Latest / Mortgage Marketing Radio / Ep 150: How To Know When to Hire Your First Assistant
Transcript
- 0:00In today's highly competitive mortgage industry, building profitable relationships with
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- 1:17Welcome to Mortgage Marketing Radio.
- 1:19Brought to you by the Mortgage Marketing Institute, your number one source for truth
- 1:24in mortgage marketing.
- 1:25Hey, hey listeners, what's up?
- 1:29This is Jeff Zimfer, your humble host for Mortgage Marketing Radio Podcast.
- 1:33I'm so thrilled to tune in.
- 1:34Man, what a privilege it is every week to have a few minutes of your time to share what
- 1:41I hope are impactful conversations, ideas with you that you will take and apply in your
- 1:48life and in your mortgage business to have more value, more significance, more fun,
- 1:54obviously make more money in your business.
- 1:56If that's what you're getting from listening to these podcasts, I'm the one who's actually
- 2:00benefiting more.
- 2:02I get more out of these by hearing your feedback on the podcasts.
- 2:06Perhaps then you get because it's just part of my how I'm wired to the heart of a teacher
- 2:11and a passion to give back to the industry that gave so much to me and I think is an incredible
- 2:15industry for those that are willing to evolve and grow and continue to adapt and learn
- 2:21from others and share, right?
- 2:23So I thank you for tuning in.
- 2:26Speaking of getting feedback from you listeners, I got to give a shout out to one of our
- 2:29more recent reviews.
- 2:31Cliff Jennings left us a nice five-star review.
- 2:33Here's what Cliff says, fresh new mortgage podcast, such a refreshing podcast for mortgage
- 2:38loan originators everywhere.
- 2:39So many other podcasts are outdated and can ramble so quickly.
- 2:42I haven't been bored yet.
- 2:43Thank you.
- 2:44We have this podcast, great new ideas, wonderful interviewees, listen and learn people.
- 2:50Cliff Jennings, thank you sir, I appreciate you man.
- 2:52You know what to do.
- 2:53Hit me up on the Facebook.
- 2:54DM me, send me your t-shirt size and mailing address and let's get you off a swag box.
- 3:01Okay, so that's what you know.
- 3:02If you want to leave a review, that's what you know to do.
- 3:04You can do it.
- 3:05You know how to do it.
- 3:06Let's do it.
- 3:07Speaking of doing it, let's get into this week's episode.
- 3:10My special guest is Dan and Chetta and Dan is out of a Northern California, Petaluma,
- 3:15a highly competitive area.
- 3:17Why I'm bringing Dan on is this, oftentimes I have conversations with loan originators
- 3:21who are talking about bringing on an assistant.
- 3:24They're usually that's what they're doing, talking about instead of doing it.
- 3:27They're realizing that they need an assistant.
- 3:29They need support to help to grow.
- 3:32And here's the old saying, right, if you don't have an assistant, you are the assistant.
- 3:37What I love about Dan and why we're having this conversation is there's only been in the
- 3:40business three years, three short years, but Dan early on realized the importance of
- 3:45having an assistant.
- 3:46And so I wanted to unpack the conversation of what is the transition that he went through
- 3:52to hiring his first assistant and all the things that are involved in deciding to hire
- 3:57an assistant, who do you hire, how do you know if the right person for the job, what are
- 4:00the roles that they do and things like that.
- 4:02And I tell you what, Dan will tell you as you'll hear on this interview that it allowed
- 4:05him to double his volume, right?
- 4:07So in 2018, he did 20 million.
- 4:10In 2019, he's closing out at 82 units and 40 million.
- 4:14And he's going to grow even more in 2020.
- 4:16He's already looking at bringing on his next hire, which is more of a biz dev development
- 4:20role.
- 4:21So Dan can stay in his lane of excellence in his wheelhouse.
- 4:24And that is serving clients, meeting and greeting and talking to people.
- 4:28So I thought it would be relevant to have a conversation around this, right, with regards
- 4:32to bringing on an assistant and things like that.
- 4:34So hopefully there's some key takeaways and nuggets you can learn from our conversation
- 4:38with Dan and Shetta.
- 4:41And as always, if you're looking for more growth, feel free to check out the mortgagemarketing.pro
- 4:45website, where you can learn more about how to grow your business, whether it be from getting
- 4:51maximum referrals and minimum time, whether getting started with video, Instagram, YouTube,
- 4:55all the socials becoming a modern originator, mortgagemarketing.pro, check out the quick
- 4:59video.
- 5:00And we'll put links to everything we mentioned.
- 5:01As always in the podcast, show notes so you can easily click and go check it out right
- 5:05from your mobile phone, wherever you're listening to this.
- 5:08So without further ado, let's get into this week's show.
- 5:12Dan, welcome to the show.
- 5:13Right on, man.
- 5:14Thanks for having me.
- 5:15Thanks for being here.
- 5:16I know you're busy and great to connect with you.
- 5:19If you wouldn't mind just, you know, for the listeners, they heard my kind of formal intro
- 5:22about you, but give us the Dan and Shetta version of how long in the biz, like rough, roughly
- 5:28production and what do you love about this business?
- 5:30Right on.
- 5:31Yes.
- 5:32I started June 1, 2016, and I remember that because it was the month that Brexit happened.
- 5:38And like the whole world was in turmoil.
- 5:42And I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
- 5:46I just ended up a career as a commercial banker at a community bank and doing mostly business
- 5:51lending and that sort of thing.
- 5:53And thought I'd give this whole mortgage thing a try because I just figured there was
- 5:58a better way for me to spend my time and make money and provide for my family.
