Latest / Mortgage Marketing Radio / Ep #96: Personal Branding Lessons and Funding $134 Million from "The Mortgage Geek"

Transcript

Ep #96: Personal Branding Lessons and Funding $134 Million from "The Mortgage Geek" · 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, Jeff Zimper, welcome to this episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio.
1:36
So glad you are here, so listen, whenever you're listening to this, it's probably getting
1:43
to almost the end of 2018.
1:46
And normally at a time like this is we start talking about business planning and looking
1:50
at how you're going to adapt and pivot for the new year, what plans you're going to put
1:54
into place, what marketing initiatives that you've been putting off that you want to execute
1:59
on.
2:00
It's really time to do a self-assessment, I guess, and look at your, you know, kind of a
2:04
SWOT analysis, right?
2:05
Your strengths, your opportunities, and your weaknesses.
2:08
And so hopefully you're conducting that for yourself.
2:10
If you guys want us to do a session on that, just let us know.
2:12
You can always email me podcast at mortgagesmarketingradio.com.
2:17
But obviously I think it makes sense to look at what are your strengths, right?
2:20
And play to your strengths, what are the opportunities you see coming forward in the market, opportunities
2:24
to increase your market share opportunities to, you know, particularly possibly grow in
2:29
a particular area or, you know, or launch that initiative that you've been thinking about
2:34
for a while that you haven't.
2:35
And then what are the weaknesses?
2:36
Where do you need to get better, right?
2:38
Whether it's lead gen online, whether it's better and more realtor relationships and referrals,
2:43
whether it's maybe firing some referral partners and getting lean and mean, going deep versus
2:48
going wide.
2:49
Not sure where that is for you, each one of you has your own unique situation.
2:53
What I do know is that if you are looking to increase your success with real estate agents
2:59
to get more realtor referrals, to get more purchase business and to build a predictable,
3:03
reliable pipeline, we've got something that can help.
3:05
And that's called mortgage marketing pro.
3:07
It's our new pro membership that was recently opened on a very limited basis.
3:13
And if you want to check that out, you can go there at mortgagesmarketing.pro.
3:16
We've got resources in there that will help you attract capture and convert real estate
3:20
agents by teaching agent classes, the number one way to capture real estate agents.
3:24
We've got resources in there to help you stop winging it and have a actual structure
3:29
and sales process scripting how to minimize and reduce rate shoppers, how to have better
3:34
conversions with real estate agents.
3:35
And then, of course, lastly is how to build your online brand, your online presence, online
3:39
leads, Facebook templates, ad templates and so forth.
3:42
So whether you want to grow on Instagram, YouTube, it's your one stop shop for everything
3:47
to become a modern mortgage originator.
3:49
So check it out at mortgagesmarketing.pro.
3:52
Now, getting to my special guest for today, Mr. Sean Kayhan, also known as the mortgage
3:58
geek out of San Diego, California, I want to give you a heads up.
4:01
First of all, we don't have a filter on this episode, meaning it's raw.
4:06
It's real.
4:07
There may be some colorful language FYI, if there's any kids nearby listening, please
4:13
remove your children from the room.
4:15
But Sean is done some amazing things.
4:17
I wanted to have him on because he has done what so few loan officers do and that is
4:22
he's built a unique brand that stands out and helps him rise above the noise and a crowded
4:28
loan officer market of San Diego, California.
4:31
And he's done that by creating this brand persona known as the mortgage geek and he's
4:36
leveraging video in a big, big way.
4:39
And I don't want you to, you know, misunderstand that, you know, not only is Sean an active
4:43
mortgage originator still producing loans to the tune of $134 million in 2017, total volume
4:50
funded.
4:51
But he's also running Cornerstone down in San Diego.
4:56
He has now over 100 loan officers as part of the organization in Cornerstone.
5:01
So he's running operations.
5:02
He's handling mergers and acquisitions for Cornerstone.
5:04
He's originating.
5:05
He's creating this brand called the mortgage geek.
5:07
He's building an incredible presence in his local market with real estate agents.
5:10
And you're going to hear him talk about how, first of all, it's just an extension of
5:13
who he is.
5:14
So I want you to know that, okay, can everybody do what Sean's doing?
5:17
No.
5:18
But can you do something similar or unique to you?
5:21
Yes.
5:22
Not if everybody's going to be as, have as big of a personality as Sean does.
5:27
And that's okay.
5:28
You don't need to be.
5:29
I always say what you need to be is you.
5:30
And that's what's going to connect and resonate with people is you, your authenticity.
5:33
This is Sean being Sean.
5:34
It's being him, right?
5:36
So it's right in his alley.
5:37
I think there's some key lessons we can take away from our discussion, not only in terms
5:41
of how to create a brand, how to rise above the noise, how to pre-sell people before you
5:47
even meet them, but also how to prepare and structure your day.
5:50
Sean's got a lot going on.
5:51
So you're going to hear about how he structures his day, how he plans it out, how he gets
5:55
so much done and so little time.
5:57
And lots of other different things and how you can take some of these ideas from Sean,
6:01
the mortgage geek, and start to create a unique, have more fun in your business dog
6:06
on it.
6:07
Because look, we've all heard the thing about we should be producing content and videos
6:10
and whatnot and it shouldn't always be about mortgage rates and market updates and
6:14
loan programs and stuff like that because everybody's saying that, you know, it's like,
6:18
what do you lead with great rates, product services?
6:19
We close in six minutes.
6:20
Hey, nobody cares.
6:22
It's all white noise.
6:23
People are tuning it out.
6:24
So how do you maybe take that same info and make it fun, make it engaging?
6:28
That's what Sean's going to talk about.
6:29
And like I said, his style may not be right for everybody, but you take lessons out of
6:34
this and you do what's right for you and just know that if you, you know, where we are
6:37
in today's world, it's, it's you are a media brand and the back end is you do mortgage loans.
6:43
So more and more today, you need to build your online brand, your online presence.
6:47
You need to be unique and different to rise above the noise.
6:49
Why should people choose you over the competition?
6:52
And then some other cool lessons from Sean, just about his mindset and, you know,
6:56
and how he gives away a million dollar loan to a competitor that he knows he can't be
7:02
as competitive on and why what the lesson is in there about leveraging that opportunity
7:08
to not only get more referrals, then you would have made money on that one transaction
7:12
and build more loyalty and trust with your realtor partner.
7:15
For example, if they brought you the referral and then of course, what's Sean's belief on?
7:19
What are we doing to succeed as we move forward into 2019?
7:25
I asked him his advice for how he's training his own originators to prepare for Q4 and Q1 of 2019.
7:32
And you may be surprised at what you heard him say.
7:34
So without further ado, let's get into this week's show.
7:39
Hey, Sean Khen, welcome to the show.
7:41
Anything's appreciate you having me on.
7:43
No, it's a pleasure.
7:44
And so you are affectionately known as the mortgage geek.
7:47
And you've obviously built this incredible brand and stuff.
7:50
And I've been looking at, you know, your presence in San Diego down there,
7:53
your online presence, the videos and stuff that you're doing.
7:56
So it's funny.
7:56
I mean, there's a lot of ways I can enter this conversation with you.
8:00
But I think the first question is, why?
8:02
What the hell were you thinking?
8:04
Well, I'm a goofball.
8:08
It's obvious.
8:09
I needed to kind of start getting the information out.
8:14
Well, I really did it because I needed to be top of mind, right?
