Latest / Mortgage Marketing Radio / Ep #61: How to Go from 60 Funded Loans to 236 Loans in Record Time

Transcript

Ep #61: How to Go from 60 Funded Loans to 236 Loans in Record Time · Mortgage Marketing Radio

0:00
In today's highly competitive mortgage industry, building profitable relationships with
0:04
the real estate agents is essential for success.
0:06
However, finding effective ways to secure agent relationships can be a challenge.
0:11
With so many mortgage loan originators vying for the attention of real estate agents, it
0:15
can be difficult to stand out and establish meaningful connections.
0:20
Our new case study featuring loan officer Chris Cogill is a must-read.
0:25
Chris has closed a remarkable 36 million in funded loans from agent referrals.
0:31
And in this case study, he shares his proven strategies for building strong relationships
0:34
with real estate agents and leveraging those relationships to drive more business.
0:39
To get your hands on this resource, head over to LOKestudy.com and download your free copy
0:45
of the case study today.
0:47
You'll find actionable insights and practical tips that Chris used to close 36 million
0:52
in funded loans from agent referrals and how you can too.
0:56
Don't miss out.
0:57
Go check it out right now, visit LOKestudy.com and download your free copy today.
1:17
Hey listeners, welcome to another episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio.
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So you get a lot of compliments in this.
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All right.
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So, this week, very special guest, man, oh man, I'm just blown away at the generosity of
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the people in this industry that are willing to come on and share.
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I guess this week, Dominic Dengora, part of the Dengora team in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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I saw Dominic speak from stage at the Todd Duncan, some sales mastery of that.
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And he shared some things that were like really thought-provoking advanced strategies,
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if you will, but also some basic blocking and tackling of what it really takes to build
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a successful, productive, origination business.
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One that's predictable, one that is making a difference and making an impact and doesn't
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look like your average L.O. chasing around business and the tail wagging the L.O. with
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instead of them being in control of the business, the market, they referral partners in control
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of them.
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So, Dominic's got an incredible story.
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He started in the purchase side of the business only in 2013 and his first year in the business
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did 16 loans.
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Woo-hoo!
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Doesn't stop there, though.
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Dominic's a smart guy.
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He's aggressive.
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He's from Boston originally, too.
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So you got to like that.
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Okay, but Dominic went on to, from 2013 to 16 loans, 2014, 60 loans, right?
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2015, 97, 2016, 198, and here in 2017, he is tracking to do at least 236 units.
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That is a massive hockey stick growth over a five-year period.
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So, we're going to talk about how Dominic did that, what did he put in place, what systems,
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what processes, what people did he, you know, identifying and put on his team.
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We're also going to talk about the biggest thing that I think after listening to Dominic
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has made the difference for him in his business is the high-trust sales process.
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As you'll hear him say, you've only got two things that separate you from everybody
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else.
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And that is the experience, the borrower experience and the client experience or the
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realtor experience.
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So, what's the experience like to work with you from a borrower standpoint as a client,
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right?
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Is it a five-star experience?
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Does it blow their socks off or is it average?
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Is it ordinary?
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And then, of course, the realtor experience.
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What's your process like as you work with the realtor, as you first meet with him,
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as you onboard their clients, right?
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And how does Dominic activate his weekly partners, his sales partners, his referral partners,
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right?
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The question is he asks, we're going to go through some scripts and stuff.
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We're going to go through some positioning statements.
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And you'll be surprised to find out that of the 236 units that he did, he got 90 plus
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percent of that from just 10 core agents, 10 agents.
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That's it.
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We're going deep versus going wide.
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So I think you'll enjoy this week's episode.
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There's lots to learn, lots to take away.
6:03
And if you like it, remember, let us know.
6:04
We've been writing on the podcast and as always, I appreciate you listening.
6:10
One last thing.
6:11
If you haven't yet checked out, getpowerfulpresentations.com and you're looking for a smarter, quicker, more efficient
6:17
way to attract capture and convert realtor estate agents to referral partners.
6:20
Check out getpowerfulpresentations.com.
6:23
Without further ado, let's get into a show.
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Hey Dominic, welcome to the show.
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Hey Jeff, thanks for having me.
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My pleasure.
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Thank you for being here and let's get right into it.
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For those that are listening, you heard in the intro, kind of the background are on Dominic.
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And as I had stated, I saw him on stage at the recent sales mastery event with Todd Duncan
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and it was really just blown away by a couple of key points that I'm grateful for you taking
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time to come back and kind of carry on that conversation, Dominic.
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If you would, give us the quick rundown on you.
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How many years in the business, you're in Oklahoma City, is that right?
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That's correct.
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Yeah, so how many years you've been an originator?
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So I got licensed back in September of 2011 and at that time, I almost don't count that
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in the time that I've been originating because I was working for a company that was just
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doing stream-align refives.
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And so we didn't really have to do anything that I have to do in terms of like an originator
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and the purchase market has to do.
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It was completely different.
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So I joined the purchase market in February of 2013 and I have been working in the Oklahoma
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City market since then.
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So does that mean to say that in the stream-line refive?
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Was that mostly over the phone?
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Mostly over the phone.
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We did face-to-face.
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We basically did house visits.
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It was kind of strange.
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Wow.
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It was an interesting gig to say silly.
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That's like the doctor who used to make house calls, right?
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Yeah, exactly.
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You showed there were the briefcases, pretty funny.
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Is that it?
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Now, so we've got to speak to that because you're in Oklahoma City, so that's a different
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culture than Los Angeles, you know?
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Oh, yeah.
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Yeah, I know.
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It's so much different.
