Latest / Mortgage Marketing Radio / Ep #85: Getting Buyers to Commit and Reduce Rate Shopping

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Ep #85: Getting Buyers to Commit and Reduce Rate Shopping · 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
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Welcome to Mortgage Marketing Radio.
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I'm brought to you by the Mortgage Marketing Institute, your number one source for truth
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in mortgage marketing.
1:26
Hey listeners, welcome again to another episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio.
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So glad you've tuned in once again.
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No problem.
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I will respond to you when I grab a phone call, chat about something cool, awesome.
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All right.
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So let's get into this week's episode, my very special guest, Kelly Marsh, vice president
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of cornerstone home lending out of Santa Barbara, California.
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And Kelly, a consummate professional, lots of respect for Kelly and what she's built
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over the last 22 years as a mortgage professional in the past four years alone, Kelly has
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closed over $400 million in loans.
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Let me say that again, in the past four years alone, Kelly has closed over $400 million
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in loans.
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And in the top 125, Scott Smith's guide in the nation, right?
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So her industry experience, she's got vast knowledge.
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She's been featured in various publications and she's just, right, just a real professional
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in has built a business.
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I think what's cool is you take away from Kelly is that she says true to herself.
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She wants to be authentic.
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She wants to be true to herself.
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So she's built her business around the things that keep her true to herself and that
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she truly enjoys doing.
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And so on this episode, we're going to unpack a couple really cool things.
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Number one, Kelly's built a team.
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And as you may notice, that's kind of a growing trend in the mortgage space, much like it
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has been in the real estate space for some time, right?
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And that might be an interesting thing for you to consider to pursue either starting your
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own team, joining a team, whatever might be appropriate for you.
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But we're going to talk a little bit about that, how she did that, why she did that, how
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she leverages her team to optimize her business and deliver the world class borrower experience.
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And there's some really cool things that, you know, we talk about with Kelly and things
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that she does in her process.
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One of the things that stands out for me is she has something called the approved buyer
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advantage.
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And these are three statements she makes to help kind of do a checkup if you will to make
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sure that the clients are motivated, they're ready, they're engaged, and they're committed.
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And that's what she's looking to do is make a commitment, right?
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If before she's going to jump through all these hoops and do all this work for people,
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you'll find out how this works in the overall process.
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And the three questions are, you know, number one, when she's meeting with this client,
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she's gone through the due diligence, she's had the dreams and goals meeting, right, collected
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the information.
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By the way, Kelly's a big believer in having clients come in face to face because of the power
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of that.
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But what she asks them is that, you know, if we're going to follow through on this commitment,
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our commitment to you, right?
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And which is, I'm going to ask that you as potential home buyers are ready to get active and
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make an offer on a house within the next 30 to 90 days, that you get all the required
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paperwork back to us in a timely manner.
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And that you've made a decision that we are the best lender for you.
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And we'll unpack that a little bit more on the podcast as you listen to it to, you know,
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kind of dive into the reactions people have, what people say, right, if they're not ready
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to do that, how does she respond to that and so forth.
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So really kind of interesting stuff in terms of better managing your business, optimizing
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those client engagements, where Kelly steps into the process, where she kind of steps
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out and lets her team kind of take, take control of things.
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So love the conversation we have with Kelly Marsh, VP of Cornerstone Home letting up
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in Santa Barbara, just a fabulous person and incredible top producer.
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So let's just get into the episode.
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What do you say without further ado?
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Let's get into this week's show Hey Kelly, welcome to the show.
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Thanks for having me.
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It is my pleasure.
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Thank you for making time from your busy schedule.
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You and I came by way of introduction by Tim Bohem, a friend and mentor, I believe
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to us both.
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Is that a safe assessment to say that?
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That is absolutely a safe assessment.
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Yeah, Tim's an amazing human being.
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Yeah, and you've, I think what you're coaching with Tim, is that right?
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Yeah, I'm in the leadership 360 group.
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We are just coming up on finishing our year course.
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Yeah.
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Well good.
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I'm going to be a plug for Tim, but what the heck, you know, when you believe in something.
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It's worth it.
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I mean, it's been a really awesome coaching program.
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I've spent a lot of coaching through the years and this is so far my number one.
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I've gotten so much out of it and the people and the quality.
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It's just, it's a very, very, what you see is what to get legitimate coaching system.
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Exactly.
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And I'm going to put a link into Tim's into, in this podcast notes to Tim's website
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for leadership 360 for anybody who's listening, want to learn more about.