- 6:02So I thought, hey, I know how to manage relationships, I know how to make loans.
- 6:06So let's figure out this whole mortgage thing.
- 6:09So I always joke with people that I don't know the world before trade.
- 6:12I didn't do a loan before trade existed.
- 6:16So it's kind of a, maybe a blessing in disguise because it's just kind of normal.
- 6:20So yeah.
- 6:21So half the year in 2016, I'm just like, my number is the new you're going to ask me.
- 6:25You did about 10 million in that first six months.
- 6:29And then 2017, it did like 13 million, 2018, it did about 20.
- 6:35And this year, I'll do 40.
- 6:37Okay.
- 6:38Got it.
- 6:39So 2019 closing out on 40 million in three years.
- 6:43Yeah.
- 6:44Yeah.
- 6:45That's a pretty quick ride.
- 6:48What part of the country you in?
- 6:49I'm in the Bay Area in San Francisco, Bay Area.
- 6:52All right.
- 6:53So arguably a competitive market.
- 6:54Yep.
- 6:55Very competitive.
- 6:56Yeah.
- 6:57We know we've got some players up there.
- 6:58Yes.
- 6:59In my town.
- 7:00They're here.
- 7:01Yeah.
- 7:02I know.
- 7:03Right.
- 7:04I've interviewed some of them in your town.
- 7:05What do you attribute that?
- 7:06That's a very fast growth, man.
- 7:07I mean, I talked to the people have been in the business.
- 7:08And by the way, how many units is that?
- 7:10Just to give some.
- 7:11That's right.
- 7:12Just looking at 82 units.
- 7:13Okay.
- 7:1482 units.
- 7:15Okay.
- 7:16So nothing, you know, that's that's solid, man.
- 7:18What do you attribute that growth to though in three short years?
- 7:21Yeah.
- 7:22So the big change I made this year is I hired a full-time assistant to help with my production.
- 7:29I like the kind of phrase of like, only do the things that only you can do.
- 7:34And so really learning how to delegate as much as possible so that she can take on as many of the roles within a transaction as possible.
- 7:43So really all I'm trying to spend my time is not not perfect at it.
- 7:47But what I'm trying to do is just spend as much as my time as possible, building trust with clients and referral partners, finding the business, bringing it in the face of every transaction.
- 7:57I don't delegate to other people and say, this person is now your transaction coordinator.
- 8:02They're going to see it through the close on the person through the entire entire process.
- 8:06But having that full-time dedicated assistant has just been a total game changer for me.
- 8:12So I was kind of on the roller coaster due to two, do three, do zero, do four, do zero.
- 8:17And now it's been pretty consistent, you know, somewhere between eight and 15 runs a month.
- 8:22Right.
- 8:23And we're going to unpack this.
- 8:24That's kind of the focus of our conversation is the transition to hiring your first assistant.
- 8:29I think that's the name of this episode.
- 8:32Before I forget though, 2020, what do you forecast in for that? Have you built any of that out yet?
- 8:37Yeah, so I was just talking to my coach about that. So I'm a dunk tonight. I guess I'll just be for that dunk tonight.
- 8:43So my coach is an amazing woman tree so that you have a connect with her, you totally should.
- 8:50And she has a great business up in Lake Tahoe area.
- 8:53Anyway, we're just looking at the numbers. I think it's going to be 60. I think.
- 8:58Like that five million a month on average.
- 9:00Another is great. I'm actually in the process of thinking about the next higher.
- 9:08Probably changing my workflow a little bit, but good to kind of team of three would be the ideal situation from you right now.
- 9:17All right. So let's unpack this assistant situation for everybody listening, seeing as you went through transition.
- 9:23Take, take me back to like that. That's the stage or the time that you first realized you perhaps needed help.
- 9:31And what kind of struggles did you deal with? Did you like, you know, deal with that usual conversation of, hey, I don't want to spend the money.
- 9:36I can't afford it. Whatever. Take us through that a little bit.
- 9:39Yeah. So you always ask when's the right time to hire an assistant?
- 9:42And my answer is when you're serious about growing your business.
- 9:46So when I hired the assistant, I really didn't need her in terms of, you know, my production at that moment.
- 9:53But I had a vision for what I wanted to my business to look like what I wanted my practice to look like.
- 9:59So I went out on a limb and kind of talked to my managers, okay, this is what I'm thinking about doing.
- 10:05He's like, okay, I don't see why you need that, but if they're feeling that strongly about it, then we'll figure that out.
- 10:10So, so yeah, so we hired her and went through kind of a total like restoration of my process, just like really looking at everything from start to finish.
- 10:22Like, what is the borrower experience look like?
- 10:26And from my standpoint, we all sell the same product and our rates are probably very close to each other.
- 10:32And our market is pretty competitive that you're not seeing crazy differences and really kind of the same stuff.
- 10:38So the only thing that in my estimation that makes me different is the borrower experience that they have and that level of customer experience.
- 10:46How I interact with them, how we communicate, how I make them feel, and that's really it.
- 10:52So that's my whole focus is like, how does the borrower feel through the process?
- 10:57Are we connecting with them emotionally?
- 11:01Are we meeting them where they are and taking care of them?
- 11:06It's a hard, it's a big, huge financial decision and our job is to give them ease and make sure that they know that they're making a good decision.
- 11:13Yeah, let me ask you a few questions then around the assistant.
- 11:17So you opted to, you didn't get any support financially.
- 11:23Right, so exactly.
- 11:25Okay, so initially no support financially, like I'm going to invest in this all on my own.