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I've been in just some scary places, but I've seen a lot of Oklahoma that most people who
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grew up here have never had the opportunity to see.
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So I guess when you look at it that way, it was nice, but it also takes about three hours
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to drive all the way down to the southern border and about three hours to the top, and
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so when you drive three hours to show up to an appointment and nobody's there, it's a
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little aggravating.
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Oh, yeah, that's tough.
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Well, I'm sure you have, I mean, do you make house calls still today?
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I know people, they come into your office now, right?
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No, yeah, everybody comes to the office.
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Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
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Wow.
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I bet you've got some stories there, man, like seeing the lady with 12 cats and all that.
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Yeah.
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Oh, yeah.
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Yeah, some crazy, crazy stories.
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We could talk about that for hours.
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Oh, that's so funny.
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Okay, so let's talk about this.
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Here's a, I really want to point this out because this is when you think about this right
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before we hit record, you walk through kind of your numbers with me.
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Why don't I let you say it?
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Why don't you start from 2013, which is when you started in the purchase business.
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Take us all the way up to 2017, your units.
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Okay.
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So for units in 2013, from February to December, I funded a total of 16.
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That's one six.
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And so nothing to really write home about is very discouraging.
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But the next year, I funded 60.
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And then the year after that is when things started to really take off for me.
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I did 97, then I'm sorry.
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So 2015, I did 97.
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And then 2016, I did 198.
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And this year we'll do right between 236 to 240 units.
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Wow.
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Wow.
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That's like phenomenal.
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Okay.
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So naturally, when somebody hears that, or at least when I hear it, I immediately go to,
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all right, I want to know more.
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How did you do that?
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Because that does not happen by accident.
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Yeah.
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No, it does.
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What systems?
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I mean, from your notes, I wrote down, decide number one, it sounds like you made a decision
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to surround yourself with the best.
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But so what systems did you consciously, and what activities did you consciously intentionally
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pursue to have that kind of growth?
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Well, the first thing I did was I implemented Todd Duncan's High Trust interview.
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And that for me was a game changer.
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You know, the High Trust interview really allows you to get to know someone, whether it's
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the client or the partner.
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And not in like a weird way.
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It's not like you're just going to lunch because they're a realtor or somebody that you could
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potentially do business with, and you sit there and talk about your family and friends
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for an hour and nothing gets accomplished.
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You know, this really allows you to get to know the person and build trust and find out
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what's important to them.
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And then so you can determine whether what you have to offer is going to work with their
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business model.
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It was just a different approach that I hadn't been doing before.
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And when I was able to do that, it started making my client meetings and my business meetings
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or business launches more intentional.
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So that really helped.
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Is there anything if you think about like highlights from like somebody listening to a high
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trust interview?
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There are people who believe it or not out there that aren't familiar with Todd Duncan
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and maybe what that is.
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And sometimes, you know, to your point, it's not in a weird way.
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Some people hear that and they're like, you know, what am I just going to get to know
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all, all warm and fuzzy and kumbaya and hugs and all that.
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Because it's a combination of both getting personal, but also being like, you said intentional
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about having a business mindset as well.
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So I don't know, can you provide like just a highlight of what that looks or sounds like?
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Yeah, I think the most important piece from that meeting is just the one question.
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It's important to you about the lender you choose to work with.
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And then just being able to sit back and listen and allow them to unpack what's important
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to them because you, you might go in there thinking, oh, I've got this great down payment
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assistance program or I've got this program and I'm going to be able to get all these realtors.
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It's like that's maybe not even what they want, you know, they want, they want to know
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that they can trust you when they send you a client.
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They want to know that you're going to be able to close on time.
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They want to know that they're going to, that you're going to be able to communicate
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with them throughout the process and so that when they essentially pass off that contract
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or that baton, you might call it, you know, that you're going to be able to take it from
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there and finish the race for them and they don't have to worry about it.
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You know, it's like, you don't want to focus so much on things that you don't even know
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are important to them.
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So that is really the question, the golden question, what's important to you about the lender
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you choose to work with?
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No, that's the key question, like you're saying.
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I'm curious about this is because, you know, you answered that question.
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You gave the answers that most often, I think, agents say is right.
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I want to be able to trust you that we close on time and so those are typically kind
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of the initial, I don't want to call it knee jerk answers, but those are the most common
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responses, right?
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Yeah.
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And so I think there's two things I'm hearing here.
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One is, I think too many times you tell me if you've used experiences too many times
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to your point, the loan officer shows up assuming what's a point important to them.
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Number one, right?
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So they're going to come out and just like throw up and throw up, right?
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With, oh, I can close in eight days and V.A. F.H.A., for every loan under the, it's
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like, whoa, whoa, whoa, if there's no relationship yet, right?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So what I love about that question is it allows, it demonstrates to you, to, to the real
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tear that you actually care, you sincerely care about what's important to them.
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Yeah.
13:39
Yeah, absolutely.
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And, and it also allows you to find out not what's important to them, but maybe it's, maybe
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what's important to them doesn't align with your business model.
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And so, you know, it's, you're not going to be able to work with everybody or maybe you
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don't want to work with everybody.
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There are some people out there that I don't want to work with because what they are going
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to require for me is not going to align with my schedule or my model or, you know, things
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like that.
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They say, hey, if I call you at 830 on a Tuesday night, like to prequel somebody, I need you
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to be there.
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No, sorry.
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You know, keep, keep going on down the road.
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I'm not the guy for you.
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You know, I'm very, I always want to support my partners, but there has to be an understanding
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that, you know, I have a life and a family and, you know, there's certain things that,
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that I'll require in my business model.
