Confront the fear

Fear holds us back from reaching our potential and living an exciting life. We have dreams and goals, but we won't take steps toward them because of a variety of fears - the fear that we might fail, the fear that someone may criticize us, the fear of the unknown, or even the fear that we might succeed. When you face these fears head-on, you gain self-esteem and confidence. If you have trouble coming up with a fear to confront, tackle public speaking. Join a Toastmasters group in your area. You may be uncomfortable at the beginning, but you'll learn valuable skills and gain confidence, which will serve you well.

Jeff Keller- Attitude is everything.

Time to get growing

As originators we must cling to certain fundamental principles:

1. If you want to minimize your exposure to fluctuating interest rates than you need to maximize your exposure to people who are looking borrow money.
2. There are no strategies that become effective until YOU DO.
3. Nothing will replace hard work.

With that in mind we also need to recognize that there is a shift taking place in the market. We need to confront the brutal facts:

1. Borrowers are far more educated as a result of constant refinancing.
2. It is more and more common for borrowers to shop multiple sources.
3. Borrowers are relying more and more on the internet to find and research options.

This creates challenges as well as opportunities:

First- Lenders must have a system in place to follow up on borrowers seeking multiple offers. The average internet customer will not make a commitment for 2 to 3 months. If the loan is a purchase, the cycle may be as long as 6 months. As we all know, originators are not patient people, out of site out of mind. Having a system in place to continuously follow up with these customers will dramatically improve conversion rates.

Second- Lending Tree recently hit the 20,000,000 mark in mortgage lead generation. That’s a lot of business being generated on the internet. Lenders who can put together an effective Internet strategy will be able to tap into Lending Tree’s virtual monopoly and become their own lead generator. This will create an opportunity to reduce dependence on 3^rd parties and increase individual brand building.

Third- Originators need to stay up to date on current marketing strategies and product information. We must avoid putting ourselves in a position where the borrowers know more about our products and services than we do. That’s why constant learning through research and training is so important.

With change comes opportunity. Smart lenders and brokers will find a way to take advantage of the recent shift in the market and when things start cranking again (and we all know they will) they will start the next leg of the race with a huge lead.

Contact us today for a free business assessment.