I can’t recall a single top producer I have met that did not have a written business and marketing plan.
If you do not have a written and detailed plan, how do you know where you are going?
Sure, many like to claim, “It’s in my head,” or something of that nature. This doesn’t cut it guys. With all of the activity taking place on a daily basis along with numerous other distractions, how can you hope to track and compare whether you’re reaching your short-term goals and destinations? How many fine details that could be crucial to the success of your career or plan will fall through the cracks because they were simply forgotten?
No, if you are serious about your career, you absolutely must have a business plan that covers everything from lead generation and prospecting to the backend, processing and follow-up.
If you do have a business plan, does it detail the methods you will use to make the processing of the loan and experience for your clients? If you haven’t included this in your plan, please do so immediately! If you are not crating a memorable experience for your clients that make them want to tell others about you, you are missing out on an excellent opportunity and lumping yourself in with every other loan officer out there.
Action: If you do not have a written business plan, you should award your self:
zero points.
If you have a written plan that covers customer acquisition, award yourself:
one point.
If you have a detailed business plan that covers marketing, customer acquisition and processing as well as your back end, then award yourself:
two points.
2. Do you have a regular schedule of education? It’s easy to nod your head yes to this question as you think about industry trade publications or message boards that you frequent, but it has to go deeper than this. A newspaper or magazine article is usually limited to only 1,000 or 1,500 words at most, which is barely enough room to scratch the surface on most topics.
On message boards, 90 percent of the visitors are asking questions and you have no idea exactly how qualified most of the answers are.Continuing education sure doesn’t sound like much fun, but think of all of the benefits. Not only will you be able to impress your clients when you have accurate answers to their most difficult questions off the top of your head, but it will also make selling yourself to potential referral sources easier as well, as they will be more comfortable doing business with someone who is a true student of his craft.
This is a profession, and it should be treated like one.
You should make it a point to study in depth marketing, sales skills, proper follow-up, the psychology of sales, time management, finance, loan products, real estate agents, internet and online marketing/lead generation, RESPA law and other industry regulations.
I’m sure there are other topics you could think of as well; your goal should be to become as complete of a loan officer as possible. You are the product that is being sold, not your loans, rates or company.
You are the product, so why not make sure that you have the best darn product in town? Whether you choose to believe it or not, more and more borrowers out there are learning how to pick up on the differences between a professional and a slick salesman.
Sure, some people do manage to make a great living in this business with minimal knowledge and a heaping spoonful of sales techniques. But is that really what you want?
Why not be proud of what you do for a living and stop worrying that someone is going to ask you a question you cannot answer because you’re not properly trained? No one is going to take the time to train you, so you have to be proactive in seeking this instruction out for yourself. Is there anything holding you back?
The level of commitment you have to your self-improvement is a good example of how serious you are about your career.
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