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And it may be the two of us don't align and that's fine because there is plenty of business
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out there.
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You know, I think I don't know who it was.
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Jim Rohn is the executive that says, you know, there's plenty of people out there that
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will do business your way to worry about those who don't or who won't.
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Right on, right on.
14:51
Hey, let me ask you, is that question easier to say no to though as a loan officer when
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you're actually, you know, doing plenty of business versus when you're just kind of scraping
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along?
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Yeah, it allows you to be selective.
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And the funny thing is, you know, Todd talked about something, Todd Duncan talks about something
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called demand pull.
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And I always, my first heard that I was like, gosh, it would be so cool.
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If a realtor called me and said, hey, I want to send my clients to you and I was just
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like, I could only dream of that day happening.
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And then all of a sudden, as my business started to grow and the work got out that we did
15:28
a, you know, provided a great service.
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I was like, the phone was ringing and people were like, hey, I just heard about you.
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I want to be able to, you know, want to meet with you and, you know, start sending my
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clients.
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And I'm like, gosh, that is crazy, you know, and so it gets to a point where you actually
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can be selective with who you work with and it does change the game.
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I mean, it changes the quality of the relationship, it changes the quality of the business and
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you're overall quality of life.
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Yeah.
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Absolutely.
15:56
Okay.
15:57
So back to the systems and things you did, you said the first thing you did was implement
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the high trust interview, which really set you apart from most other loan offices they're
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meeting with.
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One of the things, you know, did you do to set up to scale that business and, you know,
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what things did you implement that just started generating additional business?
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Well, one of the other things was meeting with, meeting with the clients face to face.
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I mentioned on stage that our industry is becoming more and more commoditized where you
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can essentially push a button and get a mortgage.
16:28
And that's all fine and great, but at the end of the day, how do you set yourself apart
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from others?
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I mean, it seems like so many people want to do business over the phone and through email
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and they think that's what everybody else wants.
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But really meeting with the client face and having that opportunity to build trust and
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really spend the time with them so that they have the information that they need to make
16:56
a good decision moving forward.
16:57
You know, it's like, generally, if somebody's going to come in and meet with me and then
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we have an opportunity to spend 30, 45, 60 minutes together, I get to know more.
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They see me.
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They see my office.
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They know that I'm a real person and then I spend the time giving them all the information
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that they need to make this big decision moving forward.
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It's like, they're not going to shop after that, you know?
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So that right there took a lot of that shopping around away.
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I love that.
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The person to person.
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Were you resistant to implement that?
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I was initially, I was only resistant because of the fear.
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It was like, okay, well, what do I actually do?
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What can I do to make this worth the time for them to come up?
17:42
Right.
17:43
You know, like, I don't want somebody to take off work and then they come up and you
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just, you fill out a loan app in front of them.
17:50
Yeah, all right.
17:51
Like a little black and white estimated cost analysis.
17:54
You know, it's like, this isn't, it wasn't service to me.
17:58
So over time, you know, it took some time to develop some different pieces of marketing
18:03
material and just ways to present it in a way that's easy to understand and easier to
18:10
read.
18:11
Well, let's talk about that because I've talked to a number of folks who follow this
18:13
high trust interview process and I know some people, you know, it's to the point of
18:17
like they're coming in for an appointment like with a, you know, an estate consultant,
18:21
a financial advisor and, you know, you've got the, you know, the, well, I've seen stuff
18:26
where people do the name on the parking placard out front to their name on the TV on the
18:30
way in and even during the presentation, you got like this big screen and you're walking
18:34
through scenarios.
18:35
What kind of stuff are you doing to make them feel special?
18:38
You know, some of that stuff we offer, but I think, you know, initially that was one
18:42
of the things that I was doing at the company prior to where I'm at right now is, you
18:47
know, we would, we would do the parking sign and we would do another sign when they came
18:51
in the office.
18:52
And I was always like, I heard Jeremy Force EA on a mortgage coach video like four years
18:57
ago talk about how he would have one of the homes, you know, that they were interested
19:03
in on the big screen and kind of showing different rooms and whatnot, which I thought that was
19:08
kind of cool.
19:09
You know, it's all about the, it's the whole experience, Jeff, it's, you know, coming
19:14
in and being welcomed and greeted professionally just, just going over the top to provide just
19:21
a red carpet service for these clients when they come in, you know, given them a list
19:27
of beverages that they could choose from and, you know, just having, without going into
19:33
too much detail, just, you know, making it an experience and not so much a process.
19:39
Yeah.
19:40
Yeah, exactly.
19:41
And I think that's the big takeaway I'd like for listeners, it's about making an experience.
19:44
Think about a time where you went and had an awesome experience somewhere, you know,
19:48
this could be a dinner, it could be a, you know, a theater thing.
19:51
I've had it happen to me on certain occasions when I am visiting a professional, like for
19:56
example, dentist, chiropractor, you know, even some doctors, believe it or not.
20:00
But yeah, it's all about that experience that you create because that's, to your point
20:05
earlier, about technology, that more and more, the only thing we have to separate ourselves
20:09
is our borrower experience, right?
20:11
Yeah, absolutely.
20:12
It'll kind of turn you into a service nod though, because everywhere you go, you expect
20:19
that same level of service and too often my wife and I are disappointed.
20:23
Oh, man.
20:24
That's, that's a whole other session we could go off for an hour and not.
20:28
Yeah.
20:29
I'm equally frustrated today with the level of service and most establishments, to which
20:33
again, talk about an awesome point.
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That's why it's so surprising and impactful when it happens because people are blown away.
20:41
It's so rare today.
