If You Want Different Results, Change the Activity
A friend of mine told me a story years ago about a coworker who came into the lunchroom every day carrying a brown paper bag.
Every day, the routine was exactly the same.
He’d sit down, slowly open the bag, pull out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, roll his eyes, groan, and then eat it.
Day after day.
Peanut butter and jelly.
And every time he opened that bag, he seemed disappointed to find the exact same sandwich waiting for him.
After about four months of watching this, my friend finally couldn’t take it anymore.
He asked him:
“Why don’t you ask your wife to make you something different for a change?”
The guy looked at him and said:
“Oh, my wife doesn’t make my lunch. She has a job too. I make my own lunch every day.”
Now that’s funny.
Until you realize how often we do exactly the same thing in our mortgage businesses.
Who Keeps Making Your Sandwich?
A lot of loan officers are frustrated with their results.
They stare at the phone wondering why it isn’t ringing.
They post on social media and wonder why all those likes aren’t turning into real leads, applications, or closings.
They buy another marketing tool.
They sign up for another piece of software.
They try another funnel.
They look for the latest AI tool.
They buy the next bag of “magic beans” promising to create mortgage leads without ever having to pick up the phone and have a real conversation.
Then another month goes by.
They open the brown paper bag.
And there’s the same sandwich.
The natural response is:
“Why am I getting the same results?”
Well, sometimes the answer is uncomfortable.
We’re the ones making the sandwich.
Different Mortgage Results Usually Require Different Activities
If you want a different result, something in the activity has to change.
That doesn’t necessarily mean completely reinventing your mortgage business.
In fact, most loan officers probably don’t need another brand-new marketing strategy.
They may simply need to get better and more consistent at the activities that have been proven to create business.
Things like:
- Having conversations with people who can refer business
- Following up with referred leads
- Staying connected with past clients
- Building stronger Real Estate Agent relationships
- Improving sales conversations
- Asking for the next step
- Following a daily prospecting plan
- Tracking activity
- Using accountability to stay consistent
None of that sounds particularly magical.
That’s because it isn’t.
But it works.
Likes Are Not the Same as Leads
Social media can be a fantastic tool for a loan officer.
We use it.
We teach it.
It can help you stay visible, build credibility, educate your audience, and start relationships.
But there’s an important distinction.
Attention is not the same as a conversation.
And a conversation is not the same as a referral.
And a referral is not the same as an application.
And an application is not the same as a closing.
If you have a lot of social media activity but not enough mortgage production, don’t automatically assume you need more content.
Look further down the chain.
Are people moving from content into conversations?
Are those conversations creating opportunities?
Are you following up with those opportunities?
Are you asking people to take the next step?
This is one of the reasons loan officer sales coaching can be so valuable.
Sometimes the problem isn’t getting more people to see you.
It’s knowing what to do once somebody does.
There Are No Magic Beans in Mortgage Marketing
Every few months, it seems like there’s a new strategy that promises to change everything.
And to be clear, I’m not against new technology.
We use AI.
We use automation.
We use CRMs.
We use social media.
We use systems that can make loan officers more efficient and help create opportunities.
But technology should help you create and manage relationships.
It should not become a replacement for having them.
If you’re constantly looking for a system that allows you to avoid conversations completely, you may be solving the wrong problem.
Mortgage is still a relationship business.
Somebody has to trust you enough to send you a borrower.
The borrower has to trust you enough to move forward.
The Real Estate Agent has to trust you enough to put their reputation in your hands.
That trust gets built through communication.
There are no magic beans that eliminate that part.
Conversations Still Produce Mortgage Business
This is something I have to remind myself of too.
The activities that produce business are often surprisingly simple.
Have conversations.
Talk with qualified Real Estate Agents.
Talk with past clients.
Talk with referral partners.
Talk with people in your database.
Talk with pre-approved buyers.
Then follow up.
A great marketing system can help create the opportunity for a conversation.
But eventually, somebody needs to have the conversation.
That’s where salesmanship matters.
Salesmanship Doesn’t Mean Being Pushy
Sometimes loan officers hear the word “sales” and immediately get uncomfortable.
They think salesmanship means pressure.
It doesn’t.
Great salesmanship is often about asking better questions.
Listening.
Understanding what somebody actually needs.
Explaining complicated things simply.
Helping somebody make a decision.
And confidently asking what should happen next.
The problem is that if you don’t practice those skills, you can have plenty of opportunities and still watch them slip away.
That’s why scripts, role-play, call reviews, and coaching matter.