- 11:29Okay, so there's that you're really, this goes back to what you said about how do you know when it's time to hire your first assistant.
- 11:35It's when you realize you're committed to the business.
- 11:39That's the actual business I assume, right?
- 11:41Not just be a quote sales person.
- 11:43Right, so I think, so the cool thing about the business is that you can kind of do whatever you want to do.
- 11:47If you're happy doing the two, three, four loans a month and that provides you living and maybe that's what you want to do.
- 11:53And it gives you enough time to go with your family or anyone.
- 11:56And that's great. You should totally do that.
- 11:58I kind of had some, I took a step back in that kind of coaching exercise that I've been going through.
- 12:05I was looking at like big goals, like, where do I want to be?
- 12:07I'm 35, it's like, where do I want to be when I'm 45?
- 12:10What does my life look like when I'm 50?
- 12:12And I had this conversation with my wife and we kind of sat down like, what does it look like?
- 12:17And then kind of peeled that back and go, well, what do we need to do this year or today or in this hour to realize that bigger goal?
- 12:25And so when I was doing that kind of visioning, I saw that I wasn't going to get where I wanted to be doing the two, three, four loans a month.
- 12:33And I really wanted to commit to, you know, really going after it and building something that could really generate wealth.
- 12:42It can really provide for my family and, you know, have the have the beautiful life.
- 12:47Right. Exactly.
- 12:49Clarity is helpful.
- 12:51Okay. So you're investing in your own assistant.
- 12:54How did you find the assistant? What processes did you go through? Did you interview a bunch of people all that?
- 12:58I interviewed nobody. She was actually a processor here within the office.
- 13:03Okay.
- 13:04And she was my processor and she worked with me and probably four other lenders here in team.
- 13:10And she was a great fit and she wanted a little more and to grow her skill set.
- 13:16And so it was just a perfect match and they backfilled her position.
- 13:19So those other lenders have their own processor again.
- 13:22Yeah.
- 13:24So you approached the company and they're like, Hey, I want to take this person out of this role.
- 13:28Yeah.
- 13:29And they were okay with it.
- 13:30Yeah.
- 13:31Wow. All right. Good. Nice, man.
- 13:33Okay. So what are some lessons learned?
- 13:37Because being a processor is different than an assistant.
- 13:40Yeah.
- 13:41And what are some lessons learned and how did her role change?
- 13:44Let's get specific on what she does for you to help you generate more business.
- 13:48So yeah. So she like still does all the processing too.
- 13:50Yeah. Nice.
- 13:51Okay.
- 13:52And really the role that we added on to her day was with the time that she was using the process for other people.
- 13:59She does more of the assistant work.
- 14:01So she does like all of the like income calculation stuff where I would sit here and get an Excel and figure out what people's in qualifying income is.
- 14:09She does all that on the pre approval side.
- 14:11She writes all the pre approval letters.
- 14:13Well, let me let me interrupt. Sorry.
- 14:15Let's back up for a minute.
- 14:16Then take me from the point of entry.
- 14:18I'm a client.
- 14:19I'm referred to you or whatever.
- 14:21I, you know, you're the first call.
- 14:23Yep.
- 14:24Okay. Let's take us through your customer experience.
- 14:26That's important to you.
- 14:27Totally.
- 14:28So usually it's a phone call that we have at first and it's just kind of a needs analysis.
- 14:33Tell me basically what you're looking for.
- 14:36Let's make sure that we're a style match.
- 14:39And you know, if you're in the low cost leader people, I'll tell you I'm not not the person for you.
- 14:43Where we have super competitive rates, but you can find cheaper.
- 14:46And I like to be up front with people like if you want the cheapest cheapest cheapest rate, go online.
- 14:49Find someone that will give you bare bones experience and you can save an eighth.
- 14:54Have fun.
- 14:55It's going to be like torture.
- 14:57It's going to be painful, but you can make it happen.
- 15:00So we have that conversation.
- 15:02I sent them a needs list.
- 15:03They either apply with me on the phone or send them an online link.
- 15:06Just depends on what their comfort level is.
- 15:09And really in that conversation, it's about needs analysis, timing, understanding what they're looking for.
- 15:15And then I kind of cater my approach to them.
- 15:18So some people just want to do everything over the phone and by text other people are like, let's get in face to face.
- 15:24My preference is that we get face to face and I try to get that as much as possible.
- 15:28I think there's something to that.
- 15:30I think on one of your podcasts recently that talk about like looking at them.
- 15:34And you can see if they're actually understanding physically.
- 15:37Right.
- 15:38Visual cues.
- 15:39I said that was the spot on it.
- 15:41I don't remember which one that was.
- 15:43But yeah, so I like to get your take.
- 15:45You're taking the app.
- 15:46I'm taking the app.
- 15:47Okay.
- 15:48I take the app.
- 15:49I do the collection of the financial documents.
- 15:53Pass them over to my assistant who's actually doesn't work in the same office as I do.
- 15:57She's in a different office.
- 15:58Okay.
- 16:00And then she'll sort through all that stuff and figure out what we need.
- 16:03She sends me a needs list.
- 16:05And.
- 16:07You've got an advantage in that she did processing.
- 16:09Exactly.
- 16:10Yeah.
- 16:11I'm leveraging her.
- 16:12Her.
- 16:13Her strong suit, which is she knows how to process a file and package and put it together and prepare it for an undergrad or look at.
- 16:18And so she kind of cut through all that red tape and was like, I don't need taxes just.
- 16:23I mean, this is a W2 only file.