8:17
And my downfall is being able to, or structuring my day to continue to call
8:23
like my referral partners and have follow up.
8:26
So, hey, you know, that's one of my weaknesses, for sure.
8:30
And so then I was trying to think of like new ways to stay in front of them.
8:34
And then I have a partnership with a, with a media company.
8:37
And so then I was like, well, hey, why don't we start making a video?
8:41
So start making videos and then about, you know, new programs or a way to get
8:46
information out.
8:47
And then the whole thing of the mortgage geek came into play and then Blair,
8:51
my loan partner actually thought of like, hey, let's put glasses on.
8:55
So I wore her actual glasses at the beginning.
8:58
And then we put tape in the middle and then she came up with like a logo.
9:03
And then that's how the whole thing actually started.
9:05
So the first video while we were driving there had nothing to do about mortgage
9:09
geek.
9:09
It was just, we want to push out a video about 12 month Thanksgiving program.
9:13
That was like way before anyone else was selling it.
9:17
And you think because of the uniqueness with the brand, you're,
9:20
you're interjecting fun into mortgages.
9:23
That started getting you traction and awareness.
9:26
Yeah.
9:26
No, definitely.
9:26
So it's like really funny.
9:28
And then I'm going to call that.
9:28
So a good friend of mine, Whitney Pizer, is she's very conservative.
9:33
She sells a shit ton of real estate, but she's very conservative.
9:37
Yeah.
9:38
The first video came out and she was like, oh my, Sean, you can, I'm so sorry.
9:43
Like, I don't know if I can actually continue to use you.
9:48
Videos are crazy, like off the wall.
9:51
Like our response for the first like six months was like,
9:55
not really sure, right?
9:57
It was like, I'm going to laugh, but it was like, they're a little too aggressive.
10:03
I've had a meeting with Whitney Pizer three weeks ago.
10:08
And she was like, I just want to let you know, like, on standby to watch all of your videos.
10:12
I love them.
10:13
They're amazing.
10:14
They're so funny.
10:16
There's, you know, in a lot of the, or a lot of the real estate agents and loan officers
10:21
that I work with, or even the general public now that's letting me know that,
10:25
hey, thanks for, they actually have a lot of information behind them,
10:29
but it's a way that you present them.
10:31
It makes us really kind of engage and go, wow, that is a pretty cool program
10:35
because it's really funny.
10:37
They don't know what to expect, but I'm also pushing out actual content.
10:42
So if I'm, if I'm here in this correctly, you know, you touched on,
10:44
you wanted to get awareness and obviously you understand, hey,
10:48
San Diego, it's a crowded market when it comes to the mortgage business loan officers,
10:51
much like, you know, Orange County, Las Vegas, there's lots of choices.
10:56
So was it, it was an awareness thing where you're like, hey, damn it.
10:59
I need to rise above the noise.
11:00
It was like a conscious thing saying, hey, how am I going to grow my business?
11:04
But it just kind of happened organically with the whole mortgage geek thing, right?
11:09
Yeah, it was, um, so I was talking with Blair a lot.
11:12
And we were talking about, hey, how are we going to stay in front of referral partners?
11:15
How are we going to, you know, more of, how are we going to get this information
11:22
out to more and more people, right?
11:23
And then the brand created and then we realized, okay, well,
11:26
now we're going to attach ourselves to the brand and use the brand to then blow it up
11:31
to even bigger than it we ever thought it was.
11:34
Right.
11:34
So it was just kind of like, you know, kind of stumbled into it, if you will,
11:37
which is nice.
11:38
And what you've discovered is, is that so initially,
11:41
because of the style of videos that you were doing,
11:43
some people were kind of like, whoa, what the hell, you know,
11:45
we're used to this button up type, you know, tie suit,
11:49
a professional environment with mortgage.
11:50
And they didn't know how to take you at first, right?
11:53
No, definitely not.
11:54
Did you see my third video?
11:55
My third video is I literally, I think it's third or fourth video.
11:59
I literally swore the entire time.
12:01
And all it was was beeping about why are you asking it out?
12:06
Why are you asking me questions about the documentation that I'm asking for?
12:10
I was like, I need that shit.
12:12
Give me the fucking document.
12:14
And so it was like, beep, beep, beep, beep.
12:17
Constantly got it, got it, got it, got it.
12:19
Yeah.
12:19
And then all of a sudden, like this guy walked by and I was like,
12:22
who the fuck is this guy?
12:23
And I was like, it was really awesome, very vulgar.
12:27
And I don't think there's any video out there that is that vulgar.
12:31
And except for Gary Vaynerchuk video.
12:35
Exactly.
12:36
I hear his name, like, I think every second of the day.
12:39
I know it's crazy.
12:41
Okay.
12:42
You know, it's funny.
12:42
I'm thinking about your videos.
12:43
I just finished watching, um, do you suffer from ED?
12:48
That's a brilliant one.
12:49
I mean, you know, when you see that in that headline, it's a matter of fact.
12:52
And I want to put links to all these that we're talking about in the show notes
12:54
so people can easily watch them.
12:56
But, uh, let me just skip over here and go to that because I mean,
13:00
you don't hold back, man.
13:01
I mean, um, it's really structured like a damn ED commercial.
13:06
I mean, you've got like the intro layup.
13:08
Are you stressed out with, you know, you're not alone.
13:12
Dude, that's, that's freaking funny.
13:15
So we are making these commercial, like, these mortgage gig videos,
13:20
like they're actually commercials.
13:22
And I'm going to be honest, like the partnership that I have within the media
13:26
company really does help promote that because if a loan office
13:31
really doesn't see the benefit of it, then they're not going to push out
13:35
how much the actual cost is per video, right?
13:38
Um, because I mean, there's hours and hours and hours of actual work
13:43
that goes into producing one of those videos.
13:45
And luckily that with the partnership and I see a huge value.
13:49
So at this point, so we even have something else coming out.
13:52
We're actually going to be, we're going to, we're thinking and we're going
13:55
to start filming an actual like, uh, little mini series TV.
13:59
Oh, wow.
14:00
That's cool.
14:01
The next direction that we're going to go, uh, it's going to be really funny.
14:06
Well, and so, like I said, I'm going to put links, you know, a lot of this
14:08
stuff's on your Facebook page.
14:09
There's lots of videos there.
14:11
A minute with the mortgage geek, you know, what's cool about this?
14:13
Like you said, I mean, here's the big takeaway, right?
14:15
You're taking a subject that's normally boring and dry and that's why people
14:19
tune it out.
14:20
They don't want to listen to friggin mortgage updates and stuff, but make it
14:23
fun, make it educational and entertaining at the same time because as you've
14:27
heard it said, people rather be entertained than educated.
14:30
But if you can combine those two, um, that's when you've really got a secret
14:33
formula and, you know, look at these views, man, um, stuff for media.
14:38
It's a got over a thousand views.
14:39
Uh, a minute with the mortgage geek, Fannie Mae changes.
14:42
That's just a sick, crazy video right there.
14:44
2000 views.
14:46
I mean, where, how do you, how do you struck?
14:48
Well, it's two things I want to talk about.
14:50
One is you were, you were, you were honest in, in mentioning your partners
14:53
with a media company.
14:54
So they obviously help you with the production.
14:58
Um, so I want to talk to the loan officers that aren't there and don't have
15:01
that, um, number one.
15:04
Let's take that first.
15:05
How do you think loan officers today can and should be building a brand,
15:09
being a media brand, if you will, to rise above the noise?