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As a matter of fact, I had Tim on the podcast.
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I haven't released it yet.
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So when you're listening to this, it's probably already out.
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So if you want to learn more about who Tim is, this guy we're talking about, go check
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me out.
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He's out there.
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Anyway, we're here to learn about Kelly Mars Kelly.
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Tell us a little real quickly, right?
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You're quick backgrounder on the mortgage biz.
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How long you been in, kind of production stats, all that.
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I have been in the mortgage business for over 20 years and going on 20s by 22nd year.
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So literally half my life on the math, I'm just coming up on 40, 43 and I am a originating
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branch manager here out of Santa Barbara, California, beautiful Santa Barbara.
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And I've always really been in the top, the top originators in the country, which I am
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really honored to be in that group.
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And my focus has really been in regards to building a team and looking at having a world
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class bar experience has really been my focus.
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Okay, great.
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I'm taking notes while we talk here so well because I want to come back to that world class
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bar or experience.
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And yeah, and doing some prep for our podcast here today, I was trying to get a sense
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of, you know, if we could get a little bit more specific when you say top, I believe
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top 100 rankings.
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Is that correct?
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In the past, last time I had a transition here in terms of I transitioned my team.
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I was with a different mortgage company for 10 years and I transitioned my group over
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to Cornerstone Home Lending.
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So that was a transition year for me.
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So it wasn't my best production year so much time and energy and my focus was really
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on a smooth transition.
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So, you know, we're getting back on track and building our production back up.
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So it's been, as a lot of people's production has been down in the last couple years, I'm
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looking at getting back to my goal, it's really 10 million a month, I'm getting there,
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I'm about 7.5 million right now, mainly on the purchase volume, so that's been the
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focus.
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All right.
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So mainly on the purchase volume, what's the main source of your purchase business then?
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You know, I'm kind of spread out.
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I mean, of course as originators, we get a good chunk of our referrals from our real estate
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agents.
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So I really look at real estate agents and my past clients as kind of their kind of neck
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connect for the source of referrals being really close to my top, those of the top two
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referral sources.
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Okay.
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So when I hear past clients as a source for purchase business, let's set aside the
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realtor thing because that's usually the main focus for most LOs.
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Give us, and this is a thing I'm sure you see often as well, and especially knowing
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that you're an avid mortgage coach user, you know, big shout outs props to Dave's
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as well.
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How are you mining your past database to get purchase business?
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What does that look like on a weekly or a monthly basis?
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Well, we definitely have a marketing plan.
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I mean, that's the first step is to actually have a plan written down and then execute
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the plan.
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So it's about how many touches.
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I mean, I don't try to bombard my past client database.
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I mean, really it starts with the transaction and doing such an amazing job on that transaction
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that you leave an imprint on that client to where they're going to be thinking of you
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for the future.
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I mean, if you don't do a bang up job with your current client, then they become a not
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satisfied past client.
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So if you can do a bang up job world class and we such an impression on them that they're
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so happy and grateful for you and your team, then the past client business should kind
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of automatically happen, staying in touch with clients means definitely annual mortgage
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reviews.
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You know, we, I have had that on my list for years and quite honestly, I had not executed
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it.
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You know, I've been so in the weeds in my team on with my team and production that it took
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away from the time that I should be spending doing the annual reviews.
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I mean, following up, just check it in.
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Whether they give you a call back or not, you made the call, you left that imprint again.
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So I think annual mortgage reviews is huge.
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I think a lot of loan originators don't do it, including myself in the past.
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Oh, yeah.
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We've all been guilty of that myself included, which is why it leads me to my next question
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oftentimes, which is then how do you structure that into, you know, your business process.
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Like you said, you have to have a plan 100 percent, right, that's what, but then it's
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like, what do you use, are you using a CRM, are you scrubbing the list for dates of closed
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load?
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How does that work?
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So when I transitioned, I mean, part of the reason why I made a move was to align myself
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with a company that had the technology, the systems in place where I didn't have to
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reinvent the wheel.
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So Cornerstone has a great CRM system.
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It's tied into our LLS, like most of them are.
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And so it's triggering us on what people's closing dates are.
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And our goal is to actually call them on their anniversary day.
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So we want to make it extra special, like, oh, my gosh, it was a zero cell that you purchased
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your house.
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We just wanted to check in, see how things are going.
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So we're starting there and then we're just going to continue to build and improve really
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what questions we ask.
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I mean, you got to just start.