- 16:24Well, that's.
- 16:25That was a good find to be able to get her around.
- 16:27So she's.
- 16:28She's awesome.
- 16:29So she.
- 16:30She makes the streamlines the process from the beginning.
- 16:34So I only asked for what I really need.
- 16:37And you know, she kind of ends that.
- 16:39All right.
- 16:40So you got the you got the 10 or 3 of the app and then they're going to come in or not.
- 16:43You're going to do it over a phone or text or whatever.
- 16:45Yeah.
- 16:46Where are you involved in the process throughout the rest of the transaction?
- 16:50So no, no.
- 16:51Who's my assistant?
- 16:52She drives everything kind of behind the scenes.
- 16:54And she's talking to the title company.
- 16:56She's talking.
- 16:57She does all the other stuff.
- 16:58Ordering a praise all.
- 16:59That's exactly.
- 17:00Basically, the only.
- 17:01And she tells me what I need to do.
- 17:04And I am the one who actually talks to the client.
- 17:07So if we need something from the client, I get an email from now saying, I need XYZ.
- 17:12I call the client and say, hey, we're working on a file.
- 17:15Here's what's going on.
- 17:16This is what I need from you.
- 17:18Let me ask you this.
- 17:20That was a conscious choice for you to make those calls versus her.
- 17:23And she also, if she needs a correspondent with the client or someone,
- 17:28it comes from my email.
- 17:30Because she likes it.
- 17:32No.
- 17:33No, she's not licensed.
- 17:34But why, why are you choosing?
- 17:36Because some people choose the opposite, right?
- 17:37Some people choose to have their assistant called to get conditions and all that.
- 17:40Why are you choosing to have you do it?
- 17:42Because when I, in my personal, my personal preference,
- 17:46that when I'm doing business with a person, I want to do business with that person.
- 17:50Right?
- 17:51So I always as annoyed me as a consumer when I think I'm doing business with somebody,
- 17:56but then their assistant or their someone or their whoever calls and they're like,
- 18:01hey, I'm actually the one who's doing this.
- 18:03For me, when I was designing it, I thought was better for my style was that I'm going to offload
- 18:09as much as I can behind the scenes and let other people do as much as they can behind the curtain.
- 18:14But in terms of the customer experience, they're doing business with me, not my assistant.
- 18:20That makes sense.
- 18:21And a lot of people have really amazing businesses where they have, you know,
- 18:25I was talking to someone at an event and they're like, I don't actually do customer consultations.
- 18:30That's really cool.
- 18:32That's totally your style and you should.
- 18:34Well, and that's the beauty, like you pointed out earlier,
- 18:37that's the reality of this business.
- 18:38You can design it any way you want.
- 18:40And everything, different markets work differently, different, you know,
- 18:43different type of client bases work differently.
- 18:45And this is what I found is work best for me and my clients.
- 18:49Okay.
- 18:50Like that, like that.
- 18:51Okay, so you're interfacing.
- 18:52What is your kind of your cadence or your schedule of meetings with your L.O.A.?
- 18:58Like I know some people have a daily debrief for 15 minutes.
- 19:01What does yours look like?
- 19:02Yeah, we do like a pipeline review every day in theory.
- 19:06Okay.
- 19:07And stuff of the phone or whatever over the phone.
- 19:09Yeah.
- 19:10And then we get together at least every other week for face to face.
- 19:15We're choosing probably 20 minute drive away.
- 19:18So we meet in the town that's in between us and grab a cup of coffee just to have that face time.
- 19:22Sure.
- 19:23Talk about more strategic things and just like, hey, here's the next thing I want you to take on.
- 19:26Here's what I'm thinking, you know, pipeline management wise.
- 19:30Here's the next exercise that we're going to go through.
- 19:33Here's the new, you know, marketing initiative that we're going to take on.
- 19:36Whatever it is, that we do all that type of stuff face to face.
- 19:38But we were talking constantly throughout the day.
- 19:41Right.
- 19:42I call her in between meetings just to check in like, hey, did this thing happen?
- 19:45Did that happen?
- 19:46Did that happen?
- 19:47That appraisers late.
- 19:48Can we, you know, get that AMC to spur them along?
- 19:51Whatever those deals are, you know.
- 19:53Yeah.
- 19:54Okay.
- 19:55So she's handling the backend stuff, all that kind of.
- 19:59Again, I think I'm just thinking of what you said here.
- 20:02Income calculations, which is not what I often hear with that with a L.O.A.
- 20:06Yeah.
- 20:07Another benefit, of course, to her knowledge base.
- 20:09What other types of things do you have her doing to free you up that?
- 20:13Are they not loan related, such as biz dev or marketing related?
- 20:16Yeah.
- 20:17So she does like financing flyers.
- 20:18If I, if any of my real to partners are doing an open house or have a listing, then I'll just send her.
- 20:23Hey, here's a new listing for so and so.
- 20:25And she does all these templates and she'll actually create the flyers that are all.
- 20:30And through marketing compliance on stuff.
- 20:32Let me ask you a question on that, seeing as that's a hot topic, financing flyers, right?
- 20:36That flies around the social groups.
- 20:38Do you have agents asking those for those?
- 20:41Do you find that they like them?
- 20:43Do you think that helps solidify your relationship?
- 20:45Yes, all of those.
- 20:47Yeah.
- 20:48I think I can, in the years I've been doing it, I think I've done one deal.
- 20:52I've got one phone call from someone who's like, hey, I picked up a financing flyer.
- 20:56What?
- 20:57And I want you to do our loan.