20:42
They're like, oh my god, look at the level.
20:44
And then they are, which I know happens for you, they're enthusiastic to talk you up,
20:50
even sometimes without you asking, right?
20:52
Oh, for sure.
20:53
I mean, I can't tell you how many people just when they leave the office and once they're
21:00
closed, once we've closed on their home, I mean, it's just like, we don't really have
21:05
to ask to do it.
21:06
They're already talking about it with everybody that they can possibly tell because they're
21:11
so blown away with everything that happens through the process and even just that first
21:17
initial experience, you know, it's like, you know, we're not showing up into that meeting
21:21
with cargo shorts and, you know, some sneakers.
21:25
They're fully suited up, shirt, tie, it's very professional and we want them.
21:30
It's a huge investment.
21:31
It's a lot of money and I'm not saying that you shouldn't want, you know, in our market,
21:35
that's what's acceptable, I think, and, you know, it's just, we want them to know that
21:41
we're serious, we're professional and that they're going to get taken care of.
21:45
Yeah.
21:46
So the whole presentation is important.
21:48
Absolutely.
21:49
Critical point.
21:50
How do you then deal with the people who are resistant to come in because they're too
21:53
busy, I'm guessing you don't get 100 percent?
21:56
Yeah.
21:57
No, you're right.
21:59
Some people are essentially too busy that I say.
22:03
So we have some different scripting around that, but at the end of the day, if they can't
22:08
do it, you know, I'll offer to do a phone-to-phone conference, which is then basically our face
22:13
to today's conference over the phone as long as they're in front of a computer because
22:19
the thing is, like, everybody's, you know, some people will be like, man, just send me
22:22
a quote.
22:23
I don't do that.
22:24
I'm not just going to send you a quote because there's no value in that.
22:28
And then I just minimize everything that I do back to a commodity and I'll tell you right
22:32
now that my quote's not going to last in that game, you know, they're just going to shop
22:36
around and chat homes, the author of God, but it's a call, the ultimate sales machine.
22:41
You know, he talks about how 15 percent of people are going to buy solely on price, and
22:46
I'm not a good fit for those people because there's no value in price.
22:49
So are you saying that if you had a borer who pushed you for just a quote, you would
22:53
just say, you know, essentially, hey, I don't think we're the right fit for you.
22:56
I would.
22:57
Yeah.
22:58
Cool.
22:59
I love it.
23:00
Yeah, I would definitely try harder to just get them on the phone and, you know, have
23:04
just a five or 10-minute conversation with them.
23:07
But at the end of the day, if they're shopping me like that, I'm not going to be the cheapest
23:11
locally.
23:12
We're all going to be around the same, but the cheapest, I'll let them know, is going
23:17
to be an internet lender.
23:18
And so they're looking for the absolute cheapest price, then the internet lender is going
23:22
to be the way to go.
23:23
Right.
23:24
And I'm okay with having that conversation with them.
23:26
Yeah.
23:27
Yeah.
23:28
Because you're probably going to have a hard time making them happy anyways.
23:29
Yeah.
23:30
I mean, they're just going to take that quote, and they're going to find somebody who's cheaper,
23:33
and then I've just wasted the time working up money or working up a quote for them.
23:37
You know, so it's like, I just know better, and from experience now, that it's better
23:42
to just cut my losses early and spend time on the people that want to do business my
23:46
way.
23:47
Yeah.
23:48
All right.
23:49
Okay.
23:51
Okay.
23:52
Man, let's unpack the box here.
23:53
How do you go from 16 loans to 236 loans in, what, four or five years?
23:58
Yeah.
23:59
I mean, it's like either you multiplied yourself times a hundred, or I don't know, but how
24:04
do you get, you know, that volume increase?
24:07
Yeah.
24:08
So that's the key.
24:09
You've got to multiply.
24:10
So, you know, the team is the important piece.
24:14
It really helps you to get to that kind of volume, and without it, it's impossible.
24:21
There's just simply too much involved in the process today to be able to handle that kind
24:27
of volume on your own.
24:28
So you have to scale it, and you have to be able to build a team and build a great team
24:34
in order to be able to handle that volume.
24:36
So the first thing that I did was, after I got back from Todd Hyattressdale's Academy,
24:41
was I hired my first assistant, and I basically, from the stage, I also made the point that
24:49
I didn't know what they were going to do when they came on board.
24:52
So I wasted a lot of time trying to figure that out after I hired them.
24:56
Yeah.
24:57
So if you're listening and you're thinking about hiring somebody, I would suggest that
25:01
you know what you want them to do before they come on board, which is basically everything
25:04
that you don't want to do.
25:06
Exactly.
25:08
And then from there, that person helped me primarily with clearing conditions, answering
25:13
that phone.
25:14
It took a lot of the time, just time-wasting tasks off of my plate, which allowed me to
25:22
continue to go out, meet with partners, sell more, because a lot of times in this business
25:28
and on the real estate side, it's like you kind of go up and you come down and you go
25:33
up and you come down, and it's because you're up, and then you've got to spend all the
25:38
time taking care of those loans or contracts that you have, and then you don't have any
25:44
time to sell.
25:45
So you're back down again, and then you go up, and it's just painstaking process, whereas
25:50
if you can go up and then kind of level off and then go up again, and each time you level
25:57
you're building, you're adding a team member.
26:00
So instead of going up and then coming down, you're leveling, you're getting them used
26:04
to the business and the process and the way you want to do it, and then you continue
26:08
to grow again.
26:09
And then once you get to a point, you know, 8-10 loans more than you hire another person.
26:17
And so right now, if you fast forward from 2014 to where I am now, we've got a team of
26:25
six people.
