Build a Solid Team, Get Better Results
My friend Adam Crosley has built a really solid team, and it has made all the difference in his mortgage business. Adam is a producing branch manager in upstate New York, but the majority of the production is his. He just brought on his first two loan officers this year, trained them, and got them up and running. His personal production is about 250 units on the year for about $46 million. His loan officers are each doing a handful as they learn the business.
Adam has a team of eight. He has an assistant that does all the emailing. He’s got a junior loan partner whose job is lead tracking and some of the marketing. He has two licensed loan consultants that meet with all the clients. He also has three processors that run everything from contract to close. And Adam is number eight.
Adam hasn’t met with a client since March 2020. He calls the person once at the beginning of the process just to make sure his team took good care of them. They’ve built out a really good, automated system, and he just follows up with clients once or twice throughout the process. Adam is like the poster child for loan officer marketing tools that work.
What Does a Good Automated System Look Like?
One of the systems they built is for their pre-approved and looking. They have a little team huddle every morning. If a client meets with a loan consultant, then Adam’s loan partner, Carrie, puts them in the CRM. A Slydial (ringless voicemail messaging app) recording of Adam goes out to them.
“Hey, it’s Adam over at Cross Country. I heard you met with my team yesterday. We just had our morning huddle and, from what they briefed me on, everything seems to be good. If that wasn’t the case, give me a call. We can look into it, but it’s my understanding that you’re pre-approved, and everything’s good at this point. They know your file a little bit better than I do, and they’re going to be your best point of contact, but feel free to give us a call and we’re here to help you out. When you’re out there shopping, if you come across anybody else that’s looking to buy a house, if you can just let them know about us, it truly, truly means the world. Thank you so much. We look forward to helping you.”
This goes out to pre-approved buyers the next day. They’re given the office number, which someone answers with, “Hey, Adam’s with another family right now, but he just wanted to reach out and make sure everything’s good. Do you need a direct call back from him, or do you want to talk to your loan consultant?”
Transitioning to a Virtual Business
Since it’s been over a year since Adam has met with clients face-to-face, some people would think he’s losing the connection and losing the client. But Adam has two amazing loan consultants on his team. They do the consultation. They sell the deal. They both worked at local regional banks in the past. They know the mortgage industry, and they like the stability of a salary.
How was the transition from interacting with clients himself to handing it over to his team? The transition didn’t happen all at once. It took a few years. He was meeting with people, then brought someone on who handled overflow. Then, as she started taking on more clients, Adam started doing other things, like coaching and buying real estate, and the team eventually took over.
The only thing he does is call his agents on Tuesdays once the deal goes live. He keeps up with his relationships with agents that way. So, even though they don’t talk directly to Adam, their loan closes on time. They get treated great. Nobody cares that it’s not Adam they’re dealing with. They just want the money.
Consistent Communication Is Key
So many times we pre-approve someone and stop following up because we’re so busy pre-approving the next person. Adam heard me at a Freedom Club Mastermind say, “Why do we hate delegating things we aren’t doing anyway?” That made quite an impact on him. He met with a guy that has a CRM and built out an automated campaign for him, tailoring it to his specific needs. An automated campaign is Adam’s favorite loan officer strategy. It has paid off in a huge way for him.
Now he pre-approves someone, then once a week, they alternate between Slydial, text, and email. It’s short and simple. “Hey, Carl. Adam over here at Cross Country. Just want to check in with you. Do you need anything from us?” If they reply to that text, it goes to Carrie, and she responds as Adam. The CRM is called Follow Up Speed. There are a number of CRMs that work well. You can use any of them. It’s not hard.
Since implementing the CRM, their conversion from lead to closed loan has gone way up, from 20% to 32%. He’s basically become a master at loan officer lead generation. Where do they get 100 leads a month? Adam has a database of 2500 people, so they’ve done a lot of loans over time. Roughly 43% of their leads are past clients. Every 90 days, they’re reaching out to each person in their past database. A Slydial goes out Monday, a text Tuesday, an email on Thursday, plus a mailer once a month.
It’s just a top of mind thing. He’s reaching out and showing more love. He’s got two basic campaigns: preapproval/looking and past database. They can both be set up in like a week. Some people opt out, but most people don’t. The trick is to focus on the positive, not the negative. Adam repeats this mantra: Some Will, Some Won’t, So What? Next?
Making an Unconventional Hire
Adam just hired a business development guy who came out of the grain industry, an industry that is kind of dying in northern New York. He shot a Facebook Live at his off-grid camp up in the mountains over Christmas and said, “I’m so humbled by this industry. If you’re in sales and want to become a loan officer, reach out to me.”
This guy was the only serious one who reached out. Adam told him, “Here’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got six months to pay for yourself effectively. Just build relationships with real estate agents, instead of farmers. If they ask loan questions, send them to my loan consultants.”
This new employee sells himself as an account executive for the realtors. He tells them, “I’m here to help and just want to make sure your voice is heard.” He’s just generating leads. And he’s doing it down in Tampa, Florida. One of the problems in northern NY is that no one is buying a house when it’s 20 degrees below zero, so he’s adding Florida to his repertoire.
I always told Adam to draw a bigger circle, because he had a really limiting belief that he had to meet face-to-face with his clients. It wasn’t until Covid that he realized you can do business anywhere in the country, so now he’s branched out to Florida in a really cool and unconventional way.
“Whoever I’m talking to,” Adam says, “I try to give them advice as if I was in their shoes. Tell people the truth. Not what makes the most money for you, but the actual truth.”
That’s some great advice. If you’d like to chat with an experienced loan officer who will tell you the actual truth, we’d love to talk to you! Schedule your FREE loan officer strategy call TODAY.