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You don't have to make it perfect.
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Like, oh, I need this.
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I wanted to have a survey link and, you know, all these fancy bells and whistles and quite
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honestly, you can get caught up in that to where you never execute because you're focusing
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on perfection.
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So it's calling them.
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We have a great CRM that notifies us about their one year in boom.
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We execute.
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That's awesome.
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Now, are you making those calls to your database, should you have some help on your team
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to do that?
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My lone partner, Heather, she's making the calls and really her goal is to get a scheduled
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meeting in person if the client wants or a phone meeting with me to just go over kind
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of where they're at, what the goals are, how long do they think they're going to home.
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I mean, a lot of our clients in the last prior years are going to have lower interest rates
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than the current rates.
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So it's not always about that.
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It's just about really being of service to the client and seeing if there's anything
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that we can help them with.
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Even if it's just a recommendation for someone to be working on the house or an accountant
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for a financial planner or something, just so we can be in service.
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Absolutely.
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And it's really about just that touch point and kind of staying top of mind.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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So back to what you said is really the get in purchase referrals from your past client
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database starts with the transaction itself in the first closing that you have with that
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client.
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As you said earlier, a world class borrower experience.
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So I hear that term thrown around a lot and I'd like to better understand how you deliver
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a world class client experience.
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So what does that look like from the first moment of connection, you get the referral,
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let's say, from a realtor or whatever, it's like boom, first phone call.
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I assume knowing who you are, you've got this whole thing kind of architected out.
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Yes, we do.
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So my other loan partner, so I have a right hand and a left hand, so my left hand,
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head and my right hand, Chelsea.
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So my loan partner Chelsea, she is going to take all of my client calls initially to go
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over the client with the process, here's how the process works.
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And then really the goal is to get that client scheduled to meet with me face to face.
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I believe in the power of face to face meeting with a client, you have that connection,
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you built the trust.
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If a client is out of town, they're not able to meet, but that's fine.
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We'll have a scheduled phone meeting.
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So that's kind of the first step.
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After we meet with a client, we definitely follow up immediately and send them a thank you
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card.
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We have a really cute little gift that we send them that is regarding helping them grow
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with the home ownership.
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So we give them that kind of first touch, and people love it.
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They're like, wow.
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Yeah, I don't want to come across as I'm interrupting you,
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but there's steps kind of in that process that I know people are always curious about
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because they email me and ask me.
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All right.
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So the loan partner, that's the initial conversation.
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Who's actually, where does the 1003 come in?
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Tell me about that.
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And is that online or what?
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Yeah.
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So we have an online application that most clients prefer to do.
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It's a really quick, we do it, it's called the PQ link.
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So it's a prequalification.
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If they submitted it, it automatically gets entered into our LMS system.
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It pulls their credit, and then we have a really great secure borrower portal, so immediately
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it invites you to that.
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And then they can go ahead and upload the docs there.
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So the goal is, and we go through this with them on the phone, is that, you know, I'm
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not going to meet with the client most of the time, 99% of the client's time.
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I'm not meeting with the client unless I have their application in the doc.
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Yeah, why do you do that?
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Why is that a line in the sand?
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Because it's not a good use of my time nor the client's time to have them watch me
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get it and put an online income in the asset.
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We get that all done ahead of time.
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And so what it also does is it establishes that this is our process, and I really think
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of this as a conveyor belt.
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So this is that front end conveyor belt, and we don't get pushed back on it.
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You know, every now and then a client doesn't have time to send in their docs.
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So I may not, you know, be reviewing everything right then and there with them, but I'm going
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to go over their goals and dreams and figure out what it is, you know, they're looking
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at for purchase price, and then I'll run some total cost analysis for them when they're
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in my office.
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But yeah, it's really not the best use of my time.
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So how long is it me inputting that?
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No, I agree 100%.
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I mean, you want to deal with people that are qualified and really eager and ready to
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buy, right?
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Mm-hmm.
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Yes.
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How long is that face-to-face initial meeting when they eventually do come in your
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office?
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It's about 45 minutes, so it can be as short as 30 and then it can be as long as an
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hour, depending on how its depth the client wants to get and how many different scenarios
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the client wants me to run.
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But my goal is that they've seen my office telling exactly where they stand in terms of their
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pre-approval, and they have a total cost analysis for different scenarios for purchase
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prices.
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Sometimes we have to do a credit plan where we've got to work on, you know, their credit
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or we have to work on, you know, their income that maybe they're not quite ready, but most
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of the time when I, when they left my office, they're going to know exactly where they
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stand in terms of like making offers and pre-approval.