26:27
So there's quite a bit of support to help when the contracts come in, which really allows
26:33
it frees me to have to do a few important tasks, and that's making calls, meeting with clients
26:39
and meeting with partners.
26:41
How many of that six are actually originating?
26:43
None of them.
26:44
I'm the only originator.
26:45
Okay, so all those units are because of your personal efforts.
26:49
That's correct.
26:50
Wow.
26:51
So three of them are licensed, but they do not originate.
26:54
They're not loan officers.
26:56
They're just licensed because they're dealing with certain parts of the process.
27:01
But yeah, I'm the only producing loan officer on the team.
27:03
Yeah, you've got closing coordinator, obviously a processor, loan analyst, for example.
27:07
Yep.
27:08
Each of them have a very specific duty.
27:10
So give us a quick picture.
27:12
You're meeting with a client face to face.
27:13
You're doing the high trust interview.
27:15
Have they done an online app typically ahead of time and then what happens after that interview,
27:20
where are you involved?
27:21
So typically they're either doing it online or we'll take it over the phone.
27:28
And then we want to make sure that we know what we're getting into before they come into
27:31
the meeting because we want to be mindful of their time and we want to be mindful of our
27:36
time.
27:37
So we want to make that meeting as impactful as possible.
27:39
So it's imperative that they fill out the application prior to coming in so that we know
27:44
what we can qualify them for kind of which loan programs to look at and just have a bigger
27:49
picture.
27:51
So basically they qualify or they fill out the free call.
27:57
Client specialists will end up, they'll go over all the questions that they have post
28:03
setup and then they'll schedule the appointment for them to come in.
28:07
And then when they come in, I'll meet with them.
28:10
Client specialists gets the docs.
28:12
Is this what you're kind of referring to?
28:13
Yes, yes.
28:14
Okay, cool.
28:16
Client specialists will get the docs, scan them in and then the loan analyst will review
28:21
the docs, make sure that they're good to go.
28:23
Loan analyst is kind of like a just like an underwriter on the team and then from there
28:31
we'll issue the pre-approval after the review of the document.
28:34
And so then we'll kind of just take a break while they are at house hunting and then once
28:39
they go under contract, then we're looking at the closing coordinator taking it from
28:44
there, loan analyst will actually lock the loan as well and then it'll go into kind
28:50
of the back end.
28:51
The back end is the closing coordinator, the junior closing coordinator and the processor.
28:56
And so from there, contract to close, it'll be handled from both closing coordinators
29:01
and the processor.
29:02
And what systems do you have set up of when you're looped back in to either communicating
29:08
with the client or unrelated to the loan, if at all?
29:13
Yeah, so I'm communicating via email through our CRM's at different updates and things
29:20
like that.
29:21
And then I'll follow up toward the end of the process just to go over all the final
29:27
numbers and make sure that they know where they need to be when they need to be there,
29:31
how much they need to bring and just to make sure that I can answer any final questions
29:35
for them.
29:36
Okay, so a lot of people do like Dr. Patients set up, do you have something similar to
29:41
that where it's like, obviously you're doing the front end consult, where does it hurt
29:44
kind of thing, providing a prescription, which is the loan recommendation.
29:48
And then, you know, your team takes it over from there and you're only popping in for
29:53
perhaps good news, right?
29:55
Or if there's something going sideways, you need to interface with the client for some
29:58
reason.
29:59
Yeah, I mean, if there's bad news, if it's something like terrible, which doesn't happen
30:03
often, you know, thank God we haven't had to decline alone.
30:07
So initially that first face-to-face meeting is very like Dr. Nurse model, you know,
30:13
like my client specialist will go in there, she kind of set the table, I'll go in, go
30:17
over the loan programs, a little bit about the process.
30:21
And then I'm out, she comes back in and she wraps everything up, you know, goes over
30:26
the 10-03, just make sure that everything is good to go.
30:30
And then in terms of going under contract, then, you know, I'm not really involved right
30:36
there anymore, but I do follow-up back on the backside just to make sure that they're
30:43
familiar with all the final numbers and whatnot.
30:45
Got it.
30:46
And are you doing any special touch points, you know, mailers at the office, whatever fruit
30:51
baskets, right, on appraisal, loan approval, whatever?
30:54
No, on the fruit baskets, but we send some handwritten, thank you, you know, throughout
30:58
the process as well, just to kind of make it a little more personal and the team helps
31:04
with that.
31:05
Yeah.
31:06
Awesome.
31:07
What is your, so your average week then, I mean, how many face-to-faces would you say you're
31:12
having in a given week with buyers?
31:15
Right now we're probably doing about, probably about 10.
31:19
Wow.
31:20
That's awesome.
31:21
Yeah.
31:22
Right now I'm just trying to focus, I'm focusing more on getting in front of my existing
31:29
partners.
31:30
Yeah.
31:31
And we forget about our existing partners and we're trying to build more business, you
31:34
know, that sometimes we forget about those that we're already working with, and so it's
31:39
important if anybody's listening in, like, touch base with your existing partners and
31:45
just, I don't know, take them to lunch or just get in front of them, talk to them, see
31:48
how they're doing, see how they're doing with their family, and it's amazing when you
31:51
follow it.
31:52
It just happens organically.
31:53
It's like after you do that, it's like more business just starts coming in.
31:57
I don't know why we don't do it more often or why that kind of falls by the wayside
32:03
from time to time, but forget about those that are already around us.
32:07
Yeah, that leads me to a great point.
32:09
One of the other topics I wanted to talk to you about, which is the weekly calls you
32:11
do to real estate agents.
