Simple Loan Officer Strategies that Move the Needle in Big Ways
My friend Steve Kyles and I sat down recently to talk to our friends at the Loan Officer Breakfast Club. Every Monday through Thursday morning, we get together at 8:30am to talk about what actions we’re doing to bring more loans in and bring more chill into our lives.
We brainstormed some really helpful loan officer strategies, things that can move the needle in big ways as you dive deeper into them. And we’re more than happy to share them here with you.
#1: Risk Looking Stupid. Just Take Action.
Everyone’s afraid of looking stupid. So what do we do instead? Nothing. Why don’t I pick up the phone? I don’t want to look stupid. Why don’t I go teach that class? I don’t want to look stupid. What if someone asks me a question I don’t know the answer to? I don’t want to look stupid.
You know what? Nobody thinks you’re stupid. People think about you way less than you think they do. They’re too busy being worried about what you think of them. Steve Jobs once said, “If you’re not willing to crash and burn, if you’re not willing to fail, you’re not going to get very far.”
Just start doing something. Start communicating with people. And not just texting and Facebook messages and Facebook posts. There’s nothing wrong with those but do them along with, not instead of, picking up the phone and calling people. You’re going to have your highest impact meeting people. Get on the phone and ask them to meet you in person or over Zoom.
What if they say they’re too busy? What if they ask a question I can’t answer? If they’re too busy, call them back later. If they ask a question you don’t know the answer to, tell them you’ll find out. And you can practice your answers to these 5-8 questions that inevitably come up so you feel more prepared.
Steve and I have built our wealth getting a yes from just 16% of the people we reach out to. Everybody else is saying no, and it’s okay. Remember, they’re not rejecting us, just an offer they don’t need right now.
Risk looking stupid. Just take action. The more action you take, the better you’ll get at responses, the better you’ll get at hearing “no,” the better you’ll get at cutting the argument and getting to a “yes.”
#2: There’s Nothing More Costly than Not Taking Action.
I want to share a really important acronym with you: COI. COI stands for cost of inactivity (or cost of indecision). We’ve heard of ROI (return on investment). This is the exact opposite of that. There is nothing on earth that costs you more than the COI, the cost of not doing that one thing that would benefit you.
For example, how many people are calling their past database? If we call our past database, we’re going to close more loans. Not six months from now. Today. If you have 300 people in your past database, you can expect 3 loans each and every month. If you have 800 people in your past database, you can expect 8 loans every single month. If you’re making $2000/loan, that’s $16k. So, the COI of not calling your past database is $16,000.
If you’re thinking you can’t afford someone to call all those people in your database, do you mean to tell me you can’t pay someone $12/hour to get you $16,000 more a month?
The COI is absolute poison for your business and costs you more than anything else you could imagine. Just take action.But not just any action. Do something that has gotten somebody else great results. Like calling your past database. Ask people who have actually done this, the people who are making over $1 million as a loan officer.
I know this really nice guy who closes almost no loans. It’s a choice, this cost of inactivity. I see his name popping up in all these forums, giving people advice. And I personally know he’s closing zero to one loan a month. When it comes to his loan officer strategies, do the opposite of whatever he’s doing. Find someone who’s closing 30 loans a month, and get advice from them.
Steve says it’s the difference between a tour guide and a travel agent. The travel agent says, “Hey, you want to go to the Maldives. Fantastic. Here’s an all-inclusive resort with great reviews.” But a tour guide has boots on the ground. They know a place that very few people know about. It’s this paradise with waterfalls, and locals know it’s the most remarkable place on the whole island. You want to take advice from someone with boots on the ground.
#3: Meeters Are Cheaters.
We go after qualified agents when we’re looking to get more realtor referral partners. Our definition of a qualified agent is someone with eight or more buyer-side transactions per year. If I work off of a list and just start calling these people, what percentage of those agents are already working with another loan officer? 100% of them.
Steve and I closed 700+ loans last month between our two branches. One hundred percent of those referrals came from real estate agents who were working with different loan officers at the time. All of them. We found that, when we meet them for coffee, and can go over the scripts, they’re open to switching, because meeters are cheaters.
They know what we are and what we’re doing—16% will meet us for coffee and 84% will say no thank you. But 16% do meet us for coffee, and they’re willing to cheat on their current loan officer because something’s not right. Maybe the loan officer isn’t calling them, not giving them attention, not closing loans, not communicating during the loan process, not following up on leads. If they agree to meet with you, they’re open to cheating. You might be a better fit for them if you make a good case. You’ve got a shot at earning their business.
If you do enough of these calls and meetings over 90 days, your business will absolutely explode. You can become wealthy by two hours of outbound phone calls from 9-11 a.m. four days a week and booking 4-5 appointments a week. That’s all it takes.
Find those people who have similar vision, values, and beliefs. Find people who are moving in the same direction you are. The value that we bring to these realtors is ourselves. We’re enough. In our friendship, we help each other build our businesses. We’re not friends because we help each other. We help each other because we’re friends.
You don’t have to come in with this bag of tricks to help them build their business to earn their friendship. Just be friends first. How do you win their friendship? Frankly, by asking them questions about themselves. Just shut up and listen; don’t talk about yourself the whole time. These people don’t need your help to build your business. Your friendship is the prize.
So, what’s your assignment? Risk looking stupid. Take action. Resist the COI with everything in you. And ask to meet with high-quality agents, even if they’re already working with another loan officer.
If you’d like some help with this assignment, we’d love to map out for you how to use our scripts to meet more of these agents, form more partnerships, and make more money. Give us a call TODAY to set up a FREE strategy call.