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Yeah, very nice.
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Let me back up for a second in terms of that process and the referral comes in, the client,
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the inquiry, whatever, and your loan partner person is the first, you know, conversation
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that somebody would have with your company, your team.
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Is that person fielding and dealing with, you know, some of the usual questions that
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you'll get, such as, you know, tell me, rate, this kind of stuff, what makes you guys different,
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right?
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How do you deal with that?
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Typically, I mean, we're really lucky that we're, you know, the source of the referral
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that's coming is usually such a warmly that they're not asking right up front about
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rate.
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I'm very, very, very rarely do we get that.
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So I know that that's maybe not, you know, as common, but Chelsea, she is licensed.
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She's the one taking that first call.
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She's not going to quote rates.
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I never quote a wait over the phone ever.
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I won't do it.
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How often do you get pressure to do it?
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I would say very rarely.
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And I want to highlight a point here is because what you said earlier is because the quality
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of the referral you're getting, they're not in the relationship or the trust, if you
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will, the handoff is done in such a way that there's already some implied trust, is that
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right?
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Correct.
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Correct.
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And then we have the credibility, the reputation, the where they're coming to us to get
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approved.
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They're not coming to us to get a rate.
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It's very different.
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Those are two very different things.
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And by the way, how much of that is a result of any coaching you do to your real estate
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agents on how to refer you?
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I don't know that I can say that it really is.
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On the other side, I don't feel like it's like, oh, I've coached my real estate agent partners
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of, you know, this is how you should refer me.
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I just think this is in Santa Barbara, we're in such a tight market.
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You can't make an offer unless you have a letter in hand.
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And then a letter in hand has to be someone local that's got a good reputation.
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I mean, we're just really, really tight in our market.
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So I think that may have something to do with it.
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But before you can even go look at this house or before I can take you around, you need
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to get pre-approved and hear the person that talks to you.
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But none of your realtors are doing the three-card approach, though, I'm assuming.
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I think there are some that do, you know, that here's my top three and here's, you know,
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they're in order.
20:00
I think we do have some offices here in Santa Barbara.
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The broker say, you know, from a liability standpoint, you have to give out more than
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one name.
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So I just, it is what it is.
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I know there's a lot of different scripts around it, but I don't, I don't find it
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it's an issue.
20:15
Nice.
20:16
I love it.
20:17
I love it.
20:18
Sorry.
20:19
I don't mean to take you off track.
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Anyway, I mean, well, in a way, what I will say about that, in a way, it, it does me a favor
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if they go and meet with my competition or they go and they call because I, I just have
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such a different approach.
20:30
I'm very much about the education and the transparency, the presentation that I use
20:35
is Mortgage Coach.
20:36
You mentioned Dave Savage, that software, it's far and above a much superior way to
20:43
present, uh, purchase scenarios to a client, then to email them in a word doc or something
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funky that we've all seen rate quotes and at the joke.
20:52
It's sad.
20:53
Yeah.
20:54
No, absolutely.
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And that, you know, the total cost analysis, Dave Savage, Mortgage Coach, you know,
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by the way, Dave, you owe me, I can hear the cash register ringing.
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That goes to, that's an integral part of your, um, what did you call it?
21:09
The borrower experience, the world class borrower experience.
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Mm-hmm.
21:13
That is a big part of that.
21:14
Are you bringing the Mortgage Coach up on a TV screen when they're in the office?
21:18
Um, I'm a monitor, so I have to have two big monitors and I'm turning my monitor in
21:23
there following me.
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I mean, that's why I want to have a client doc ahead of time because then I know and
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I can kind of prep the total cost analysis.
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I really don't like to start it from scratch while a client's getting there.
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I like to kind of have the template builds out and I mean, I can do them really fast.
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I just think it's really impressive to a client and I think it's our duty as a loan
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originator to be able to show them different scenarios and not data of what comes out in
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a TCA, a total cost analysis is important for us to be a good advisor to a client.
21:55
The dreams and goals conversation.
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You're having that with them during the first meeting as you're showing them the TCA at
22:00
the same time.
22:01
Um, Chelsea, how have the initial conversation with them, um, kind of, you know, when are you
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trying to buy like down payment tissues, kind of asking these questions and giving me
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all of my notes.
22:12
And then when I meet with them, I go over that, make sure, um, you know, that we're hitting
22:17
every point and if they have a magic wand where they want to be and let's the payments
22:21
and just asking the right powerful questions.