15:14
Well, there's, there's multiple different media companies out there that, you
15:19
know, all you really need is somebody that's like a videographer.
15:22
You need an editor.
15:23
You can, you know, they're together, um, and, or even just do it from your
15:28
cell phone, do it with a green screen.
15:30
I mean, you can just post up a green screen.
15:32
Someone is there to help you can go on Google it online.
15:35
I mean, we sent out a bunch of resumes because we're opening up another studio
15:39
over in Missouri and we got a ton of resumes.
15:41
So it's pretty easy to actually go out there and you can do it from your
15:45
cell phone, you can do it from your desk, just make sure that there's a green
15:47
screen behind you and then just start tinkering with it.
15:49
And just because like what I always say, if you look at my first video to
15:54
compare to my videos now, I mean, it's a night and day difference, right?
15:57
But the first video that we sent out, we thought was cool.
16:00
Now the videos now are so much better that we look back and go, well,
16:05
it's kind of a basic video, right?
16:07
So I would say start somewhere and just start pushing out content and
16:12
stop like thinking about, oh my gosh, this one's better or this video could be
16:17
cooler. If I did that, like start actually just pushing out a cool video and
16:22
over time, you'll start to learn.
16:25
But if you're trying to make the first video or the second video, like the
16:28
best one that you've ever seen, it's just not going to work.
16:31
How often does a real estate agent look at an open house flyer?
16:35
They will sit there for hours and hours on end with a graphics designer.
16:39
Oh my gosh, no, the picture needs to go here and this, these go here and this
16:42
information. When your hand is to somebody who can care less and they're just
16:46
looking at the information they throw it away, right?
16:48
So it's the information that they want, not the damn graphics and the
16:51
agent sitting there spending hours about the graphics when they're not
16:54
actually realizing what the customer wants, right?
16:57
So just take it and come to the customer, like you might think your
17:00
videos, the funniest thing on the planet, the public might not think that way.
17:04
So that's why you just have to go out there and start pushing the videos out and
17:08
then see what the public has an appetite for and push the envelope.
17:13
You, if I'm looking at just based on the videos that I see on this, just a short
17:17
glance here, most of your content is mortgage related from what I can see.
17:21
Is that accurate?
17:23
That is 100% accurate.
17:24
So we're trying to only have it based upon based around mortgages.
17:30
But one thing that I'm trying not to do is I don't want to push it out into
17:35
only cell cornerstone as well.
17:38
So the most recent video that we did does say a lot about cornerstone,
17:42
but that's because it's a very informational video about the loan process that
17:47
I send out to all my clients when they go into escrow.
17:50
So that's why it says like cornerstone.
17:52
But I'm really trying not to have like cornerstone like pay if you come to
17:56
cornerstone and cornerstone cornerstone more about like just information.
18:01
Really funny, you know, kind of getting out there allowing other even, you
18:05
know, loan officers to learn kind of updates about what's going on in the
18:08
Fannie Mae of the Freddie Mac or like the investor world.
18:11
Are you wearing board shorts right now?
18:13
No, so I wear, I truly wear a suit Monday through Thursday.
18:19
And then I do not wear it on Friday.
18:20
So I have one outfit that I wear on Friday in my team dressed up as me last Halloween
18:26
because I live in a midly every single day that I'm not in the suit.
18:30
I wear the same outfit.
18:31
I'm not even mind to you.
18:32
I buy $7.99, Mark Zuckerberg.
18:35
Okay, here you go.
18:36
Yeah, I wear like flip flops are a very specific type of like shoe.
18:40
It's crazy about it.
18:41
So I'm curious then with your in your conscious choice of content.
18:45
Are you, you know, because you've seen and again, I'm trying to keep in
18:48
context of the people I've listening and I've talked about video before and
18:52
and particularly with real estate agents too, right?
18:54
They should be a local community expert talking and featuring local cool stuff
18:58
to do in the area.
18:59
Are you purposely not doing that for any reason or is it just, hey, man, the
19:03
mortgage info is like your wheelhouse.
19:05
Well, we kind of have a new video that's being launched next week.
19:09
It's really funny.
19:12
And so it's a little bit different than it's not.
19:14
So I guess it is mortgages, but it's not mortgages.
19:18
You just have to see the video.
19:19
But I will start to venture in a different field.
19:22
Actually, I'm going to start putting in different ones, but mostly just,
19:27
I want to stay with just mortgages because a minute with a mortgage geek.
19:30
So I'd love to see the mortgage geek on the board.
19:34
He had now, you know, for the surf, man, in his suit.
19:39
So we thought about doing a really cool video.
19:42
It's very similar like the geek in the streets.
19:45
Yeah, we might do something like that.
19:47
And I might get some like part benches and ask people why they're sitting on my
19:51
face and everything like that.
19:53
That's awesome.
19:54
Now listen, let's, for those listening, let's just make this clear.
19:58
Okay, you're, you're having a good time.
19:59
You're like, you know, creating this incredible brand down there.
20:02
But you're also producing a hell of a lot of business.
20:05
I took notes from our last chat.
20:06
If this is correct, personal production for you was this, what, 2017,
20:11
$134 million.
20:12
Correct. Yeah.
20:13
Yeah.
20:14
So that's, that's a lot of damn business, man.
20:17
Where does most of that come from?
20:19
Local real estate agents.
20:20
Real estate agents.
20:21
I do not, I do not create and hand out any leads zero.
20:26
Everything that I do is 100% referral.
20:28
How has your business grown in terms of like new realtors noticing you being a
20:34
tre, you know what I mean?
20:34
You building your sphere of influence is that you've seen an uptick since you
20:38
started doing the videos?
20:39
Oh, yeah.
20:39
No, for sure.
20:40
It was so crazy.
20:41
Like, so I have a client that wanted to come through me.
20:44
And I don't even know how you got my contact information to be totally honest.
20:47
I think online.
20:48
He says, and I got him pretty approved.
20:50
And he said, Hey, here's my real estate agent.
20:51
The real estate agent sent me a text message and he goes, Hey, you're the
20:54
mortgage geek.
20:55
And I was like, yeah, no, choose like your videos are fire.
21:00
I'm so excited to work with you.
21:01
I never worked with me ever before.
21:03
She's sending out my pre approval.
21:05
So it was kind of a way that the real, the local real estate agents are, they know
21:10
who I am, right?
21:11
And so it allows them to really kind of, and I do a lot of other smarts in
21:14
Diego.
21:15
So I'm staying in front of not only my current real estate agents, but I'm also staying
21:20
in front of, you know, the whole community of real estate agents.
21:23
Knowing that like when my pre-approvals come across, I know who I am.
21:27
They, you know, they've heard me on smarts in Diego.
21:30
They trust me.
21:31
They see my videos.
21:32
They think I'm knowledgeable.
21:34
So it really allows them to maybe even go to the seller and say, Hey, we should
21:37
accept this because I know this guy.
21:39
Even if they've never worked with me.
21:40
So yeah, exactly when they say you see you on, on the other end of the
21:44
drains, actually, they're like, Oh, that's, that's cool.
21:46
It's mortgage geek rock solid.
21:47
Yeah, correct.
21:49
Do you have realtors then?
21:51
You kind of mentioned this early on when people first didn't know how to take
21:54
you do.
21:54
I imagine you still have some people who you're not a fit for.
22:00
Oh, yeah, yeah, a lot.
22:03
And we talk about realtors clients, both everybody, everybody, and you're
22:07
okay with that.
