Running a great mortgage company is filled with many challenges. Sure, we love the good times…when loans are falling from the sky and the business seems to run itself as far as bringing in production. But keeping things running profitably through the tough times is a function of solid management, good decision-making and implementing great tools for improvement.
In my 10 years in and around the mortgage business, I've concluded that the main difference between the average loan officer and the superstars is the mindset. How they view the business, their attitudes and beliefs of what's possible is the difference. My deduction comes down to the most important sale you'll ever make. The most important sale you'll ever make is not to a particular customer that you'll pursue, but the sale called "you"! The ability to persuade yourself that what you have is much more valuable than anything you'd ask back from the customer is the single most important element in your long-term sales success! In addition, you must have the ability to persuade yourself to make the calls that are necessary when you don't feel like it, to ask one more time after five or six "no's", to generate the levels of enthusiasm is what sets the champions apart from those who have average lives. Anyone doing over $50,000,000 per year has this mindset!
How is it that two salespeople can be put side by side, and while one clearly has greater natural resources, better training, the one with less training, less resources, less contacts, out-produces him/her two to one?
The difference in the quality of your sales career is not based on whom you know, or even on your training, believe it or not. It's based upon how much desire and intensity you have to utilize all of your power as a person of influence. After all, selling is not that difficult. If you just talk to enough people, and you're sincere and you care enough, without any of the skills you're going to make sales. Everything people do, they do for a reason, their reason. Have you heard of the difference between influence and persuasion? When you persuade someone, you're really getting that person to do it for your own reasons, while when you influence someone you're really getting that person to do it for their reasons and the difference it's going to make for them. Persuading is you convincing someone, while influencing is your assistance in helping them convince themselves. Persuading is telling them...selling them, while influencing is sharing and caring...showing and growing. There is a difference.
The purpose of this article is to help you to discover and cultivate some compelling reasons that would drive you forward to utilize more of your ability and skill. I also want to enroll you in being a student of influence and mastering the art of influence. It's much better to influence than to persuade in utilizing your power to succeed. Remember, success in life is twenty percent "how to", and eighty percent "why to" succeed. If you have a deep understanding of who you want to become internally "why to", then taking the actions, making the decisions and developing great habits will generate support for you externally "how to." Positive changes and developments internally will support tremendous results externally.
Personal achievement begins at the core of a person. It's that core that will define habits, patterns, decisions, attitudes, actions, beliefs, standards, strategies and so on. Billions of dollars are spent each year on people attending seminars, yet many people don't follow through and take the necessary actions and make the needed changes to reach their goals and dreams.
I believe the reason for this is that most people need to work on themselves first before they attempt any specific challenge. Listening to all the tapes, attending the seminars, reading all the books is a great start. But it doesn't guarantee success. What guarantees success is the ability to act! The ability to take action on the things you learn.
I started making some quantum leap changes when I began working on myself first. I was spending too much time and effort dreaming and not enough time focusing on my own habits and patterns in my own life. When I realized this, I began making immediate changes internally. For example; if you knew that you could handle any fear that came your way, how would that change your life? If you knew that you could get yourself to take any action necessary to reach any outcome, what would you do? More importantly, what if you could get yourself to take action when things aren't going so well? What would that be worth?
I have found through personal experience that there are four reasons why people don't achieve what they want.
1. They're unclear on what they want in the first place.
2. They lack the belief or the ability to see themselves at their desired
outcome and/or they don't feel like they deserve it.
3. They don't keep their commitments.
4. They don't create compelling enough reasons for following through
when the going gets tough.
First of all, you must decide what it is you want. This involves making a decision. This involves deciding what it is that turns you on. What are you passionate about in life?
Choose from areas and things that you love. Create a plan for your goals and write them down. What is a goal anyway? A goal is a dream with a deadline. It's making a decision that there's something you're absolutely committed to have, do, be or share in your life. It must be backed up with enough reasons to make it compelling, and not just a short-term whim, want or desire. If your goal is to double your loan origination's or to be a superstar loan originator, make that decision with certainty that there is no question that you'll achieve this. There is an old saying, "Do what you love to do…then figure out a way to get paid for it."
Secondly, you must believe that you can do it. You must see yourself in the picture frame of your dreams. You must see yourself being, doing and having the goals of your self-picture. This is belief! Be careful about what you believe. Belief is powerful. It either keeps you where you are, or it magnetizes you toward your goals. Your belief about where you see yourself will make automatic adjustments in your subconscious mind, good or bad. What happens with many people is that they believe in their goals to start with, yet the first sign of trouble they say; "see, I told you I couldn't do it." We all must fight this urge to give in to short-term results. We must stick to our goals and beliefs, and not be distracted with negative results that cause us to quit. We all know that it's easier to start something than it is to finish something. It's also easier to have an idea than to implement it. Believe in yourself and your abilities to make a difference.