32:13
These are notes from your stage time there at Todd's event, and if I'm correct, you do
32:19
a weekly call to your agent partners?
32:21
Yes.
32:22
Each day I have a list that I'll call a certain group of my partners on that day, that
32:30
whether it's broken down.
32:31
I don't have a million calls to make on Monday, I just kind of spread it out throughout the
32:36
week.
32:37
Yep.
32:38
Okay.
32:39
Just call and connect with them and just see how they're doing and make sure that they don't
32:45
forget about me.
32:46
Well, all right.
32:48
It's more intentional than that because I don't have this question written down that you
32:53
ask.
32:54
I love this question, which is, and I'm sure you don't ask it of everybody, it's got
33:01
to be the right agent and all that stuff, but after some basic small talk, you ask this
33:05
question that basically says, hey, are you showing houses to anybody right now that we
33:09
haven't had a conversation with yet?
33:11
Right?
33:12
So that's a great question.
33:13
Yeah, we got that right from Todd.
33:16
That's one of Todd's questions with the follow-up calls because that's another thing that people
33:21
might be fearful of.
33:22
It's like, well, I want to call my partners and I absolutely would, but I don't know what
33:25
to ask them when I call them all.
33:26
I don't know how to position that conversation without it sounding weird and asking for a referral.
33:35
So that's a powerful question because sometimes they're out there showing homes and you haven't
33:41
had a conversation with them yet, and so if I can get on the phone with that person
33:46
and I can get them pre-qualified, then they can sell a house a lot quicker and they can
33:52
make more money and they can help that family get them into a home.
33:56
So it's a benefit for everybody, but it is a very powerful question and it helps to
34:01
jog their memory.
34:02
Well, and it's a little bit different than the usual question that I hear L.O.'s call
34:06
and they're like, hey, yeah, how is your weekend?
34:08
By the way, did you run any buyers over the weekend?
34:13
Yeah.
34:14
That's a little bit different of a fear.
34:17
Yeah.
34:18
I mean, it's the same result, but it sounds, and here's the other one that Todd shared,
34:21
by the way, and I'm sure you use this as well, where he says, hey, who have you talked
34:29
to in the last couple of weeks that you know is active in the market, but you're not 100%
34:33
sure they're going to go with you as the agent?
34:36
Absolutely.
34:37
Absolutely.
34:38
Super powerful.
34:39
Yeah.
34:40
You know, one of the things Todd talks about is, I don't know if he calls it this, but
34:45
you can look at it as more of like a triangle of trust.
34:48
You know, it's like when you're working with that partner, that's your partner, right?
34:52
So what you want to do is help to sell that client on that partner as well.
34:59
You know, so they have to understand that you're working or so the agent or the realtor
35:04
that you're working with, it's important for them to understand that you're going to
35:09
help them when they refer somebody to you, you know?
35:13
So if they have somebody that they're not sold on working with that person, and then
35:17
they send it to you, you can have that conversation that's like, hey, I know you're working with
35:22
John Smith over at ABC Realty, I just want you to know that he's a great agent, he's
35:26
going to take great care of you, he's number one or whatever, whatever it is you want
35:30
to say there just to help build that trust and get them back to that partner.
35:35
So that's really, that's a powerful question as well.
35:37
Absolutely, love it, love it.
35:39
Okay, so speaking of partners, let's transition then to prospecting partners in real estate
35:45
agents.
35:46
So we're talking about the high trust interview, we've talked about the high trust interview
35:48
with borrowers and prospects and clients.
35:51
Now let's briefly talk about the high trust process when you're marketing to agents.
35:56
I've been a big fan of this for years, used to do it when I was originating and you
35:59
know, have this process where it's, I've written down a book, a letter, a call.
36:04
Can you unpack that a little bit and tell us how you use that?
36:07
Yeah, so if you haven't found it out by now, a lot of what I do is based on Todd Tytra
36:14
methodology and one of that is one of the things that he introduced was using a book or
36:21
basically when you're prospecting a partner, I mean, they don't want to be called and then
36:25
have you say, hey, let's go to lunch, they have no idea who you are and it's a really
36:29
awkward call.
36:31
But when you can send a book that might add value to their business and then, you know,
36:36
send a letter along with it, nice typed up letter that lets them know that you're interested
36:43
in meeting with them and you have some things that you could potentially bring to their
36:48
attention that would add value to their business and that you want to follow up with them
36:52
on this day at this time, then it makes that call a lot more intentional and it takes
36:57
a lot of that awkwardness out of there.
36:59
So when they get that book or that box, however you send it, they open it up and they're
37:06
like, okay, I don't know who this person is, but based on what I'm reading in the letter,
37:10
it looks like they're going to call me on this day at this time and you know, they might
37:14
not answer them or they might, but it just makes it a lot easier and it kind of helps
37:20
hang the guard down when you are prospecting these different agents and the ability to
37:26
potentially turn that into a partnership is a lot greater.
37:32
Are you still actively implementing that program or are you all set for partners?
37:37
It's not that I'm set for partners, but with what we're able to do now, we're doing
37:43
about, you know, 20 or so families amongst and so what I've done is I have a lot of
37:51
partners, but what I'm typically doing now is just calling the Living Agent and prospecting
37:58
them because the process is so dialed in that, you know, they're typically impressed
38:05
with the way we operate and so I can usually get an appointment with the Living Agent
38:12
on that side, which is even more powerful in my opinion because they've experienced
38:17
firsthand, you know, and so that's kind of what I've been doing now.