22:09
Yeah, I'm 100% okay with that.
22:11
So when I actually meet, so I'm still calling, right?
22:14
So I still do an open house almost every single Saturday.
22:17
I did the people event.
22:19
So I'm still working weekends and so I'm running cornerstone doing the
22:24
operations, also just trying to build my own brand and doing loans, right?
22:29
So it's kind of a lot of my play.
22:30
So I'm working six, seven days a week, absolutely.
22:33
And you know, when I meet a new agent, we go out to coffee.
22:39
I do not do lunches.
22:40
I do coffee.
22:40
We go out to coffee.
22:42
I don't talk about actually real estate.
22:44
I don't talk about doing loans.
22:45
I want to see if we actually work well.
22:48
Dude, are we funny together?
22:50
Do we communicate very similar because somebody that if we do not communicate
22:54
together, if we do not communicate well together, right?
22:58
And they send me a deal.
23:00
Well, fuck, man, like that deal might just be a nightmare because I don't
23:04
want to call that agent and that agent doesn't want to call me.
23:06
So we're not really like a team.
23:08
We're just using me for loans.
23:10
And there's a ton of, you know, loan officers that might be a better fit.
23:13
So and I try to keep both in my organization too.
23:16
So I'm like, Hey, if you don't like the way that we do business on my team,
23:20
because I don't change the way that I do business for anyone, this is how I
23:24
do business.
23:24
And I think that that's allowing me to scale.
23:28
And if it doesn't work, then nothing against this personality.
23:31
Why is it like I think that this other loan office over here might be a better fit?
23:34
Yeah.
23:34
Yeah.
23:36
Are you actually like identifying and targeting agents to go after?
23:39
Or are they just kind of coming into your, your web because of a brand you got?
23:44
I mean, so I've been in San Diego and I've been doing loans for 14 years.
23:48
So 2019, May 2000, May 12, 2019, I'll be 15 years, right?
23:53
So I'm super, super proud of that.
23:56
I have successfully closed the loan for 171 local agents.
24:01
That's a pretty, pretty big pie, right?
24:03
I'm not going to have like 836 on an actual like rotating wheel type of thing
24:09
that I actually know I've closed the loan for.
24:11
I can actually have a conversation with
24:14
Hey, guys, I don't want to call 836 people.
24:16
My team does it.
24:17
I want to have a personal connection.
24:19
So what we did was we stripped that down to 150 and we said, these are the 150
24:23
that we get along with so well personality.
24:27
We can hang out with them.
24:28
We go to coffee.
24:30
Now you want to come to lunch.
24:32
Do you want to have dinner?
24:33
You know, those types of things like I want to be your friend.
24:37
I want to hang out, right?
24:39
And so that's the 150 that my team.
24:42
So Blair, Chris and Jason that we actually call and we're very,
24:48
we're just in sync with each other.
24:49
Like we talk the same.
24:51
I don't call people by their names.
24:52
I literally make up a new name for almost every single agent that I know.
24:56
Was that right?
24:56
A nickname first name.
25:01
Oh, that's funny.
25:02
I'm wondering how you come up with those.
25:05
That's a whole other conversation.
25:08
I'm a fly.
25:09
I don't know, right?
25:10
What's up slice it?
25:11
No, it's up slice home skillet.
25:14
Yeah.
25:16
Okay.
25:16
So it's 150 agents that are on your, your A list, if you will.
25:19
Correct.
25:20
And you as a team, you just kind of divide those relationships up and you guys
25:24
manage that collectively.
25:26
No.
25:26
So we'll, we'll, we tried to a little bit, right?
25:28
But um, so like Chris, how you get these 20, Jason, get this 20 and then
25:33
Blair and I have 110 that we actually follow up.
25:35
But then I'll reach out to those other 20 as well.
25:38
Um, it's just that I have those other two loan officers in taking and doing a lot
25:41
of more of the heavy lifting on like the documents and making sure that the
25:45
pre-approval is correct.
25:46
Even though I still issue all the pre-approvals, um, and still sign off on them,
25:51
they would do most of the heavy lifting and I come in there because I can review
25:54
a file in five to 10 minutes, right?
25:55
So properly.
25:57
So they structure properly.
25:58
I get to go in there, have a really great detailed conversation with the client.
26:02
Doesn't mean it's a 30 minute conversation, but we know exactly the path we're
26:06
going to go in then I go on to the next one.
26:08
Right, right.
26:09
Um, man, that's, that's a big base of attitude to manage, you know, um, it is,
26:14
but with, with four people managing it and how much fun we're constantly having.
26:19
Yeah.
26:20
So you're doing anything then without the, you know, the A group of agents,
26:23
I know you, you know, can coffee and all that, but I mean, well, like once a
26:26
quarter or twice a year, do you do any kind of events or anything?
26:29
Yeah, we're, I mean, we're doing like an appreciation party.
26:31
So Blair put together like an appreciation party last November.
26:35
We have three hundred and eighty people come, um, really?
26:39
And, uh, we have clients, uh, no, not clients, just agents, only referral partners come.
26:44
Wow.
26:45
Um, and it's, and what we do is we allow our local loan officers to bring their
26:51
real estate agents as well, because a lot of the time, like I know the real estate agents
26:55
that they're working with too.
26:56
So, um, it's like I, I send it up to the, to the actual whole company.
27:00
You mean, you mean, uh, elbows that are part of Cornerstone?
27:03
Yeah, that's correct.
27:04
Yeah.
27:04
All right.
27:04
How many elbows do you have there at Cornerstone?
27:07
Right now we have a hundred and nine, um, loan officers for cornerstone with, uh,
27:13
the branches that are coming over.
27:14
So by January 1st, we actually have six more offices coming over.
27:18
So we're super excited about those will be at like right around 150.
27:21
And if I can finish the acquisition and merger of this other smaller bank, um,
27:26
I'm going to pick up an additional 35.
27:28
So my target like is to have, um, let's say 150 by the end of the year in my target
27:33
for next year is right around like 225.
27:36
So, so dude, I mean, you're like doing loans, still originating, running like
27:43
this crazy business that's growing like wildfire, um, acquiring companies, building
27:48
this brand, meeting and greeting agents.
27:50
Um, what's the secret drug?
27:52
Come on.
27:55
It's so rap like I just, uh, I had a meeting two days ago with this, this amazing
28:01
group, this new branch.
28:02
I'm super excited to get the opportunity and that he asked me the same question.
28:06
He's like, I don't get it.
28:08
I truly don't get it.
28:10
But you guys, I wake up at 350 every single morning and I am, I'm going to
28:14
a 110 miles an hour.
28:17
Yeah.
28:17
The nine p.m.
28:18
So if you take 350 to nine p.m. at 110 miles an hour, if you really structure
28:23
up your day, you can accomplish so much that most people, you know, they say they
28:28
work eight hours, but technically I'm telling you the honest truth that we're
28:31
working four or four and a half hours.
28:33
Sure.
28:33
I do not do anything like it is here every single second is just like, go, go, go
28:40
110%.
28:41
And then also I get to grow like horizontally too.
28:44
So I bring on like minded individuals and then I say, okay, hey, you now take
28:49
over this.
28:49
So if like another division, it needs to get in touch with me.
28:53
Well, now they're going to get in touch with Greg.
28:55
And so they're going to get the exact same response that they went out of
28:58
me out of Greg.
28:59
And so that's how I'm actually able to grow.
29:03
All right.