- 20:58So, you know, I pay it, probably pays for it for the life I ever.
- 21:02Sure.
- 21:03Forever.
- 21:04But I use that mostly as a touch point to let the agents know that I'm paying attention.
- 21:11And to is a reason to call.
- 21:13And, you know, I try to touch base with my partners as much as possible and to be a value add.
- 21:21So I'll actually work open houses and spend time with them.
- 21:26Mostly, I'm not there.
- 21:28If I get a lead that day is great.
- 21:30But mostly it's about solidifying the real partnership and letting my care.
- 21:34And I'll invest my Sunday afternoon to spend with them.
- 21:37Having been so much lately because we have a 13 week at home.
- 21:41People are home.
- 21:42So I've been kind of slammed on the personal side.
- 21:45Congratulations to that, man.
- 21:48Catching apps when you can or were you the one telling me that?
- 21:51No, you've got a good sleeper on your hands.
- 21:53We have a pretty good sleeper.
- 21:55You know, we trade off in shifts.
- 21:58It's kind of like all take her for a few hours of mom can lay down and get some.
- 22:02Get some rest in the dark and then we switch and.
- 22:05That's awesome.
- 22:06Make it happen.
- 22:08Okay.
- 22:10What else do you want to share about your assistant, your process together?
- 22:13Things that you do.
- 22:14Maybe something unique.
- 22:15Yeah.
- 22:16So I think the big thing is just we talk all the time, kind of constant communication.
- 22:20And I totally trust her.
- 22:23I am.
- 22:24That's key point.
- 22:25I trust that she is going to.
- 22:27I don't ask her to lock in.
- 22:29She doesn't work in the same office as me.
- 22:31I actually have no idea what she's doing at this particular moment.
- 22:34I trust that she's getting stuff done.
- 22:36And I know that she's getting stuff done because loans close on time.
- 22:39Stuff happens.
- 22:40I get CCed on emails and I see that things are going on.
- 22:46And I think that's the biggest thing is that.
- 22:49You have to trust your partners and you have to have a.
- 22:54A relationship where you know that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.
- 22:58So you can do what you need to do.
- 23:00Yeah.
- 23:01Exactly.
- 23:02That's a key point there.
- 23:03Trust for sure.
- 23:04And again, you've got the benefit of you had been working with her already.
- 23:07So you guys have that relationship.
- 23:08So that's that's nice.
- 23:09Smart of you to probably recognize that.
- 23:11Right.
- 23:12Yes.
- 23:13No, thanks.
- 23:14I tried to try to use my head.
- 23:15It's a pretty critical role thing there.
- 23:17If your hiring is going outside, that first hire has got to be right.
- 23:21I mean, you could really be signlined and your business will hurt.
- 23:25Everything is going to hurt if you don't make that first hire has to be the right one.
- 23:29Take your time with that.
- 23:30Without getting into specifics, tell tell can you share like how you keep her happy,
- 23:36reward her financially and otherwise, right?
- 23:39So I think that's like a personality profile type situation.
- 23:44So another cool Duncan thing is like I did like the personality profile on me.
- 23:49And I'm a you do the disc at the disc profile.
- 23:52Okay.
- 23:53Yep.
- 23:54So what you say you were going to say you're what?
- 23:56I'm a I'm a high D. I.
- 23:58Shocker.
- 23:59Yeah.
- 24:00Former former wrestler high D.
- 24:01Exactly right.
- 24:02Yeah.
- 24:03And she's a she's an S.
- 24:04She's an SC.
- 24:05So we compliment each other and which is great.
- 24:09So she.
- 24:12For her.
- 24:14Like the financial reward is is obviously important.
- 24:17Because we're all here to make money and make living.
- 24:20So really she I have found that she likes to be part of a team and she likes to win.
- 24:25And she likes to feel like she.
- 24:27The actions that she does directly impacts a positive result for our borrowers.
- 24:32So she gives a lot of fulfillment for that.
- 24:34So as she's kind of grown into the role, it's been really fun to see her grow.
- 24:38And for her to take on more things that she probably never thought that she would be doing.
- 24:43And being a little bit more.
- 24:45She's very.
- 24:47Introverted and trying to like she's pulling out of that.
- 24:50So it's cool to see her grow.
- 24:52And.
- 24:53And our relationship is really cool because she'll call me on my nonsense and be like,
- 24:57Hey, what are you doing today?
- 24:58I can see your schedule.
- 24:59You don't have any appointments.
- 25:00What?
- 25:01Why don't you have appointments?
- 25:02You need to be out there during the business.
- 25:03I'm doing it.
- 25:04I'm supposed to be doing.
- 25:05Why aren't you doing what you're supposed to be doing?
- 25:06All right.
- 25:07That's cool.
- 25:08That's very unique.
- 25:09I like that.
- 25:10You know, I'm glad you mentioned the disc for a moment because for anybody who's listening and looking at hiring,
- 25:15I'm a huge advocate of using a resource like the disc.
- 25:19There's a company that I'm a fan of.
- 25:21It's called Wiseire.
- 25:22There you go.
- 25:23Z-E-H-I-R-E.
- 25:24And they actually have a process where they'll help you find recruit.
- 25:28They'll place the job ad for you out on the various job sites for like a couple hundred bucks a month for whatever term you need.
- 25:34And they'll help you craft the messaging to attract that high S, that high C, whatever.
- 25:39Right.
- 25:40I mean, I use the disc a lot.
- 25:41Just to the point of like holding up here, you can see I've got my cheat sheet on the desk, right?
- 25:46Yep.