38:22
Right, and so I'm a big believer in that as well and oftentimes when I suggest that to
38:26
to loan officers, I get a variety of different feedback either, you know, I like that idea
38:31
or, you know, they're not willing to meet or, you know, the classic, I work, I'm only a
38:36
listing agent, I don't have buyers or people do nothing at all.
38:41
So why do you think the listing agent is, right, just this untapped source of business
38:47
and how do you convert that?
38:48
Well, I think, you know, I still get that too, you know, I'm just a listing agent, I
38:53
don't really do a lot of that, you know, that's fine and they're scripting for that too.
38:59
I don't come across it often, but you know, there's a lot of agents out there that are just
39:04
listing homes that still do buy sides.
39:06
So if you're not doing that, you're crazy.
39:08
If you're not processing it, why wouldn't you do that?
39:11
Right.
39:12
Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't you?
39:14
It's such an easy way, like unless, unless you know, the loan closed late and, or maybe
39:18
you just never answer your phone when they call.
39:21
But if you're doing a good job and, you know, you're working hard at it, then why not?
39:26
That just seems like an easy, easy lead to me.
39:30
Do you know what?
39:32
Early in the process, do you call and introduce yourself to the listing agent?
39:35
Yeah, absolutely.
39:36
Right.
39:37
So I thought.
39:38
And, and the thing is, I can tell you, they're generally blown away by that introduction
39:41
call.
39:42
Like, what?
39:43
You're calling me?
39:44
Yeah.
39:45
So I make sure that we're doing everything we can to make this go as smoothly as possible
39:47
for you.
39:48
Is there anything that you could suggest, you know, that, that we could do to make this
39:52
go as smoothly as possible on your end?
39:54
And they're like, no, just close loan on time, keep the posted.
39:58
Okay.
39:59
Great.
40:00
We can do that.
40:01
And then at the end of the transaction, you go for like a post transaction review or
40:06
whatever.
40:07
Hey, let's, you know, here's a script that I tend to use, which is like, you know,
40:10
and I set this up in advance, usually, but basically it's like, you know, just so,
40:14
you know, assuming we blow your socks off and do an awesome job, right?
40:17
What I'd like to do is connect with you after this transaction closes and just do a post
40:21
review to find out what went well, what, what, what we could do better, you know, kind
40:24
of that thing.
40:25
Conversation.
40:26
Do you guys do something similar?
40:27
Not about doing that, yeah, just kind of setting it up in advance, but what I've, what
40:32
I've just done is just made the closing call instead and just said, hey, you know, based
40:38
on the service we provided, you know, do you feel that we have the basis for starting
40:41
a business relationship and, you know, just going for it, yeah, yeah, if you have to,
40:52
you know, be intentional.
40:55
Get rid of the fluff.
40:56
There you go.
40:57
So that's that, that's that Boston attitude.
41:00
I mean, I see you're rich from Boston.
41:02
That must be it.
41:03
Yes.
41:04
Man, I saw that.
41:05
I meant to bring that up.
41:06
Gosh.
41:07
You're from Massachusetts.
41:08
That's great.
41:09
Yeah, man.
41:10
Uber.
41:11
Where are you from?
41:12
Home.
41:13
Home app.
41:14
There we go.
41:15
You know, people get pissed off when I bring up the Patriots on this podcast, but I'm
41:17
sorry to say, you know, there's a W last, there's a W Sunday.
41:21
Yeah.
41:22
Yeah.
41:23
That's right.
41:24
Yeah.
41:25
Anyway, not the sidetrack, but hey, back to the book gang for a second.
41:28
Is there a, you know, people get all caught up in the details?
41:31
What book do you send?
41:32
Yeah.
41:33
Yeah.
41:34
Yeah.
41:35
You know, I, I, I order a variety of different books.
41:37
I'll order a case, you know, the compound effect.
41:41
I sent that, Darren Hardy is the compound effect.
41:45
What got you here?
41:46
Won't get you there.
41:48
The ultimate sales machine.
41:49
It just depends on who I'm sending it to.
41:51
You know, I try to, I stalk people on Facebook and we try to figure out what they're, what
41:57
they're, what they're into and determine what I think would be a good book for them.
42:01
Yep.
42:02
Awesome.
42:03
I love it.
42:04
It's stalking on Facebook.
42:05
You got to do, I, you know, I always tell others it's like, you got to, well, I can't
42:08
say this reference was going to date me.
42:09
I don't know if you remember that show, Colombo, the detective, right?
42:12
The bumbling detective.
42:13
Right.
42:14
Right.
42:15
But anyway, he was great at asking questions, but being a detective and you're right, you
42:18
got to find out who the heck are you prospecting.
42:20
You know what I mean?
42:21
Learn about them.
42:22
Find out.
42:23
Family, church, occupation, recreation, money, all that stuff.
42:25
Yeah.
42:26
Absolutely.
42:27
Okay.
42:28
So a couple more questions before we wrap up here.
42:31
Are you, so with your relationships with agents, are you doing any type of lead share,
42:38
spending money on leads, that kind of stuff with agents?
42:41
Yes, with one.
42:42
And it's the worst thing ever.
42:46
So I, in my opinion, it's, um, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you
42:50
have to do it.
42:51
Because there's just, I mean, we're about to cancel it.
42:54
Mm-hmm.
42:55
And I can't even tell you what this agent team, there's such hot sellers that they don't
43:00
even need it.
43:01
I, they probably can't even, I, if I'm gonna say anything, don't do it.
43:07
Yeah, I know.
43:08
That's true.
43:09
I agree.
43:10
Yeah.
43:11
It's just a waste of money and your efforts will go much further if you, you know, approach
43:18
things differently.