22:24
Well, the thing I don't want to overlook is even if you don't have a team, right, let's
22:28
clarify for people what the dreams and goals conversation really is, if you could just
22:33
articulate what your definition of that is.
22:35
I mean, I think there's different stages.
22:37
I mean, the first initial stage is like, really, what's your timeline for a purchase?
22:42
Um, what is it that you're looking at?
22:44
Do you have a payment in mind or, you know, are you looking at a specific purchase price?
22:48
Um, what would be the ideal down payment that you're looking at, you know, in terms of
22:52
dollar amount or percentage?
22:54
Just asking those questions to where you're listening, like you actually listen to the
23:00
client and you take notes so you can reference back to the conversation and then you make
23:06
it very customized for them.
23:08
You're listening for pain points, you know, where they're nervous or where they have some
23:12
fear and you're trying to address that.
23:15
So when they actually do meet with you, I mean, so yes, this is a conversation that loan
23:19
originators can be having.
23:20
You don't need to have a loan partner to be doing these conversations.
23:23
Um, there's no reason.
23:27
I mean, I could be having these conversations at the very, very start.
23:29
It's just in terms of my schedule, it's hard for me to be taking all my calls and I run a
23:34
branch in a team and growing California region.
23:37
So it's just in terms of I try to stay in my top triangle of my time.
23:41
So, um, is that a question on that?
23:44
Yeah, it does, but you cut out for a second.
23:46
Do you try to stay in your top triangle of what?
23:49
Of where I need to be.
23:50
So I, I, I knew that would spark some questions.
23:52
But just really looking at where am I best and where should I be spending my time?
23:57
You know, that's a whole time management, you know, how do you manage my calendar?
24:02
We're going on a tangent here.
24:03
But yeah, I mean, my top triangle looks very different today than my top triangle looks
24:09
three years ago.
24:10
Sure.
24:10
So our top triangle is like, where should we be spending 95% of our time?
24:15
Well, no, no, people don't spend it in their top triangle.
24:18
Exactly, but that is a relevant conversation.
24:21
For that exact reason, you just said is most people don't spend the bulk of their time
24:25
where they are most effective, which in the case of originating loans is going to be talking to
24:30
people, right?
24:30
Are there be referral partners or clients?
24:33
I mean, it's staying out of the weeds.
24:35
I mean, you don't want to get in the weeds.
24:38
You know, I don't get involved in the, my new details of the loan.
24:41
I mean, I have an amazing team that was one of my focuses.
24:44
I mentioned on the last couple of years, I've been working years and building an amazing team.
24:50
I mean, they're my number one client is my team.
24:54
So, you know, staying out of the weeds, again, thinking of it from a conveyor belt standpoint,
25:00
I don't want to muck up the conveyor belt.
25:03
Once the loan is in process, I have that, you know, the contract acceptance,
25:08
a conversation with the client where we go over timelines, what's going to happen next,
25:13
and then we talk about, you know, locking the rates, that's important.
25:16
And then from that point on, I'm more just looking at it from the 30,000-foot view helicopter view.
25:23
I'm not getting in the weeds.
25:24
I can have to.
25:26
No, and let's talk about that briefly, and then I'm going to come full circle and unpack a little
25:30
bit your process for building a team and transitioning from just, you know, single originator.
25:35
But once you've had your meeting face-to-face ideally with the client,
25:39
take me from that meeting.
25:40
You're ending the conversation.
25:42
Hey, go out and find the house.
25:44
You guys know what your buying power is, all that kind of stuff, right?
25:47
When and how are you?
25:48
When and how are you involved following that meeting?
25:52
We're going to follow up and see how it's going.
25:55
That's where Chelsea and I work together, where we meet weekly, and we go through kind of what
25:59
our pipeline looks like.
26:00
You know, what are our processes, what are the people that are approved?
26:04
We also recommend a lot of our clients get fully approved.
26:07
That way you can go in without having a lump in community and look at closing within, you know,
26:12
two weeks or less when we have fully approved.
26:15
So we're constantly mining our database and looking at, well, who do we have?
26:20
We check in with them when the real-to-request approval letter, then we're going to follow up
26:26
48 hours later to see how their offer went.
26:28
As if they want to see any updated scenario.
26:30
So we're just constantly looking at, you know,
26:33
it's a fine line of follow-up versus harassment.
