When I attended monthly company sales meetings, after all of the announcements, rule updates and company policy changes, everyone was asked to leave the room — except for the loan originators!
That's when the monthly origination and closing reports came out.
Each one of us was asked to analyze how many loans we originated that month and how we "got" the deal in the door in the first place. Was it because of real estate agent referrals? Was it from an affinity partner? A past client? A website inquiry? A random phone call? In-house deal? An open house or for sale by owner?
Having everyone talk about how they obtained the client helped every loan officer become a better salesperson.
But, that's not all. Each one of us had to keep track and analyze why we did not get the deal (or why the loan did not close)! Was the cause rates? Closing costs? Real estate agent issues? No loan program? Clients did not qualify? The property did not appraise? Basically, anything that resulted in losing the deal from inception up to not getting the loan to the closing table!
This was absolutely the most valuable part of the meeting because we would brainstorm on helping each other overcome objections. Compare our fees to those of our competitors. Learn how to sell "against" the competition. Maybe there was a loan program that should be added to the product line. And if the clients did not qualify, the group would analyze the file to see if we could have made it work (by the way, we probably saved at least one deal a month by having others review the file).
Keeping track of both how you were able to land the deal — and how you "lost" a deal is an invaluable snapshot (over a period of time) that can help you improve your salesmanship, learn more about your competitors and as a group, ask others to share what they would have done!
So, I'd like to challenge you to analyze all of your business (in process, closed loans, lost deals) over the last 90 days. Use the following criteria:
1) What is the number of "possible deals" versus "loan applications?"
2) How did you get the deal in the door?
3) If the clients did not complete a loan application, why did they not do business with you?
4) If the loan did not close, why?
It's difficult to think you are being rejected, but this also forces you to ask the tough question - why? Taking time to do this exercise will help you become a better loan officer and you will close a higher percentage of your deals!