29:03
So I'm curious to want to hear somebody talk about that kind of a schedule.
29:05
And I know fitness is important to you because we talked about before we hit
29:09
record, you, you know, you do iron man's, you're doing a 600 mile bike ride.
29:14
So do you fit fitness into that schedule?
29:17
I do.
29:17
Yeah.
29:19
So I get up.
29:19
I start doing my emails and then like on Monday, I didn't 86 mile
29:24
ride. It's about four hours and 45 minutes.
29:26
Um, and so I, I fit it in there.
29:28
But then I, so before any of my rides or if I'm training, I might have a long,
29:33
you know, cardio day, what I'll do is I'll structure out the day and say, okay,
29:37
this meeting is then, you know, Hey, Jason, you got to do this.
29:40
Chris, you do this Blair.
29:42
Blair actually manages everyone's schedule.
29:44
So she tells everyone what to do during the day.
29:47
So by the time that I come back, I'm actually not behind because I already
29:50
woke up in the morning and structured out that I'm not going to be there and
29:53
just kind of delegated the, um, the tasks that each individual.
29:56
So everyone, they come and work to know exactly what they're doing.
29:59
And then I show up at the right time to make on my phone calls.
30:03
So on the fitness thing is, is there a particular regimen your following?
30:07
Is it depending upon like if you're training for an event, like an iron man,
30:10
right?
30:10
You got to do lots of different things.
30:11
You got to run, you got to swim, got to build that up.
30:13
Um, let's, if you're not like training for an event, maybe always are.
30:17
I don't know, but I'm just really curious on the fitness side because I know takes
30:20
energy to have that much output, um, like what more, like long term,
30:24
consistently, consistently, what do you do, right?
30:27
To stay high energy, kind of fit and, you know what I'm saying?
30:30
Okay.
30:31
So I eat as many donuts as I possibly can.
30:33
I murder bags of cheeses all day, every single day.
30:39
I've crushed pizza.
30:40
Um, no, you know, I eat, I eat pretty healthy.
30:44
Um, but I also enjoy a coffee, you know, one or two coffees a day, not a problem.
30:49
So I'm swimming.
30:51
I, I think that actually the, my workouts give me a lot of energy.
30:55
Right.
30:55
So I'm saying, yeah, so I'm sure you have to make it part of your schedule.
30:58
Yeah.
30:59
Yeah.
30:59
So, um, you know, just make sure that I'm more in less that I do actually think
31:05
about what I'm eating.
31:06
Um, I try to eat, you know, as clean as possible.
31:09
Sometimes I do make mistakes and, and go rogue.
31:12
Um, and then just make sure that you're structured.
31:15
So I always say like, if I'm structured, I'm not stressed out.
31:18
And when I'm not stressed out, I make all the right decisions and I can be very
31:22
clear.
31:23
So that's what I'm saying.
31:24
If you get up early, okay, and you start structuring your whole day, you are never
31:28
behind.
31:29
It's the individuals that come into the office at 10 o'clock who didn't structure the
31:33
day before and, and when they come in at 10 o'clock, they're so stressed out that
31:37
they're being so reactive, not proactive.
31:40
And that just drains all of your energy.
31:42
Have you ever seen someone be proactive and how much they get done in the same amount
31:45
of time, someone being reactive, the person reactive, I say that can do literally 30%
31:50
of somebody that can be doing proactive in the same amount of time.
31:53
So are you planning out your, your day the night before or kind of weekend
31:57
advance?
31:57
What's your structure?
31:59
Well, later on, I try to do everything like a weekend advance.
32:01
So like, hey, you know, we, we want to know what next week is going to be, um,
32:07
unlike the main schedules.
32:09
And then, yeah, the night before will, okay, and I kind of fit this meeting in.
32:14
Can I fit this in?
32:15
And it is really down to, hey, you know, every 30 minutes or every 45 minutes is
32:21
really blocked off.
32:22
And you just have to, I mean, I don't even, uh, I don't drive anymore.
32:26
Um, Blair does all the driving so that I can actually stay on my phone calls during that
32:31
time.
32:32
So it's a mobile office at that point.
32:34
And who's Blair?
32:35
So Blair's my lone partner.
32:37
Uh, and as you can see, she's like, she's the person that's there in the background
32:43
right now.
32:44
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:45
Okay.
32:46
What's up, Blair?
32:46
How are you doing?
32:47
I'm doing well.
32:48
How are you doing?
32:48
Good, good.
32:49
Thanks.
32:49
Thanks for helping out.
32:50
Thanks for being here.
32:51
And she's the creative, uh, person behind mortgage geek as well.
32:55
Hmm.
32:57
So hopefully you're paying her very well.
33:00
Ah,
33:02
pressure.
33:06
Oh, that's awesome.
33:07
Maybe a good time to get it.
33:08
It's just fun.
33:08
That's really cool.
33:09
So you don't drive anymore.
33:10
It's interesting.
33:11
I don't really drive much either.
33:12
Overs like the way to go.
33:14
I don't have a personal clear yet.
33:15
So we'll get there.
33:17
You, you, you will.
33:18
And but Uber is amazing as well.
33:20
Like, hey, if I don't want to drive that, then yes, sometimes I'll just take a Uber.
33:24
So I wrote down a question from last time when we talked, um, and I want to maybe
33:28
restructure it.
33:29
So the question was, what do you require your loan officers to do to build their
33:33
business?
33:34
And I don't know if requires the right word for you because I know you probably allow certain amount
33:39
of autonomy and creativity and stuff.
33:41
But you bring it on all these LOs and stuff like that.
33:43
I mean, what, how would you answer that question?
33:45
What are their kind of like the, you know, how do you help your LOs succeed in the market
33:49
today?
33:51
So everything that, so I'll bait a test based upon my volume that I have going on and
33:55
see if something really works or not, where I think a lot of the loan officers fail is
33:59
that they're going off and they're going to try this and they're going to try this
34:02
and then they're going to try this and ultimately it doesn't really work that well.
34:06
Um, and so then they come back and they don't have enough business coming in.
34:10
To really take the blows of something not working, right?
34:14
And so what I always try to do is I say, well, I can lose one or two deals, you know,
34:18
possibly or one or two like real estate agents because of how many risked agents that I have,
34:24
right?
34:24
Or how many like pretty approvals that are going through.
34:26
So I can test, you know, different ways of getting business and without negatively
34:31
impacting, I say, my pocket bar.
34:33
Right.
34:34
So what I always say, like, when you come over to cornerstone, really,
34:38
I want to hear what's going on in the streets in the different markets,
34:40
but I really want them to follow what I'm doing because I've meticulously placed the reason
34:47
why I picked this software or this is the flow of the loan because I've actually gone
34:53
through a lot of beta testing to come up with that serious.
34:56
So how I'm helping loan officers is actually just creating structure in their life and
35:01
saying, hey, do this.
35:02
You don't need to do anything else.
35:03
You know, that other idea like I'll sit down with them and ask them what ideas that they're
35:07
talking about, that I've already done that.
35:10
It didn't work.
35:11
I've already done that.
35:12
Takes too much time.
35:13
Oh my gosh.
35:14
That's a great idea.
35:15
I incorporated that idea into this idea over here.
35:18
So when I'm talking to loan officers, they really like it because I'm still doing what
35:23
they're doing.
35:24
I'm just doing it at a larger level and I've been able to really kind of have the authority
35:29
as being the owner of cornerstone to make the bank more centric around loan officers
35:34
not just compliance.