26:38
I'm definitely not one where if I follow up once or twice and, you know,
26:43
let's say the clients just maybe they decided they weren't going to buy right away,
26:46
and they don't follow up with me, I'm not going to harass them.
26:49
I just, I don't like it myself.
26:52
Well, what do you do?
26:53
Do you put them on your CRM, then?
26:55
They are going to get on our scene automatically because it's attached to our LLS.
26:58
So there's still going to be included in our, you know, quarterly postcard
27:02
and our bi-mix email.
27:04
And so we had, you know, our marketing plan in terms of how many touches we're going to do to our
27:09
past clients, what does it look like to kind of just start in touch on that.
27:15
But, you know, there's still going to get included in that.
27:19
Well, what do you do in your market?
27:21
I assume it's like other markets where, you know, there's multiple offers.
27:26
There's a lot of, do you have a lot of TBDs floating out there?
27:29
Well, you know, we have, yes, we do.
27:32
We have about 15 TBD approvals right now, which isn't that many because so many times
27:37
their offers, they find something right away before they, we haven't fully approved.
27:40
But yeah, it does help when there's multiple offers because they can look at closing
27:45
in a faster timeline and they don't need a loan contingency to see.
27:50
So it's the best way for them for a client to compete with cash.
27:53
Well, let me, let me ask a question.
27:55
Let me ask a question this way.
27:57
How do you keep your TBDs, you know, engaged in the loop and stay top of mind?
28:03
Because, you know, as you know, TBDs, right, they can be elusive.
28:06
They can be like cats that get out and maybe never come back.
28:11
Well, I have a conversation.
28:12
I think it's about setting it up.
28:13
You got to set it up right.
28:15
So when I, when I have a conversation with a client about going through,
28:18
we call it the fully approved buyer advantage, when we have a conversation,
28:22
I ask three things.
28:23
There's no cost for it, but there is an obligation.
28:27
You know, my friend Ryan Grant, you probably, you probably know him.
28:30
He's an amazing producer at Orange County and I was talking to him and he goes,
28:35
and I go, there's no cost, there's no commitment.
28:37
And he goes, wait Kelly, there's a commitment.
28:39
There's no cost on the client's standpoint, but they need to be committed to you,
28:43
because you're investing in them.
28:44
So I thought, you know what, you're right, that's silly.
28:46
So I do ask three things.
28:48
And I put this in email when we talk about the fully approved buyer advantage.
28:53
And they need to be looking at making offers within the next 30 to 90 days.
28:57
Obviously inventory plays a role in that.
28:59
But if they're, they need to be serious that they're making offers within the next 30 to 90 days,
29:05
they're committed to getting us the paperwork that we need in order to submit their money.
29:09
And the things decided that were the best lend for them.
29:12
Those are the three items.
29:13
I mean, why am I going to go through with the fully approved loan,
29:17
where we spend my team's time, which is money, and we, you know, have underwriting costs,
29:25
and they're not even committed to us as a lender.
29:28
So that's what we are.
29:29
And when presenting that, what's your compliance with that proposal?
29:34
What do you mean, you're talking compliance, like in terms of compliance at the office?
29:38
No, no, no, no, I hate the right.
29:39
The new, as soon as I said that word, I was like, you're a compliant figure.
29:43
Okay.
29:44
I want to people block at that.
29:45
Let me say it that way.
29:48
I have not had that many people block at it.
29:51
I actually haven't had anyone block at it.
29:54
They'll just say, you know what?
29:55
We're really not ready to make offers in the next 30 to 90 days.
29:58
So let's go ahead and wait until we get closer and then go, great,
30:01
like then we'll just keep following that.
30:03
But you know, we're not following that for every week.
30:06
You know, I think email is overused and abused.
30:10
We are just bombarded on email.
30:13
I am as well.
30:14
I mean, so I think we can relate as loan originators of just how much email is overused.
30:21
So I'm a little hesitant on email campaigns.
30:26
It's part of my stubbornness and where I want to really stay
30:30
authentic and really who I am.
30:32
So the scripting kind of, you know, just marketing stuff.
30:36
I'm really careful about what I sign up for.
30:39
And what I provide to my clients.
30:41
So I don't have like the weekly marketing campaigns.
30:45
It's just not me.
30:47
It just doesn't align from me,
30:49
but it doesn't mean that don't work for people.
30:52
So I'm careful about that.
30:53
Well, so all right, let's roll play here for a second.
30:56
So I'm in your office.
30:57
So you you present to me the approved buyer advantage,
30:59
which means a three commitments.