43:19
And most importantly, don't do it right out of the gate.
43:23
Don't make that to be the basis of the start of your relationship.
43:25
Oh, yeah.
43:26
So, uh, gosh, somebody said to me once and I've taken this to the, I will take this to
43:32
the grave with me, but, gosh, how did they put it?
43:35
Basically, a relationship that starts off, you know, based on finances is just simply
43:40
going to crumble.
43:42
And, uh, you know, that's happened twice to me.
43:45
It was, hey, yeah, I'd love to do business with you.
43:48
Right.
43:49
You want to pay, uh, X amount of dollars toward Dilla, like how crap, you know, no, I don't,
43:54
but I will.
43:55
And then this isn't going to work out.
43:56
So, I've wasted a bunch of money and a bunch of time.
43:58
And so, I would say if, uh, if somebody doesn't value what you bring to the table, uh, for,
44:04
you know, what you're going to provide to their business and that relationship, without
44:09
having to pour a bunch of money into a lead system, then, then just stay with it from
44:13
the start of the time and effort.
44:14
Amen to that.
44:15
Don't feel so desperate that you got to pay to play, like you said, what you provide
44:19
is adequate enough.
44:20
And if you do the things that we're talking about here with you, creating that high-barber
44:23
experience, both with realtors and clients, right, that's going to, that will, um, surpass
44:29
any of those traditional knee-jerk reactions agents have, or it's just like, oh, how do
44:33
I get my value out of my lender, have them pay for something?
44:36
No.
44:37
How about I do an awesome experience for your clients that drives more referrals back
44:41
to you?
44:42
Exactly.
44:43
Exactly.
44:44
Um, that's so huge, man, it's like, you know, the thing is, is my partners aren't coming
44:50
to me and saying, hey, I sent you three referrals, where's, where's my referral?
44:55
You know, it's like, they can't wait to get every person to me because they know their
44:59
life that's going to be a lot less stressful.
45:02
They know that they're going to get paid on time, they know that their clients are going
45:06
to get taken care of, and it's like, they don't want it to go anywhere else.
45:10
You know, they don't care about, if I'm providing referrals back, which I do, but it's not
45:16
the basis of our relationship.
45:17
It's the value I bring to their clients and to their business is what keeps us going.
45:22
Right on, right on.
45:23
Okay.
45:24
Last question to close this out here, 236 units tracking plus that for 2017.
45:30
Your total partners, your real estate partners, let's say, your referral partners.
45:33
I have written down, let me ask you this way, what percentage of that business of your
45:39
referral volume comes from agents and how many agents?
45:43
It comes from, well, it's, it's, gosh, it's, it's probably about 95% purchase.
45:49
Last year, it was about 92% purchase and most of it comes from realtors, I'd say I've
45:55
got, I have a couple of builder relationships, but they're not, nearly as, they're not coming
46:02
through like they are from the agent, so I'd say probably 95% is coming from agent.
46:07
You have about, if I'm correct, about 10 core agents on your team.
46:11
Correct.
46:12
Correct.
46:13
So is that to say that 10 agents roughly, you know, sent you most of that, I mean, obviously
46:17
you did refice and pass client database and stuff, but why I'm bringing this up is because
46:21
a lot of people here, they were thinking, oh my God, I need all these agents and everything,
46:25
but in your model, you don't.
46:26
No, you don't.
46:27
You need, you need a few good ones.
46:31
You need a few good ones.
46:32
And obviously, you know, if, if you don't have a few good ones, you need to go get some,
46:37
some more agents and determine who's going to be the good ones, but you really don't need
46:41
that many.
46:42
You don't.
46:43
You just need some, because when you have that many, you've got so many more to take care of.
46:48
You've got so many more phone calls to make and so many more phone calls to take and it's
46:53
just, it gets so stressful.
46:55
And so, I mean, I still have a lot of partners, but the core group is about, about 10.
47:00
Yeah.
47:01
So there's your A-Players.
47:02
Nice.
47:03
Yeah.
47:04
Very cool.
47:05
Awesome.
47:06
Well, listen, Dominic, I know you're very busy.
47:07
You've got a lot going on.
47:08
I appreciate you making time.
47:09
So, thank you for sharing on today's session, man.
47:13
Thank you so much for having me, Jeff.
47:15
It was a pleasure.
47:16
And by the way, for those of you who want to reach out to you and maybe, you know, see what
47:19
you're doing, I mean, you've got a great professional website.
47:23
Where would you say they go to connect with you?
47:25
Easiest way would be to email.
47:27
Okay.
47:28
It's just D-Dangora that's D is in Delta, D is in Delta, A, N is in November, G-O-R-A
47:37
at HouseLone.com.
47:38
Awesome.
47:39
The D-Dangora at HouseLone.
47:41
Yep.
47:42
Yep.
47:43
And by the way, I'll also point people to your Facebook page, the Dominic Dangora team
47:47
at Cornerstone Home Lending.
47:49
You've got what I think is a really cool Bruce family testimonial on there, which is
47:53
to me just a great example of, yeah, how to use video, right, especially testimonials.
47:57
Absolutely.
47:58
Absolutely.
47:59
You've got to be, you know, the people are more interested in video these days.
48:03
No.
48:04
You know it.
48:05
You know it.
48:06
It's where it's going.
48:07
All right, my friend.
48:08
Well, thank you again so much.
48:09
And for your listeners today, thanks for tuning in.
48:10
Hope you got a lot of value out of today.
48:11
As always, I appreciate you listening, and we will see you on the next one.
48:16
Bye for now.
48:17
Thanks for listening to Mortgage Marketing Radio.
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