Thirdly, give yourself enough time to reach your dream. Most people quit because they're not willing to pay the price for their goal or dream. Decide, commit to something, and have ultimate resolve that no matter what it takes, you're going to make it happen. This is critical because otherwise you get all motivated and the motivation doesn't last. The motivation will only last if you do something that moves you toward your dream, now you are inspired and inspiration lasts a lifetime. It's also all about risk. Nobody wants to risk. Most people ask the question; what if it doesn't work? Yet the successful people, the powerful people ask a different question. They don't ask, “what if it doesn't work?” They ask; “what if it would have worked and I didn't do it?” What if it would have worked and I didn't even try because I didn't take action. What if I wake up 30 years from now with regret because I wasn't willing to pay the price? You know what they say, risk weighs ounces and regret weighs tons! The bottom line, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing bad for a couple of years. So give yourself time to reach your outcomes. Hang tough and don't let go of what you've already committed to. Make your commitments real!
Finally, and in addition to having compelling reasons to succeed, you must also create enough compelling consequences so that it's clear, you will experience deep pain if you don't follow through on the steps that are necessary to make the goal a reality. These reasons must be compelling and emotional. Written goals with a plan can create phenomenal results. Fully utilize the consequences of failure as leverage. For example; "If I don't do this, what will it cost me? What will I be giving up?" As well as the benefits of success; "If I do this and it works, what will it give me? How will that make me feel?
I would like to take you through some powerful questions that you could ask yourself. I once hired a very enthusiastic loan officer who, based on his confident manner and convincing words, I predicted would become one of my biggest producers. "I am going to earn $100,000 my first year in the business," he said. "Ambitious goals," I responded. "You have to think big." During his first month in the business, he originated over one million dollars worth of residential mortgage loans. His second month, he originated almost two million dollars worth of mortgage loans. The third month, he quit calling on Realtors and spent more time in the office getting his loans closed. The forth and fifth months came and went. He was still in the office saying that he had to make sure his loan got funded. To my surprise, the sixth month he resigned. He said that he was going to work for a bigger company. He went to the bigger company for three months and then got out of the business. This is a good example of why I am such an advocate of loan officers having some internal preparation and the cleansing necessary to begin the process of making an important career decision. Please take these questions seriously as they are designed to help you lay a solid foundation of where you will end up and how successful you will be in this business. These questions apply to everyone. Whether you're new to loan origination's or a seasoned superstar, these questions can begin a foundation for some new skill-sets that will support your business growth.
Question #1: Is it worth the sacrifice? If you have a deep-seated passionate desire, need, or reason to be a successful loan originator or a superstar loan originator, sacrificing will not feel like some form of suffering. On the other hand, once you are well into the process, you will discover a great sense of liberation.
Question #2: What are my motives? Are you financially burdened with your children's college tuition expense? Do you have dreams of building a comfortable retirement account? Do you want to improve your overall lifestyle? Don't ask these questions without also asking; What extra services can I add to show customers and clients that I am worth doing business with? How could succeeding or expanding my mortgage career help to improve the quality of my life as well as my loved ones? How will I appropriate the monies earned? How much value can I contribute to my company, my clients and customers?
Question #3: How do I confront my fears? Every time I conduct a seminar, I give my audience solutions to their fears; otherwise, the most useful skills presented to them will be meaningless because they're afraid of stuff. Maybe it's the fear of rejection, maybe it's the fear of looking bad, maybe it's fear of selling, maybe its fear of failure, and maybe it's the fear of success. Whatever it is, it must be dealt with. Fear has a tendency to stop people from ever taking an action in the first place. If you're going to be a loan officer with a six-figure income, you can't be afraid of rejection.
Question #4: How can I become more self-disciplined? If you are serious about your mortgage business, you must learn how to turn your time and energy into profit. There are many ways to do this. Keep your focus on working "on" your business and not just "in" your business. Every top producer on the planet focus’ on high pay-off tasks.
Question #5: Am I tapping the powers of my imagination? You may not have thought of your imagination as being a strong business development force, but, when you know how to channel it positively, it is. Imagination does not mean daydreaming or fantasizing. It is a tangible, creative force that can excite and arouse your passions. Imagination keeps us from despairing; it helps us see things not as they are but as they could be.
Question #6: Do I have plenty of energy to succeed? Eat better and exercise. Notice and be sensitized to your energy levels. Then make improvements where needed.
Question #7: How important is my image? Common sense rules! Practice good hygiene, show good taste, take care of yourself physically, and pray for help. Anything you can do to improve your image...do it!
By seeking the answers to these questions, you offer yourself solid building blocks to any outcome. You decide the outcome you want. You decide the results you want. Seek and meditate on the answers and welcome yourself to the beginning of your dreams. This is the most important sale you'll ever make...yourself!
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(Original article: The Mindset of Top Originators. . .by Mike Baker)
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