- 25:47Probably seeing something like that.
- 25:48Totally.
- 25:49I have this from a different company.
- 25:51Yeah, yeah.
- 25:52It has the different colors and what they don't mean.
- 25:55Right.
- 25:56Yeah.
- 25:57Yeah.
- 25:58But back to the point about your loan officer, you said she's a high S-C for those listeners who aren't as familiar with the disc.
- 26:04I mean, the values of somebody's doing high S-C, their basic motivation is security, appreciation, assurance.
- 26:10Right.
- 26:11Let me look on the back, backside or the other side here, C, basic motivation, excellence, value, they like.
- 26:18Now, this is relevant because we're talking about hiring an assistant.
- 26:20This is why using it to like the disc will help you identify the right person because you can get into the type of environment they want.
- 26:26They want to work in the how they respond best to a leader.
- 26:31Right.
- 26:32Needs how to communicate and blind spots and all that stuff.
- 26:35Totally.
- 26:36No, and it's so funny because when you read, you get like a pretty detailed report.
- 26:40I have mine here somewhere.
- 26:41Yeah.
- 26:42You want to be like a 15 page report.
- 26:44If you read through it and you really are open to it, you're like, yeah, that's totally me.
- 26:48When you're talking about the difficulties that you have and you're like you said you're blind spots.
- 26:53If you're honest with yourself and you read that, it's like, yeah, nailed it.
- 26:56It's totally true.
- 26:57And I gave that to her.
- 26:59I'm like, here, this is how this is how I am.
- 27:02And I want to understand how you are so that we can meet each other's needs and each other in business.
- 27:10I mean, it's a good exercise.
- 27:11First of all, self-awareness is key for yourself just in general in your life.
- 27:16If you're involved in your relationship with anybody, spouse, kids, and all that kind of stuff.
- 27:20It helps to understand their personality traits.
- 27:23And one last reference I'll give to everybody is Tony Robbins actually has a disc profile on his website.
- 27:29It's Tony Robbins.com forward slash disc.
- 27:32I've used this in the past as well.
- 27:34It's free.
- 27:35Just know that you're probably going to get some type of an offer after completing this thing.
- 27:40Tony Robbins, of course, you're going to get an offer.
- 27:43All right.
- 27:44So just be aware of that.
- 27:46But if you guys want to mess around with the disc profile, check your own out, you know,
- 27:50anybody else that you work with, that'd be a smart move for you.
- 27:55All right.
- 27:56So your main source then of business is real estate agents, right?
- 28:00I think it is for everyone, isn't it?
- 28:02No, so I think I was doing this again, the kind of coaching planning, right?
- 28:06So this year, probably about 60% realtor referrals, 20% past clients.
- 28:11And then the other 20% is going to hodgepodge.
- 28:14I have a couple of attorneys that send me their complicated, you know, divorced stuff and type of thing,
- 28:20which is fun.
- 28:21It's good to figure out.
- 28:24But I'm really looking at the future and trying to move the needle on some of those items.
- 28:29I kind of don't like the idea of having heavy concentrations.
- 28:32I think realtor referrals are never going to go away.
- 28:35But I think that for me, for the future, I want to have a more diverse sources of referrals,
- 28:44probably, you know, in 20% increments.
- 28:46If I had 20% realtor referrals, you know, 20% past clients, 20% maybe like CPAs or financial advisors,
- 28:53something to that extent where you're getting a wider range of referrals so that when the market changes
- 28:59and it will, that you kind of have all your basis covered, that you don't have a low in your business.
- 29:07Huh.
- 29:08Here's a question.
- 29:09Just popped in my head.
- 29:10No preparation.
- 29:11What are the activities that you enjoy doing that lead the business?
- 29:16I like people.
- 29:17So, you know, the thing that I have found is when I allow myself to be authentic and vulnerable with people,
- 29:28that it attracts them to you.
- 29:31And I find that to be true in personal life and in business.
- 29:36And when I meet with a client or get a referral from someone or try to prospect a new referral partner,
- 29:43we don't really talk about business because they already know what I'm there for.
- 29:49When I go and I have that meeting, it's really about who are you as a person?
- 29:53Are we a model match?
- 29:55Are we going to like doing business with each other?
- 29:57And just really to lay it all out online and just be like, this is who I am.
- 30:00This is what I'm all about.
- 30:02And, you know, some people are going to like that.
- 30:05And other people were going to shy away from it.
- 30:07And that's okay.
- 30:08Yeah.
- 30:09So, I'm not sure if that really answered your question.
- 30:11I can be more specific, I guess.
- 30:13I don't know.
- 30:14I mean, let me ask you another follow-up question to that.
- 30:17Then how do you primarily, let's take realtors, for example,
- 30:19how do you primarily get in front of them?
- 30:21Yeah.
- 30:22So, most of the realtors I work with, I've done a transaction with.
- 30:26Meaning, so they have the listing side and we have a real specific strategy
- 30:31on how I communicate with the listing agent on a deal that I have the buyer.
- 30:36And I'll tell them up front.
- 30:38If it's someone, like I'll kind of do my background, check on them to see who they are
- 30:42and make sure that they're someone I want to be in business with.
- 30:44And if they are, then I'll tell them up front, like I'm going to knock this out of the park.
- 30:48You're going to be blown away from your side of the transaction.
- 30:53And at the end, I'm going to ask you, if I've done enough for me to be considered
- 30:58as a potential partner for your buyer.
- 31:01So, that's cool.
- 31:02You asked that up front on the intro.
- 31:04Yeah.
