Nikki Groff stakes her reputation on being incredibly thoughtful. Beyond the desire to provide the best service possible to her clients, she is also concerned about the experiences of the real estate agents and title professionals she and her team work with, as well.
Groff, a senior loan officer at Wallick & Volk Mortgage Bankers in Flagstaff, Ariz., understands the power personal recommendations hold in small town circles, and maintains her reputation through solid determination to alleviate as much stress as possible from the beginning of the loan origination process.
Significantly, she also recognizes the need for engagement with her professional partners, and facilitates monthly events to help everyone excel while strengthening established relationships, which has the added benefit of efficiently maintaining and growing her network.
This is Groff's first appearance on the Top Producers list. Last year, she originated 192 loans for a combined dollar volume of approximately $49 million, ranking her No. 226 on the
Tell us about your most creative or successful marketing strategy. How did you come up with the idea? What were the results?
We do a monthly Mastermind-type luncheon with our top 25 real estate agents who currently send us business and it's about bringing those who excel in their field together even though they work for different companies so we can all learn from each other. It is the third Wednesday of every month and we serve a lunch at noon and then start the presentation. The attendees are open to voice their opinion about the topic to have a group discussion.
We ask for feedback and requests for topics of interest to determine the topic for the next Mastermind meeting. It's a great way to learn from each other and connect with real estate agents face to face and make sure our competition isn't meeting with our agents more than we are.
What's unique about the local market that you serve and what do you do to address those needs?
The majority of our business comes from Flagstaff which is a town of about 60,000 people in northern Arizona. It's a very small town and if you don't do business the right way, then you don't do business at all.
We look at the most important marketing which is word of mouth and comes from our clients' experiences and also our real estate agents' experiences throughout the purchase transaction. It isn't rocket science and doesn't have to be more difficult than that. I think that making sure your clients and real estate agents understand that you are a mortgage professional and take your job seriously with a great work ethic can go a long way in a small town.
Tell us about an unusual or difficult loan scenario and what you did to ensure a successful closing.
No two loans are alike, kind of like a snowflake. We pride ourselves on doing more work upfront on the prequalification process before the client goes shopping for a home. It reduces the stress level for the client, real estate agent, title company — and of course on our team. It may take a little bit more time to work on our file at the beginning, but it allows us to put out potential fires before the client goes under contract.
This alleviates the client's stress level when making an offer because they know they are credit approved and once they have a contract, the next step will be to work on getting the property approved. To ensure a successful closing on a difficult loan scenario, the most important thing is communication.
Based on the client's preliminary information, it is extremely important to communicate to the borrower any issues with their file before they go shopping for a home. That way they don't make an offer until we are comfortable with the file for them to move forward and they don't have any surprises later.
What do you know about the mortgage business now that you wished you knew when you started out?
The business can run you instead of you running the business, and sometimes you run out of time. My philosophy is always do it right the first time because fixing it will take more time later. It avoids fires later on in the purchase transaction and in the long run will save time because you only have to work on the file once.
I learned over time how important it is to have a system in place so that every file goes through the same process every time. This avoids steps or areas getting missed.
I think you need a great team behind you and no one person can do this job anymore in this industry. I think always having a second set of eyes is important in avoiding fires on and ensuring a smooth transaction. It is important to have team members you believe in and that can support you.
One thing I have learned is to avoid hiring yourself and by that I mean someone who is just like you. It is better to hire someone who excels in areas where you are weaker so that your team compliments each other so that everyone can perform the tasks on the team that are his or her strengths.
Who is someone in your life, either personally or professionally, who helps contribute to your success?
I would have to say from a professional standpoint that would be my husband, Michael Groff, who is also an owner in the mortgage company. He has been my mentor over the last 12 years. I met him a few years after I got into the business and was building my team. I was then promoted to a branch manager and I had never taken on that role before. He mentored me throughout that process which allowed us to be the No. 1 profitable branch within the company as well as the number one loan originating team in the company. I think he contributes to my success personally as well as he constantly pushes me to be a better person, wife, friend and coworker.
