking for the nearest exit. That type of selling approach may work in the car business: a heavily comoditized market in which repeat business is rare and rarely considered in the selling process. It does not fly in the mortgage business though. It does not work with your borrowers and it is even worse with referral sources.

Asking for business before asking a customer's needs is sales malpractice. Worse yet it will ruin almost every sales opportunity you have. Tomorrow... avoid the malpractice!

LOOK HONEY - THE APR IS ONLY 1800%!

Annual Percentage Rate (APR)- The annualized cost of credit expressed as a percentage, considering all the added cost of a given loan.

Understanding of this term and it's related circulations are essential Loan Officer knowledge but have you ever stopped to think about the APR we pay on a typical ATM transaction?

A $100 withdrawal from an ATM machine with a $2 fee that gets spent in one week comes out to a whopping 104% APR and if that ATM has a $5 fee and the money is spent in 24 hours (think Casinos here) the APR is a staggering 1820%. That's right, one thousand eight hundred twenty percent!

Understandably, most of us will happily pay the price of convenience for an ATM and the fees or finance charges on $100 are insignificant. However, what about a mortgage with high up front frees that ends up being paid off in a short period of time?

This, my friends, is one of the financial pitfalls that you are responsible for helping your customers avoid. Tomorrow we will look at some real life examples and how you can help your customers avoid paying too much!

CLICK, CLICK

Those smart folks at IBM back in the day realized that a filing systems were essential for computers since filing systems had been an essential business tool ever since the invention of paper.

Whenever we are looking for specific information on a computer, we don't just scroll through the entire content of the computer to find it. Some people might, but I don't think they work here.

Computers are broken down into files making it easy for us to access what we are looking for with a simple query of a few clicks. our minds are the same way, only far better, because the files within our brains don't get misfiled or lost. Actually they do get lost sometimes, but this is not about aging or alcohol.

The human brain is the first and still finest filing system of all time. In order to get the responses or answer we are looking for from another's mind, our querying skills are put to the test on a regular basis. So next time you say, "What's new?", please try to add at least one qualifier or "click" to access something more specific because as they said at IBM back in the day, "garbage in, garbage out."

 

WHAT'S NEW

"Whats new?"

"Oh, nuthin."

The "nothing" answer to the "what's new" question is possibly the most commonly used mistruth there ever was. Nobody does it intentionally of course, but the question is just so bad that it will usually elicit a lousy response. 

We all have new things take place in our lives every day. But asking "What's new?" to someone you haven't seen in a while is kind of like asking a librarian "What's here?"

There is just so much information that we become overwhelmed by the broadness of the question to the point that our minds go into a state of overload or even lockdown.

For example, let's say someone asked you to tell them something amazing about yourself. Could you answer that question in an instant? And if you could, would you have answered it differently if you had an hour to ponder it?

However, what if they asked you to tell them something funny that you have done, within a large crowd, at a football game, in the past ten years? This is a much easier question for most of us to answer because we are not forced to search our brain's entire lifetime data bank for an answer. Our mind is able to retrieve the more specific information in a much more efficient fashion like the computer that is. 

To be continued...

BUT WE WANT THE 5.25%

Let's say our next customer wants a 30 year fixed mortgage at 5.25% for their new home purchase. As most good Loan Officers would, you counsel them that a 5.25% fixed rate is available, but at a steep cost of about three and a half points. They hear but do not heed your advice because they are deadset on a 5.25% fixed rate since it is all over the newspapers.

There are many compelling arguments why not to pay such large up front discount fees, but there is none more compelling than the true or real APR of such a loan that is paid off early.

While precise statistics of this kind are impossible to obtain, the average life of a mortgage still hovers at less than 4 years and that number is still dropping as it has for the past four years.

Assuming no other lender fees the real APR on the above example paid off after four years is 6.4%. If paid off in two years the real APR jumps to 7.5% and if that promotion that involves a move to New Jersey happens in one year, the real APR is a staggering 9.5%. In fact just for this customer to break even versus a 6.125% mortgage with no points takes until the 64th month!

YOU CAN'T GIVE IT, IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT

The disturbed person can no better give peace, joy and comfort to others than a homeless man can donate millions for a new hospital wing.

Much like the Loan Officer who does not possess adequate knowledge and people skills or has problems in personal relationships outside of work, will struggle to find and keep customers.

It all starts with you and that mighty thing called attitude. This is why so many offices reflect the personalities of their managers. Companies reflect the personalities of their leaders and children reflect the personality of their parents.

We all have a role model that we can't escape, the one who never let's you relax 100%. Your role model causes you to fail or rise to the top. Be it happy, bashful, grumpy, sleepy or dopey. this role model controls your destiny, moods and perception.

To reach the top of your game you must fully understand the enormous role your "role model" plays in your success. Take care of your role model. Feed its body with healthy fuel and exercise and feed it's mind with positive nourishment. Most importantly, love it, because if you do not, you will not be able to give to others and chances are they will have trouble giving it to you in return. 

FEAR FACTOR

Fear - an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by expectation of awareness of danger also an instance of or a state marked by this emotion.

Fear is one of our most powerful human mechanisms for instantaneously dealing with a frightening experience. The adrenaline rush given by fear can help us focus and elevate our brain activity to a new level clearer than ever before in order to deal with the immediate danger. Such adrenaline rushes are great if you encounter a bear in the woods or an intruder in your home, but excessive fear of the unknown can mentally cripple a human being.

While fear is occasionally very real in our lives, most people live in far too much fear. They concern themselves too much with the outcomes of certain events, which in the end are usually unimportant anyway.

While fear is occasionally very real in our lives, most people live in far too much fear. They concern themselves too much with the outcomes of certain events, which in the end are usually unimportant anyway. 