- 31:05I tell them up front.
- 31:06As soon as we're in contract, I'll tell them.
- 31:08I'll do my background and make sure that they're the right kind of person.
- 31:11Yeah.
- 31:12Right.
- 31:14If they are, then I'm pretty aggressive.
- 31:16And then we'll tell them straight up, like I know who you are.
- 31:19And like, you know, I want to be your partner.
- 31:22So it sounds like straight out of a taken with Liam Neeson.
- 31:25I know who you are.
- 31:27Exactly.
- 31:28I have a special set of skills.
- 31:31Well, and then it's really that follow up to make sure that they feel the love.
- 31:35You know, that they that I'm doing something different than everyone else out here.
- 31:40So look, it's a very much overlooked area for you adding.
- 31:43Well, let me ask you this.
- 31:44How often do you get the the listing agents?
- 31:46Because that's great.
- 31:47Dan, I'm a listing agent.
- 31:49I get that sometimes.
- 31:50And I go, that's cool.
- 31:52And then, you know, I then.
- 31:56I guess my feeling is that there's enough business to go around.
- 31:59Yeah.
- 32:00You know, whatever.
- 32:01That's cool.
- 32:02Yeah.
- 32:03That's great.
- 32:04Then we're not fit.
- 32:05Then that's, you know, they're going to brush me off.
- 32:07That's cool.
- 32:08And that's the other day that I.
- 32:11This realtor like referred me a deal kind of out of the blue, right?
- 32:14And so I was like, cool.
- 32:16This is great.
- 32:17And this was like maybe six months ago.
- 32:19And I followed up with them.
- 32:20At the end of this year, it's like, hey, thanks so much for that referral.
- 32:23Nothing everyone I'm happening with it.
- 32:24We just want to say thanks.
- 32:25And you know what?
- 32:26If if we can get together and strategize for 2020 and see how I can be a partner to you and so on and so forth.
- 32:32That'd be really great.
- 32:33And she just fired back with this text message that was like, stop soliciting me.
- 32:37I'm not interested in working with you.
- 32:39I already have a lender.
- 32:40I was just like, like she was pretty aggressive with it.
- 32:43And I messaged her back.
- 32:44I was like, okay, like that's we're cool.
- 32:46You just sent me something earlier this year.
- 32:48And I just wanted to make sure that I was following up with you.
- 32:52And she just totally ghosted me.
- 32:54And for a second, I was like, oh man, that really hurts.
- 32:56Like that.
- 32:57I was like, I thought that we had something good going on here.
- 33:00And then I was like, you know what?
- 33:01We're just not a model match.
- 33:02And that's not someone I want to be in business with anyway.
- 33:04So that's cool.
- 33:05And this was a realtor who sent you a deal.
- 33:07Yeah.
- 33:08It was it was the most bizarre.
- 33:09It was the most bizarre thing.
- 33:10But is what it is.
- 33:11Things like a lot of psychological issues there.
- 33:14Yeah, I'm like, okay, that's cool.
- 33:16So.
- 33:17All right.
- 33:18In prepping for this interview, I also looked at.
- 33:22I look for things that kind of stand out for me.
- 33:24So you've got a fair amount of.
- 33:27Zilla reviews, right?
- 33:2822.
- 33:29At this, at this time.
- 33:30And I'm always curious about like, are you consciously.
- 33:33Are you asking going for reviews?
- 33:36Yeah.
- 33:37I do.
- 33:38And kind of our process at the end of a transaction.
- 33:41I'll ask them to review.
- 33:43I have been a little sporadic.
- 33:45And where I ask people to review as things change and algorithms.
- 33:49And that sort of thing.
- 33:50So for a while, it was like, go to Yelp, you know.
- 33:53Yelp was going to be great.
- 33:54And then so that kind of stopped doing that a while back.
- 33:57And then it was the.
- 33:59Zillow firm in it.
- 34:00And then.
- 34:03Actually, I think it was your podcast.
- 34:05The guy from like reach 150 was on or something like that.
- 34:08Forever ago.
- 34:09And I was like, that sounds pretty cool.
- 34:11So I had some people go into there to leave some reviews.
- 34:14And now it's kind of like.
- 34:16Facebook.
- 34:17Google.
- 34:18Reach 150 kind of wherever someone wants to leave a review.
- 34:22I'll take it.
- 34:23And you send out like a post closing email for that.
- 34:26I do.
- 34:27Yeah.
- 34:28Thanks for your business.
- 34:29And.
- 34:30And you know, call army with questions.
- 34:32Here's the next time you're going to hear from me.
- 34:34Is if and when your loan gets transferred for servicing,
- 34:36make sure you have, you know, payment details on that guy.
- 34:38And then.
- 34:39If you have a minute, if you enjoyed our service, you know,
- 34:42leave me a review and helps my business grow.
- 34:44That type of that type of message.
- 34:46And how do you find the adoption on that pretty good?
- 34:48People leaving reviews.
- 34:49Pretty good.
- 34:50Probably.
- 34:51Half of them.
- 34:52Mm hmm.
- 34:53Somewhere at the leave review.
- 34:54Okay.
- 34:55All right.
- 34:56Very cool.
- 34:57Let's close out here with 2020, man.
- 35:00What are your plans for 2020?
- 35:02Anything you're implementing differently in your business,
- 35:04whether it's marketing or process wise.
- 35:06Yeah, I think I think it's just like I said, just trying to diversify
- 35:09the referral base.
- 35:11I think it's really honing in and learning, continuing to learn
- 35:14from on our process and.
