Over my career I have had many struggles, and maybe right now you are having the same ones I did. When I started out rates were in the mid teens and the country was in a recession.So I am going to share a thought I heard from a good friend of mine named Lee Milteer who is a motivational and productivity guru. She always says, "You can choose whether you want to be a victim or not." I'm not here to tell you everything is always rosy and great. I am here to let you know that HOPE is not a strategy.
For many years, I was always hoping: I hoped rates would come down. I hoped I would meet an agent that liked me and would give me business. I hoped that I would land that big subdivision and be able to do all their loans. I hoped I would be able to make enough money to pay my bills. I hoped that I would find that "magic pill" that would produce income like the goose laying the golden egg. The truth is that hoping gets you nowhere. It frustrates you. It shakes your confidence when things don't turn out the way you wanted or hoped it would.
You need to start living by the credo "If it's going to be, then it's up to me." Go out and start making things happen. In a future Loan Officer Formula Marketing Tip, I will share more ideas with you on this topic but for right now, stop hoping and start doing!
You really can get whatever you want, whenever you want it by using a few simple tactics. See, it is all about understanding other people's motivations and simply giving them exactly what they want. Before we leave this mistake, let me ask you, do you know the definition of "insanity"? It is doing the same things over and over again, but expecting a different result. Now before you say "duh" stop and think about what you are doing in your business.
Start asking yourself these questions:
What am I doing to generate new business?
What results are these strategies producing for me?
How long have I been using them?
What you need is a plan, a map! Let me illustrate this with an example. Let's say I told you to meet me in Kalamazoo tomorrow and I will give you a million dollar bill (assume it was true). The first thing you would need to do then is to get a map. Then you would need to follow that map and route to make sure you were on track. Did you make a wrong turn? Did you get off at the wrong exit? It's the same with your business. You need to have a road map and goals. They must be written down to be effective. Then you need to monitor your progress to make sure you are on track to achieve them. If you have gotten off track or if the market has turned, you must adjust your map and plan and get back on track.
Sort of like a GPS for your business that will get you where you ultimately want to go, if you follow the path. What scares me is that most people have no idea what success is. Sure, everyone wants to be successful but very few have ever written down the figure, a date for it to be achieved, and a detailed plan for achieving it. Guess that's why the majority of people never achieve success and continue to go around hoping! In your next Loan Officer Formula Marketing Tip I will talk about how you can stop being a "one night stand loan officer!
Brian Sacks is the CEO of
