Many loan officers are telling me that 2015 is going to be a record setting year for them. They say this with gratitude and just a little bit of concern. Staff and systems are at their limits on what they can handle and since mortgages are more complex, they take longer to get through processing, underwriting and closing. This causes stress and anxiety which keeps many loan officers from spending time on relationships and marketing.
In fact, some loan officers are saying "I don't have time for marketing and even if I did, I can't really handle more loans right now." I'm in that boat personally and have to fight against the urge to slow down my visibility and marketing.
With the strength of our industry, we are starting to see new blood come in. My 25-year-old son recently took a job as a loan officer assistant with the long term goal of building an origination business. This is going to be our competition and we need to prepare for it. Business will not always be this busy.
So what can you do to keep up with the volume, service your current clients so they send you referrals and stay visible with your real estate agents and past clients? It is a daunting task if you don't have help and keep it automated as much as possible.
First, you must have help. Having an assistant is truly the only way to get your business to grow and keep from having crazy production hills and valleys. My current assistant helps me with marketing but also helps my processor by setting up new files and following up on verification of employment forms and other items needed for underwriting. When my pipeline is full, her priority is helping my processor. I am lucky that our receptionist is available to help with some of my marketing tasks when this happens.
Automate, automate, automate. Every month, my database of past clients gets a calendar/recipe postcard from me. I use
I also have an after closing checklist that my assistant handles on all closed loans, making sure everyone gets a thank you and are set up in my database, birthday calendar and annual email reminder system. She has certain days of the month where she sends out my birthday cards and annual emails.
As far as visibility goes, this is something I work very hard to maintain even though I am busy. I am on the Women's Council of Realtors board, Community Involvement Committee and I teach continuing education classes or take refreshments to CE classes monthly.
I truly have to force myself to get out of the office for the events. It isn't easy when my workload is so high, but I know the payoff is worth it. I try to make sure my Realtors know that I am never too busy to help them or their clients.
My hope is that each year is my best year ever and the only way to accomplish this is through focused determination to keep up on marketing and relationships.