- 35:19Continuing to develop our customer experience process and then
- 35:23creating templates around pretty much everything.
- 35:26I'm a big template person.
- 35:29I like maybe I'm old school, but I like paper templates where
- 35:33you actually have to write something down.
- 35:35And there's like a checklist of things to make sure that there's
- 35:38nothing missed.
- 35:39And as you get busier and busier, at least I have experience.
- 35:42Things get fuzzy and you forget details about things and having
- 35:45that checklist is pretty crucial.
- 35:47So every process that we have, we're creating templates for.
- 35:50It should be a predictable process, but still with some personality
- 35:53and individuality behind it.
- 35:56I don't want to be a machine where no one feels like they're getting.
- 35:59You know, cater to specifically.
- 36:01It's like, this is the way that we do it.
- 36:03You either fit it or you don't.
- 36:04Don't really like that.
- 36:05Kind of like to adapt to people as we go through the process.
- 36:08But in general, have a framework of how we do things.
- 36:11Right.
- 36:12And that's the big thing.
- 36:14It's just continuing the momentum that we have.
- 36:17And.
- 36:20I don't say perfecting because it's not really possible, but really.
- 36:23Yeah, optimizing as best we can the way that we.
- 36:29The way that we interact with the clients.
- 36:31I mean, it's everything from when you get a referral from somebody.
- 36:34What does that feel like?
- 36:35What does that look like?
- 36:36I've had this kind of pet peeve of like, oh, text my guy, Dan.
- 36:40Here's my phone number.
- 36:41I don't do that converts really well.
- 36:43So I'm working on a solution.
- 36:45I'll send it to you when I have it implemented.
- 36:47I'm working on a solution to make that experience better and different.
- 36:51So everything just working on the tiny little detail tweaks that I think will make a big difference in the production and satisfaction.
- 36:58Yeah.
- 36:59And also real quick.
- 37:00You mentioned you're already looking at hiring another person.
- 37:02Yeah.
- 37:03So.
- 37:05I think that.
- 37:07I kind of want to reduce part of the process and learning a little bit.
- 37:10I want to do redo part of the process.
- 37:12So my assistant is really, really good.
- 37:15And I want her to take on more of like the processing kind of director of operations type role.
- 37:24And the second person will do more kind of proactive annual review type things.
- 37:31I got like the total cost analysis type things where you can do an annual review and put something together and brand it and do that sort of thing.
- 37:39I don't have the time of the day to do it.
- 37:41They'll help me with some of my marketing outreach.
- 37:45They'll kind of be a catch all.
- 37:48First director of first impression type of person.
- 37:51Oh, nice.
- 37:52Yeah.
- 37:53Yeah.
- 37:54All the way down to stuffing envelopes and sending out mailers and.
- 37:58You know, it's it's going to be on the business side on the business side.
- 38:02Yep.
- 38:03Very nice.
- 38:04Very cool.
- 38:06No, I appreciate the details.
- 38:08That's very good.
- 38:09Awesome.
- 38:10So if anybody wants to reach out to you, man, what was the best place to reach to send them?
- 38:14Facebook, your website, what do you want to do?
- 38:16Yeah, just go to Instagram or Facebook and find me.
- 38:19Dan and Cheta.
- 38:21I think it's Dan and Cheta underscore home loans on Instagram.
- 38:25I'll put links in there too.
- 38:27Yeah.
- 38:28And I'm like open book.
- 38:29So if anyone wants to chat, I'll give you my cell number.
- 38:33Find me on LinkedIn has all my contact info there.
- 38:36And I'm happy to talk with whoever and.
- 38:38Yeah.
- 38:39Do it.
- 38:40Do it.
- 38:41Do it again to help everyone.
- 38:42Nice, man.
- 38:43Look, I mean, it's again, back to congratulations to you for the fast-track to success, right?
- 38:48Just three years in the biz, 80 plus units and, you know, you're going to grow even more in 2020.
- 38:53And you got smart and realize that in order for you to scale and grow, right?
- 38:57You had to have help and have an assistant.
- 38:59And so I think you did that earlier than most people do, man.
- 39:02So thanks.
- 39:03Yeah.
- 39:04And this whole thing just kind of stumbled into it to be honest with you.
- 39:06I still feel like I'm.
- 39:08I have no idea what I'm doing.
- 39:09I'm just kind of figured as I go and.
- 39:11Appreciate, you know, you reach out and.
- 39:13And that's getting together.
- 39:14Yeah, for sure.
- 39:15I wanted to.
- 39:16The whole point of this interview was to just kind of bring people into the discussion about hiring your first assistant.
- 39:21Getting over the hump to do that.
- 39:23There's a number of L.O.'s I'm working with right now that are actually in process to do that.
- 39:27You know, that that's the way you're going to grow because that's like you alluded to earlier on that roller coaster ride of.
- 39:33Of originate process, originate process.
- 39:36That cannot continue if you're ever going to really, you know, have a real business.
- 39:40Exactly.
- 39:41And I, yeah, I think that was the moment for me.
- 39:42I was like, I got it.
- 39:43I got to do this differently.
- 39:44And.
- 39:45Yeah.
- 39:46And then I just shut my mouth and listen to other smart people who who had done it and just did what they said to do.
- 39:52Well, look, man, I appreciate you making time.
- 39:54And listen, as always, thank you for tuning in and you know what to do.
- 39:57Hey, if you like this episode or others, leave us a review.
- 40:00And we will see you on the next one.
- 40:03Thanks for listening to Mortgage Marketing Radio.
- 40:06One more truth in mortgage marketing.
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