35:36
So I kind of took two different things and saying, I'm a loan officer, but I'm also the
35:41
owner.
35:42
How do I marry the two together?
35:43
Because I think a lot of the mortgage banks out there are just so like compliance-based
35:47
loan officer and then they have like their salespeople in the middle trying to bridge
35:50
the gap.
35:51
Yeah, there's a disconnection from the streets and what's going on.
35:56
Anything stand out for you that's like, you know, in terms of structure, the go to strategy,
36:01
right?
36:02
And this works, it's always worked for 15 years.
36:05
I mean, realtors come to mind, but any specific, you know, ways around realtors like, I mean,
36:10
hey, you know, there's the friggin' column on Monday, Tuesdays, whatever the co-call thing
36:14
or there's teaching classes, you know what I mean, any, any shares you got on that area?
36:18
Yes, I do.
36:20
Stop selling bells and whistles and start only telling them what you're actually good
36:25
at because you're not good at everything.
36:27
Well, for example, the bell and whistle.
36:30
A bell and a whistle is, oh my gosh, I have this new 1% down payment and it's the, you
36:37
know, the greatest product on the planet.
36:39
It's like, well, hey, one week ago, you were telling me about this down, it's just a payment
36:43
program.
36:44
Whatever happened to that.
36:45
Oh, that one really didn't work out that well, but I got this 1% like, well, the product
36:50
base, yeah.
36:51
You know, it's like, stop selling the actual product and start selling yourself as being
36:57
an expert.
36:58
That's like the biggest difference.
36:59
So like when I go into a meeting and start, you know, trying to work with like the broker
37:04
and the buyer's agents, I go in there and tell them what I'm not good at.
37:08
I go in there and open up the meeting.
37:11
Yes, I do.
37:12
I'm like, hey guys here really quickly, do not send me clients in between 700, 900,000
37:17
to have a debt to income ratio of less than 30% with a more than 740 because if you send
37:22
that client over to me, you're going to look like an asshole.
37:24
I'm going to look like an asshole because P and C Bank of America and Chase will smoke
37:28
me on interest rate.
37:29
So if your client comes over, just know I'm going to refer them over to a loan officer
37:33
that I've added out and just realize that if you send them to me, this is the person
37:38
that I'm going to send them over, I'm not even going to quote your client because I'm going
37:41
to make you look like an asshole if I did.
37:43
Wow, man.
37:44
There is a friggin' different approach right there.
37:46
And then they're like, okay, now I'm ready to listen.
37:48
I'm like, okay, here's what I'm good at.
37:50
I was strategically, you know, structure your loans.
37:53
Give me the hardest deal.
37:54
Give me a one month bank student, 12 month bank student, give me a one year tax return.
37:58
I got a $2.9 million purchase today.
38:01
How fast can you close that?
38:02
Like, give me all of the paperwork up front and I'm going to now strategically go in
38:06
there and place it.
38:07
I'm going to go get that loan.
38:08
Give me a VA.
38:09
Give me an FHA.
38:10
Give me a VA that barely needs residual that has a debt to income ratio of 60%.
38:16
You know, that is where a mortgage bank is, right?
38:20
So why am I trying to compete against PNC who has, I don't know, $20 billion of cash
38:27
who can just say, I want that person with 500 grand, so I'm going to give them whatever
38:31
interest rate.
38:32
I will never win.
38:34
I'm not even in that field.
38:36
That's interesting when I think about that because I've had a number of conversations
38:40
with the loan officers where, yeah, I've heard them say, hey, my realtors starting to push
38:44
back and say your rates are too high because we know clients are shopping out there today.
38:48
Absolutely.
38:49
Even with a great referral process that I'm sure you have in place, they're still going
38:53
to check the market.
38:55
So that's very interesting where you're like identifying your strengths, you know, and
39:00
just making it clear that what that says to me is it's telling the agents that you're
39:03
ultimately there to serve the client and you're not going to try and force a deal just
39:08
with this kind of deal.
39:10
No, like I got a call coming, exactly to come over, hey, we went into escrow, we had a great
39:15
connection, you know, it's a $1.5 million purchase.
39:18
He's putting down 500 grand and I was like, hold on real quick.
39:21
I was like, you are a perfect candidate.
39:24
Are you interested into an arm?
39:25
And he was like, yeah, absolutely.
39:27
I'm probably only going to stay here five to seven years.
39:29
I'm like, right now, PNC is buying that market right now.
39:34
And they're offering a three and a quarter.
39:35
When everyone else is offering a 4%, would you mind if I introduced you to a loan officer
39:41
that came from the direct banking world so that he understands closing on time and
39:47
couldn't actually get your deal done, but can offer you a three-course lower and interest
39:51
rate.
39:52
And he was like, don't you want the deal?
39:53
And I'm like, I want you to have the best service that you can possibly have.
39:58
Not, you know, I'm going to benefit on closing alone because now when he closed, he actually
40:04
called me and said, thank you so much.
40:06
Now, I'm going to get his five referrals from his family over our lifetime.
40:09
So, yeah, I didn't make money on that one deal, but I saved the client.
40:12
Now, I'm going to try to pigeonhole this guy into a 4%.
40:17
What if he goes out there halfway through the transaction, finds that PNC comes to me
40:20
and says, why didn't you tell me about this?
40:22
Oh, because I don't get paid on it.
40:24
Well, cool.
40:25
Not only is he going to go to PNC, but he's going to hate me and he's never going to
40:27
refer.
40:28
And then he's going to go to the agency, why did you refer him to me?
40:31
Yeah, why?
40:32
I just lost the agent.
40:33
I lost the client and I lost all of his referrals because I didn't do the right thing
40:37
and actually give the client the best service.
40:40
It doesn't always mean that there's going to be money in my pocket.
40:43
Hmm.
40:44
Man, I'm just sitting on that for a second and thinking about that because I know
40:48
there's some L.O.s listening where they're like, dude, whatever.
40:52
You know, it's up to him to shop the marker or not, you know?
40:56
That's what we're professionals.
40:57
That's what we do for a living.
40:59
If I know that they're offering like buying the market, like, set it over there.
41:04
I love that.
41:05
I just think it's a different mindset, you know, that's some L.O.s I know.
41:09
I guarantee you, go ahead and email me people listening right now.
41:12
I guarantee you they have a hard time taking that on because that's a long-term mindset
41:17
and that is doing the right thing, which is always the right thing.
41:20
And the other key point is, okay, you didn't, and I love what you just said this.
41:25
You didn't make the money the upfront commission on that and some people would think, oh, well,
41:28
he did the DLP and see that's who's going to get the referral.
41:30
No.
41:31
That was just a transaction at PNC, what you did was you built a relationship and added
41:36
tremendous value, which is going to get the referrals.
41:38
Well, correct.
41:39
So let's, let's tailor back just one more, right?
41:41
So 66% of all purchased money transactions in 2017 went with their severe influence, okay?
41:49
So 6%.
41:50
And of that 66%, 82% of the closed transactions went with their agents' preferred lender.
41:56
Okay.
41:58
So you guys, I'm not losing anything.
41:59
I just maintained the relationship that I'm going to get the rest of that 82%.
42:04
So yes, I pat, that's only a transaction.
42:06
So if loan officers think that they're going to be able to go out there and really get a real firm hold
42:12
on their clients and we're going to get that relationship, that's false, you guys.
42:17
That is a transaction based only.
42:21
Like, my relationship is that agent, right?