So next time you are overly concerned about something, please remember that worry and fear are debilitating emotions that are disempowering to us at every turn. Whenever we are afraid, it is because we do not know enough. If we understand enough, we would rarely be afraid!

I'D RATHER SEE THE DENTIST

Alas, people do not really enjoy obtaining a mortgage on any level. Seeking, applying for and closing on a new mortgage ranks right up there with going to the dentist or renewing a driver's license for most people.

Our customers all want a good deal but they also do not want a hassle filled process or to worry about the performance of a discount or internet lender. The one thing they all cannot stand, however, is wondering whether or not they are being ripped off.

In short, nobody particularly enjoys getting a mortgage and the easier you can make it for your customers, the more loyal a fan you will have created.

In addition, everyone has questions about the mortgage and lending business from time to time and there is no substitute for most people than to be able to call on someone with 100% confidence in their ability to provide solid advice and a pleasing outcome. They need you now, but they will also need you in the future and saving them the trouble of shopping for a lender every time they have a need or even just a question is a pleasing outcome all by itself.

So please remember to sell the outcome, which for you will translate to more income!

THE REAL DEAL

What makes anything sell?

Here is a clue...

It does not matter if it is a product as simple as apiece of gum or as huge as a Learjet. Nor a service as simple as laundry or as complez as a no ration, non-owner occupied fourplex with five different borrowers.

People buy for one reason... because they are seeking the pleasant outcome of the product or service in question. Whether that outcome of the product or service in question. Whether that outcome is fresher breath or the ability to take a bunch of your friends to Paris for lunch on a moments notice.

The outcome drives the purchase, period.

Selling outcomes is a winning strategy for all salespeople and especially when selling a complex produce like ours which is a commodity and a service all in one package.

Trying to compete on the commodity side alone is a recipe for disaster in our business. Someone else will always have (or at least appear to have) a better price.

The relationship of the pleasurable outcome of that relationship both now and in the future is what our customers are willing to pay for if they are skillfully made aware of the unique advantages you offer in order to give them those additional pleasurable outcomes. 

Tomorrow... how you can start selling the outcome. 

I THINK?

When speaking with customers, we give out so many signals with our body language, voices and words that most of them are not significant enough to be noticed on a conscious level.

When we speak to customers, we obviously want them to like us and we want to create the confidence in you that you are the person for the job. Instilling confidence of your abilities to others is one of the skills possessed by all great Loan Officers.

With that said, while you are giving professional advice there are words to use and words not to use. One of the classics is "I think" versus "I know."

When speaking about something that you are the expert on, statements that start with "I think..." carry far less impact than those that start with "I know..."

"I think" tells the customer you are not sure. "I know," however, is a statement that exudes confidence and sends the customer a strong message that you are the right one for the job!

CALL ME ASAP AT 000-000-0000!

Picture this... it has already happened to you too much.

You are in your car, you check your voicemail and there is a call from a borrower with a very important message asking you to call them ASAP. Only problem is, they do not leave their phone number. After all, you obviously have their number... somewhere. You called them first a month or two ago and you have called them several times to date.

This kind of thing we should come to expect and be prepared for from our customers, but not ourselves.

All business communications should contain your phone number period. 

Even a message to your best Realtor or builder despite the fact that they should have your number committed to memory is just common business courtesy. Just because someone has your phone number does not mean they have it with him or her at all times or that they have memorized it.

So please make it your practice to leave your number every time because many people don't eve know the phone numbers of their own family anymore thanks to speed dials and cell phones!

INTRODUCTIONS PLEASE

The next time you have customers in your office, please consider starting a new, highly effective habit of introducing the other members of your team to your customers.

Introducing your customers to those of your colleagues who will be assisting with the processing and closing of the mortgage on their home starts the entire process off right. Your introductions will give out those all important "warm fuzzies" to your borrowers as they are acquainted with those who will be taking care of them.

Another nice benefit of this practice is that it makes them feel good to know there are multiple people working on their behalf. In addition, it forces you to explain at least a littlbe bit about the loan process, which as we know, is one of the keys to smooth communication and happy customers from the outset. 

Perhaps the best reason of all to start the introductions habit is that it lets your customers know that you are not the only person working on their mortgage so they understand they do not have to call you every time they need something or have a question!

CHILL OUT

“The greatest remedy for anger is delay.”
— Seneca (5BC-65AD)

Anger tens to rear its ugly head at the spur of the moment (think fistfights) and that same anger, if tempered by time, is usually harmless.

The only way to lose customers and relationships faster than through incompetence is to lose them through anger. Seneca was again right on with this one.

Almost all of our regrettable bouts with anger occur with quick responses that can be avoided if we just take some time to assess the situation and approach it in a calmer fashion.

Within the word "danger" we also find the word "anger." So next time you feel anger coming on, give yourself some time to cool off before making a phone call or sending an email that you will regret later.

THE MOST VALUABLE THINGS

“The best ideas are common property.”
— Seneca (5BC-65AD)

Everything that is truly important in life came to us free of charge... your mind, your body, your family, your friends, your soul, your character, your thoughts. Sometimes we human beings have a tendency to place way too little value on those things in life that are free, despite the fact that they are the most important facets of our lives.

This partially explains why we only use about 10% of our brains. Our minds are where everything important in our lives starts and ends, yet often we place more value upon that which we have to pay for. Things that we pay money for like personal possessions tend to have a certain price tag and value attached, but the really important things in life are truly priceless!

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

“It is a great thing to know the season for speech and the season for silence.”
— Seneca (5BC-65AD)

In other words, sometimes it is far better to just be quiet and listen.

As we have said here before, we are born with two ears and one mouth and we all should be using them in proportion. Silence can be one of your best tools if used properly and really, actively listening to your customers and colleagues is a skill that we can all improve upon!