The goal isn’t to turn you into somebody you’re not.
It’s to make you more confident being yourself when an important conversation happens.
Follow-Up Is Where a Lot of the Money Is
Let’s say somebody refers a borrower to you.
That’s great.
But what happens next?
How quickly do you call?
What happens if they don’t answer?
Do you call again?
Do you text?
What do you say?
How long do you continue following up?
Do you circle back with the person who made the referral?
A referred lead sitting untouched in a CRM doesn’t create a closing.
The opportunity was created.
Now somebody has to work it.
This is why sales coaching isn’t only about getting better at the first conversation.
It is also about building a process around everything that happens afterward.
Accountability Keeps the Right Activities Happening
Here’s another piece that’s easy to underestimate.
Most loan officers already know that conversations and follow-up work.
The problem isn’t always knowledge.
It’s consistency.
Monday starts strong.
Tuesday gets busy.
Wednesday a file catches fire.
Thursday is full of meetings.
Friday arrives and you realize you didn’t prospect nearly as much as you planned.
Then you promise yourself you’ll do better next week.
That’s where accountability can make such a difference.
Not somebody yelling at you.
Not somebody making you feel guilty.
Just a system that keeps bringing you back to the question:
Did you do what you said you were going to do?
Because knowing what works doesn’t help much if you don’t actually do it.
Don’t Confuse More Effort With the Right Effort
Another trap is assuming the solution is simply to work more hours.
I don’t believe that’s the goal.
You can work 60 hours a week doing the wrong activities and still be disappointed with your production.
The better question is:
What activities are most likely to create the result I want?
Then prioritize those.
Maybe you don’t need to work until 8:00 tonight.
Maybe you need to spend a focused hour this morning having the conversations you’ve been avoiding.
Maybe you don’t need another marketing campaign.
Maybe you need to follow up with the 15 opportunities already sitting in your CRM.
Maybe you don’t need 100 more Real Estate Agent contacts.
Maybe you need to deepen the relationships with the qualified agents you already know.
Better activity can often beat more activity.
Ask Yourself What’s Actually in the Bag
Here’s a simple exercise.
Look at the last 30 days of your mortgage business.
What activities did you repeatedly put into the bag?
How many meaningful prospecting conversations did you have?
How many referral asks did you make?
How many old leads did you follow up with?
How many past clients did you personally contact?
How many qualified Real Estate Agents did you talk with?
How consistently did you follow up with pre-approved borrowers?
How much time did you spend practicing the conversations that create business?
Then look at your results.
There is often a connection.
That doesn’t mean every call creates a closing.
Of course it doesn’t.
But if you’re consistently disappointed with what’s coming out of the bag, it’s worth taking an honest look at what you’re putting into it.
What Will You Do Differently on Monday?
This is the question I’d ask yourself before the weekend is over:
What am I doing over and over that keeps giving me the same result, and what will I do differently on Monday?
Don’t make a list of 20 things.
Pick one.
Maybe you’ll make five calls before opening your email.
Maybe you’ll follow up with every referred lead from the last 90 days.
Maybe you’ll reconnect with five Real Estate Agents you already know.
Maybe you’ll call five past clients.
Maybe you’ll finally start using a script you’ve been meaning to practice.
Maybe you’ll ask somebody to hold you accountable.
Whatever it is, put a different sandwich in the bag.
Then give the new activity enough time and consistency to see what happens.
Coaching Should Help You Change the Activity, Not Just Collect Ideas
This is one of the things I believe good mortgage coaching should accomplish.
You don’t need somebody constantly handing you more ideas.
Most loan officers already have enough ideas.
You need help identifying which activities matter most for your business right now.
Then you need the scripts, systems, tracking, coaching, and accountability to actually execute them.
That’s what we work on inside MMA Next Level.
Not magic beans.
Not sitting around hoping the phone rings.
Practical strategies built around the conversations, follow-up, salesmanship, systems, and accountability that create mortgage business.
Because if you want something different to come out of the bag, something different has to go into it.
Ready to See What We’re Doing Differently?
If you’re tired of opening the bag every month and finding the same results, come take a look at what we’re doing inside Mortgage Marketing Animals.
We’ll show you the systems, coaching, accountability, scripts, and activities we use to help loan officers create more consistent mortgage businesses.
Go to MMADemo.com to schedule a free demo and see whether MMA Next Level might be a fit for you.
You don’t need another bag of magic beans.
You may just need a better plan for what you’re going to do on Monday.