31:02
You're going to make offers next 30, 90 days.
31:04
By the way, I love this very much.
31:06
You're going to get us all the paperwork in a timely manner.
31:08
And you've decided that we are the best lender for you.
31:11
And, you know, I'm one of those people who says,
31:13
yeah, well, I don't know.
31:14
I'm just kind of kicking the tires right now.
31:16
So I'm not ready to make an offer in the next.
31:18
I can't commit to that.
31:19
You know, how do you then follow up with that person
31:22
as somebody on your team?
31:23
Maybe making a note and just call them back in 30 days?
31:26
Or was that look like?
31:29
Well, we have, you know,
31:29
they're automatically going to be going on to our theorem.
31:32
So we do a five monthly email.
31:38
So they're going to get that automatically.
31:40
And then we have a really awesome inactivity report
31:43
that that comes out every Wednesday.
31:46
And Chelsea and I meet and we go through this report.
31:48
And we look at the last, you know, anything that was in our LLS system
31:52
that hasn't had it opened in the last 120 days.
31:56
And we're filtering through and we're going through this borrowers
31:58
and we're like, oh, what about this client?
31:59
Not client.
32:00
So we're, yeah, let's follow up them.
32:01
Let's follow up with them.
32:02
So we'll just shoot a quick announcement.
32:04
Hope we just want to check in see how things are going.
32:06
Do you want to see an update?
32:08
Do you need anything from us?
32:09
Do you have any questions?
32:10
Do you want to see an update in total cost analysis?
32:12
A lot of times, you know, when you're using mortgage coach
32:16
and you send them that hyperlink for their custom mortgage analysis,
32:20
you can see like randomly if a client opened it,
32:23
which is great.
32:24
You can see, oh, wow, that client was pre-approved six months ago.
32:27
And I haven't heard anything.
32:28
I haven't responded to our emails.
32:30
But they just opened their total cost analysis.
32:32
So they're like, huh, something's going on.
32:34
So they just do a quick little follow up and say,
32:37
you know, did you want to look at, you know, rates can change every day?
32:40
Do you want to look at a new total cost analysis?
32:42
So you're looking at different price points.
32:45
Just a quick check in.
32:46
Sure, sure.
32:47
And that's that's all we're doing.
32:48
Okay, no, very, very good.
32:49
Thank you for sharing that.
32:51
Because I know everybody's listening.
32:52
They're like, I don't want to know step by step.
32:54
What does she do?
32:55
What are the secrets?
32:57
I'm actually working on a visual step-by-step guide of exactly what it is.
33:03
Like, we have a step-by-step guide of the client experience.
33:07
And what the client's going to receive in terms of email communication,
33:11
phone call communication, and this.
33:12
So we have that all mapped out.
33:14
So that was part of my, one of my goals through the coaching program,
33:19
you know, to create a world-class buyer experience.
33:24
So I completed that and we have it all mapped out.
33:26
Fantastic.
33:27
That was hard to talk about it because, you know, it takes a while.
33:30
Oh, I know, I know.
33:33
Okay, so let's transition for a second to consider the listeners here, right?
33:38
We've got a variety of different types of listeners, right?
33:40
People that are at the level you're at,
33:42
then we've got a lot of folks who are, you know, single individual loan officers.
33:48
I'm trying to think about that person,
33:50
a single individual loan officer, in the fact that you've built yourself quite
33:54
what appears to be a large team, right?
33:56
I mean, how many people, not including the loan officers that are under the branch,
33:59
but on your team yourself, how many people do you have?
34:03
On my team myself, I have, essentially, I have two.
34:05
I have Heather and Chelsea, although Heather says you other things within the office.
34:10
She does a lot of our marketing that's not just specific to me.
34:14
She oversees our front office.
34:16
Like, there's other things that Heather does.
34:19
She does a lot of our servicing related calls.
34:21
Like, again, we want to be there for the client long after the loan closes.
34:24
We're not just the one and dad.
34:25
We're really there for the life of clients.
34:28
So we put that out there and say, you know, call us.
34:30
Don't call your servicer.
34:31
Just call us and we're happy to help you.
34:34
And we're getting a lot of people that do that,
34:36
which some people might think it's the best use of our time,
34:40
but it is when you look at that client's in our family.
34:44
Like, that's our relationship with the client.
34:46
So I really have two, and then I have my processing team, which is six.
34:52
So I have in the front office, so I have nine support staff,
34:55
but in terms of just specifically on my team, it would be two.