42:24
So even if that, even if that, the client wants to even think of a refinance, the client
42:31
normally goes back to the agent that got him into the home, then the agent goes, oh my
42:35
gosh, yes, Sean is the one who did it or, hey, why don't you reach out to Sean?
42:39
They don't remember who did the actual transaction.
42:41
They don't.
42:42
So let's, let's move, let's shift it over and shift our focus over here.
42:46
Yeah.
42:47
And let me just throw one other thought actually for those that might be going down this
42:50
rattle play devil's advocate is, is there any concern of losing that agent then, you
42:55
know, to P and C for a for all business?
42:58
No, because P and C is really, really, really good on 1.5, you know, like 1 million to 1.5
43:05
million, they're like directly in the middle of the box, right?
43:10
So you know what, if that agent wants to go directly to P and C for that clientele,
43:16
then wonderful.
43:17
But that agent's like, I can't believe you did that.
43:20
I love how you're always looking out for my client's best interest.
43:23
We will, it actually creates a better connection because now the agent comes to me for every
43:29
single deal on the planet, knowing that I'm going to give their client the best service
43:35
and I'm going to align them with the right people if I can't do it.
43:38
Does that make sense?
43:39
So I can now I get 100% of every single deal that that agent thinks of because they know
43:43
that I'm doing the right thing because I'm a mortgage professional and they're real
43:47
estate.
43:48
They're not, they're not mortgage.
43:49
Yeah, and you think about that in the big picture of what does a real estate agent really
43:52
want from a loan officer?
43:53
Yeah, the traditional closed loan is on time.
43:55
They want you to do what you say you're going to do, but they also want a referable
43:59
experience for their clients.
44:01
And so by you doing that, that blows their socks off where they're like, holy crap,
44:05
he's giving up, I mean, on that loan, easily a 10K commission, you know, I'm the owner
44:10
of course, then, so there's a little bit, a little more juice in that puppy.
44:14
A little bit more juice than, you know, that the actual bank is losing too, right?
44:18
That's how much farther I go.
44:19
Now, you know, some loan officer go, well, then there's always a broker, you know, out
44:24
of their house that can offer a better interest rate.
44:26
And I'm like, I get it.
44:27
Okay?
44:28
Yes.
44:29
I'm not sitting down and passing out every single one of my clients, right?
44:33
Right.
44:34
If we're a VA to VA and I'm a quarter percent higher, and you know what, I'm going to fight
44:39
to the nail.
44:40
I'm not going to say, hey, my competitors over here are quarter percent, right?
44:43
Yeah.
44:44
But I'm talking about three quarters of a percent, one four percent on a jumbo.
44:49
That's huge.
44:50
I mean, we're talking about a lot of money at that.
44:53
Right.
44:54
It's like, hey, I'm going to offer you a five percent on a jumbo when Bank of America
44:58
is at four and a quarter.
44:59
It's like, come on.
45:00
That's just too big.
45:02
Well, it's really, and we'll get off this subject, I guess, one last comment about
45:05
that.
45:06
It's really interesting because, you know, we've all been there, where we've had
45:09
those conversations with the clients, where we know they're in that whole, that pigeon
45:13
hole, that narrow scope that we can't win.
45:15
They're a private banking client or whatever.
45:17
And you just know you're not going to win that, but you're trying to, right?
45:21
And then, like you said, halfway through the transaction, the shop and whatever, and that's
45:24
been in their back in your mind the whole, how much better would it be for a client experience
45:29
and just like you said, earning the trust of that client's referral is if you just like
45:33
disclosed up front and let them know, hey, Mr. Client, you know what, listen, I appreciate
45:36
blah, blah, blah, all that kind of stuff, but I got to tell you, if I'm really going
45:39
to do my job and serve well, my best recommendation is you go to X because of the reasons you
45:45
said.
45:46
And I, you know, I hate to see you go.
45:47
I'd love to earn your business, but to be honest with you, look, we're talking three
45:51
quarters of a rate on a million dollars.
45:52
I mean, that's a hell of a lot of money to you, Mr. Client, I mean, holy crap.
45:56
Talk about people are going to talk more about you, that guy, then they are the guy at
46:00
PNC or whatever, they're just like did the transaction.
46:03
Absolutely.
46:04
Every time.
46:05
No, no, all right, cool, man.
46:09
Do you do any coaching or training for your agents?
46:11
I mean, I guess in the context of have you had agents come to you and say, hey, man, help
46:15
me with video?
46:16
Oh, yeah.
46:17
No, we definitely.
46:18
So a lot of agents say, hey, we love your video.
46:20
We hop in with the video.
46:21
So we bring them in there.
46:22
We do like bio videos for our local agents, you know, and help them out, but it's like really
46:28
good at helping them walk through the actual video.
46:31
We have a lot of people content.
46:34
So we're constantly trying to help out the local agents, you know, create a brand and
46:38
actually push that brand out because have you seen the actual videos like more and more
46:43
if I go out there and I'm like, oh, my, or did you watch this video before you sent it
46:49
out because I was legitimately fallen asleep or like I was already angry for you.
46:53
So I was shedding off your video like they're awful.
46:56
They really are like not everyone can do a video and not everyone should produce a video.
47:01
So I'm trying to help the agents as much as possible by, you know, having come into
47:06
the office and really kind of focus on what is the best way to make a video because.
47:11
Yeah, yeah.
47:12
Have you seen some of the loan officers that work at Cornerstone be inspired not to like,
47:18
you know, duplicate the mortgage.
47:19
They're going to never going to do that, but are they at least like starting to do some
47:22
video themselves?
47:23
Yes, absolutely.
47:24
Yeah, there's more and more loan officers doing the video coming into the studio, starting
47:30
to film.
47:31
There was actually, if you go to like top producers magazine, Greg went my branch manager
47:35
of insinitas, go to the standings page and go to that magazine and you will see what I'm
47:41
talking about in terms of Cornerstone is doing things different.
47:45
Like his whole thing was about his childhood had nothing to do with mortgages like, you
47:50
know, I was a chunky kid playing basketball and blah, blah, blah, and that's actually
47:54
how he sold himself when every other article in there's like, we can close in 12 days.
47:59
We can close in 11 days.
48:01
We have the best.
48:02
It's like, it's not a knife fight to the bottom.
48:04
Let's create like who we actually are because if there's a knife fight, I'm not involved
48:08
anymore with a knife fight to the bottom.
48:10
I love that.
48:11
Well, a good metaphor, a knife fight to the bottom.
48:15
That's really cool.
48:16
I think, you know, it just goes to to speak to the fact that like we've been talking about
48:21
this whole time.
48:22
It's a noisy market.
48:23
Everybody's frigging pitch in the same thing, which is great rage, great service.
48:27
The program, we close in six minutes and it's just like, man, people tune that out.
48:31
I don't care.
48:33
So rise above the noise.
48:34
You need something different.
48:35
Either a you need a cool like compelling unique brand like yours that immediately gets
48:39
attention.
48:40
Now for those that are listening, maybe that's outside of your comfort zone a little bit,
48:43
hey, you need some type of content.
48:45
You need to start doing video because that's still rising above the noise, although that
48:49
will change too over the next several years as more and more people finally get on the
48:53
bandwagon.
48:54
That place will become even more noisy, so might as well get your stuff in place now.
48:58
Well, also right now is a really good time because believe me, you always want to be doing
49:04
whatever one else is not doing or what they're actually thinking about doing, right?
49:07
So like the more and more videos and more and more people are doing green screen videos,
49:12
I might actually switch and start doing something a little bit different because I've already
49:16
done my videos.
49:17
So the faster that you start, you know, getting up ahead of the curve and stop focusing,
49:21
that's what I was saying at the beginning.
49:23
Not focusing so much on making the video perfect and not producing it because it's not so
49:29
perfect.
49:30
Like start getting it out there and then when all the noises on video and every single
49:37
lenders on video, now you're going to do something different because you've already done
49:40
your video thing and now you're going to do something more creative again.
49:43
So it's like direct mail and spam or the drip campaigns on internet, on through email.
49:52
How cool is, you know, the drip mail is like three years ago.
49:54
Like everyone is like, oh my gosh, automatic drip, I can send messages like, dude, that
49:59
was cool.
50:00
Guess what?
50:01
Now, now people got so annoyed because every single person does it, they put a spam.
50:05
I'm not doing any more drip.
50:06
I'm actually doing direct mail because now the mailboxes are like literally 30% of what
50:11
they used to be.
50:13
Now people are starting to read my direct mail, you know?
50:15
So I'm just trying to stay ahead.
50:16
Hey, man to that, man.
50:17
I love that.
50:18
Direct mail.
50:19
It works.
50:20
I don't tell anybody.
50:21
We don't want to get that full up again.
50:23
I love it when, you know, people, as a matter of fact, I just got the new phone book the other
50:27
day and I love, you know, people post, you know, can you see, I can't believe people are
50:31
still like, you know, sending this and every time I get a phone book, it's like, well,
50:35
number one, that same thought hits me and I'm like, what the hell are they saying?
50:37
But here's the thing I got to keep in mind.
50:39
Somebody's paying to be in that phone book.
50:41
Absolutely.
50:42
It brings them why they're paying to be in there or else they wouldn't be in there.
50:45
So it must be still working, right?
50:47
Absolutely.
50:48
It does work.
50:49
It's even better because people are like, why, you know, it's like they pull up in this
50:53
big, huge phone book and they're like, oh my gosh, you know, I can't believe that this
50:58
person is still, well, actually, you can see, and I can't believe these things just
51:02
still exist.
51:03
I get all this online and they're looking at all the ads, right?
51:06
Exactly.
51:07
Exactly.
51:08
Exactly.
51:09
Hey, maybe it's sort of a specific demographic, right?
51:11
Yeah.
51:12
That's in there.
51:13
All right.
51:14
Listen, man, I know you got to jump.
51:15
To do, we're coming into the end of 2018, right, into Q4 here.
51:20
What do you, what do you, what kind of advice are you giving your team, your loan officers
51:24
to close out this year strong?
51:27
Buckle down.
51:29
Make your phone calls, you know, change your comp if you really can to really try to maintain
51:35
that market share because I'm telling you the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter
51:41
of 2019, I think you're going to be like the lowest and kind of like the hairiest two quarters
51:47
back to back that we've seen in a very long time.
51:49
So you got to work.
51:52
Everything that you're doing needs to be multiplied by two or three X to maintain your
51:56
still your same business and that's what I'm doing today.
51:59
So I'm not trying to make more money.
52:02
What I'm trying to do is maintain my actual volume in order to do so.
52:07
I have to be making two to three times more phone calls, two to three times more activities
52:11
for the same amount of work.
52:13
So don't think you're going to get rich in the next two quarters.
52:16
Right.
52:17
So increase the activity.
52:19
Increase activity to maintain.
52:21
Seriously.
52:22
So we've got to do more of what we've done in the past just to maintain, not to grow.
52:26
Yeah, you won't, I mean, in the next two quarters that are, these are not growth, these
52:30
are not PR months, these are not bigger quarters like at all.
52:34
And so it's, you know, sometimes I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm making 30 calls.
52:38
Well, cool.
52:39
Guess what?
52:40
You got to make 60 calls tomorrow.
52:41
I don't care what you're saying.
52:42
Like that is what I need you to start doing in order for you to actually stay consistent
52:46
because if you don't do that, and if you're going to stay with 30 calls, I think that's
52:49
a lot.
52:50
And that's what drove you to where your volume is today.
52:53
Well, then just, just why don't you just cut that thing in half already?
52:56
Yeah, it's funny.
52:57
I was going to do a video that's basically said, why don't you just quit now?
53:02
Yeah.
53:03
It is a doggy dog grilled out there right now.
53:06
I mean, the rates have gone up, you know, I mean, the profit margins are so thin.
53:13
And it starts to really try to streamline your business as well because I'm seeing these
53:18
loan officers with these huge teams, you know, and it's like, when you break down the
53:22
math and you're a team cost you 100 basis points to close everything alone.
53:27
And you're wondering, you're wondering why, why is my pricing so high?
53:30
It's like, because you're costing yourself 100 basis points to do alone, like, I need
53:34
you to start doing your income.
53:36
I need you to start actually pre-approving the client and don't expect somebody else
53:39
because there's no mistakes that can be made right now.
53:42
Zero.
53:43
Right.
53:44
Awesome.
53:45
Awesome.
53:46
Good stuff.
53:47
Good message.
53:48
Well, listen, Mortgage Geek, Sean Kayne.
53:49
Thanks a lot for being here, man.
53:50
Our listeners appreciate it.
53:51
That was really fun.
53:52
I appreciate it.
53:53
You bet.
53:54
And so listeners, as always, thanks for tuning in and listening.
53:55
If you like this episode, please let us know.
53:56
Leave us a little love out there on the inner webs.
53:59
And we will see you on the next one, bye for now.
54:03
Thanks for listening to Mortgage Marketing Radio.
54:06
One more truth in Mortgage Marketing.
54:09
Get more free training and resources at MortgageMarketingInstitute.com.
54:29
Hey, guys, what's up?
54:30
Real quick.
54:31
You've heard about the Mortgage Marketing Pro membership before, and I just want to quickly
54:34
remind you of that you're in a place in your business where you simply need more purchased
54:38
loans.
54:39
You need to fill your pipeline with purchase business.
54:41
Let's just face it, agents are still a solid pillar of business and sources of purchase
54:46
business for you.
54:47
Well, good news.
54:48
Our Mortgage Marketing Pro membership helps loan officers like you close more loans without
54:52
the hassle of chasing agents or cold calling.
54:56
One for you agent classes, expert training videos, a marketing automation platform that
55:00
automates the entire process for you, everything you need to build your personal brand in your
55:05
local market, attract and convert agents into referral partners.
55:09
Plus, done for you proven marketing materials and plug and play content to make promoting
55:14
your class, getting agents, butts and seeds, partnering with affiliates real easy.
55:19
But that's not all.
55:21
You'll also get access to our weekly mastermind calls with top L.O.'s authors, speakers and
55:27
coaches to learn the best strategies to grow your business right now in today's market.
55:32
And as an extra bonus for limited time, for all new members, you'll get access to a database
55:38
of 200 agents in your local market that have closed anywhere to from eight to 50 transactions
55:44
in the last 12 months.
55:46
And we'll provide that list uploaded into our platform for you so you can get off to a fast
55:50
start in reaching actually productive agents.
55:53
So what are you waiting for?
55:54
You can check out more at mortgagemarketing.pro, see more of the success stories there.
55:59
And if you feel compelled to do so, book a call, we'll have a chat.
56:02
We'll see if it's a fit.
56:04
Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your mortgage business to the next level right now.
56:08
Head over to mortgagemarketing.pro.