34:59
Yeah, the bulk of those, I mean, six.
35:02
We don't need six processors just for you, right?
35:04
I mean, they're there to support.
35:06
Well, there's, yeah, yeah.
35:07
There's the two assistant processors and then the two lead processors.
35:10
So I'm in the ops manager.
35:13
So, I mean, there's there is other team members,
35:16
but that's more of the processing conveyor belt.
35:19
So, you know, again, I have alone officers.
35:22
You're not getting in the way.
35:23
Like, stay out of it.
35:24
Like, don't mess up the conveyor belt.
35:27
Think of it as my friend James said this once is,
35:30
don't be the kid with the stick that comes by and pokes the beehives
35:33
and pushes off all the bees.
35:34
And that's what a lot of loan officers do.
35:36
It's just that they get involved and they try to micromanage the process.
35:41
But if you have an amazing processing team,
35:44
which I do, you shouldn't have to be in the weeds.
35:49
And don't don't mess with it.
35:50
Like, don't mess with my system.
35:52
Did you have a problem at all in letting go?
35:56
I would say I had a problem letting go when I didn't have the right team members.
36:03
So my focus has been building the team and it doesn't happen overnight.
36:09
You have to be patient.
36:11
So it just takes time and it's that fine line of growing the team while
36:15
growing production.
36:16
You grow your team first and then your production.
36:19
Or do you ramp up your production and then you
36:21
grow your team and you're flailing because you've got all this volume.
36:24
But you don't have to support staff.
36:26
It's a fine line of making sure you have the right amount of team members
36:32
to support your production level.
36:35
So yeah, it just takes time and you have to have a plan.
36:38
It has to be very, very, very clear on everybody needs to know their role and their task.
36:46
Do you, I don't know if this is an easy question to answer now,
36:49
because I know it's different somewhat for everybody.
36:51
But do you have a sense or maybe your own personal experience,
36:56
like when you get to X number of units,
36:59
right, to be able to not be in the weeds, right?
37:02
Is there that number where if you're at, you know,
37:04
X 6, 8, 10 units, whatever, that's when you really
37:08
better have a good support team?
37:11
So if you're a loan originator and you're looking to get a, you know,
37:15
an L.O.A., a loan originating assistant or a P.A.,
37:20
a production associate, that's what we call them,
37:24
there, you need to have, I mean, everything, I think everyone's different.
37:28
You know, my thinking is that you need to be doing consistently
37:32
at least five units a month in order to support a P.A.
37:37
I'm trying to think it's like our company has a specific formula,
37:40
but the P.A., that the assistant is not, or associate,
37:43
is not going to be processing the file.
37:47
They're more of pre-processing the file, like setting it up,
37:50
seeing it up for the processing team,
37:51
to where when it gets to the processing team,
37:55
then it is on that conveyor belt and you shouldn't, you know,
37:59
have these fires and oh, by the way, like they don't qualify
38:03
and the income's not right, and that program doesn't work.
38:06
And, you know, you need to, you can't turn in crap and hope it sticks.
38:12
I think we're in a different, you know, we've been in the different
38:15
world of mortgage world for many years that I hope by now that you don't turn
38:21
in something that has no chance of working.
38:25
That should be on the poster board in every office, right?
38:28
Don't turn in crap.
38:30
Don't turn in crap.
38:32
Yeah, you need, because I think that from, if you look at it from the standpoint,
38:36
we, you know, the client, everything goes wrong.
38:38
You'd be telling the client something and now they're expecting this.
38:40
And oh, by the way, they don't qualify.
38:42
Now they're in the current track.
38:43
I mean, it's just a mess.
38:45
And that's not a very effective way of building a really strong past client
38:49
referral sort of thing.
38:50
Yeah, well, I mean, all starts with submitting a quality file, right?
38:53
And that means you're doing your proper work up front.
38:57
That'll make it easier.
38:57
Right, advising the client, yeah, setting it up for success.
39:01
Okay, cool.
39:02
With the last few minutes we have left, I'd be curious to get your take on.
39:05
You've been in the business over about 20 years.
39:07
I think you said 22 years, which is like 72 years for any other industry.
39:15
And you are, are you recruiting as well?
39:18
I am, but it's very slow and steady.
39:20
I mean, it definitely has to be the right fit.
39:22
So I have currently two other loan originators in my office.
39:26
And I have space for two more loan originators.
39:29
But it has to be the right fit.
39:31
They have to align with us.
39:32
They have to be, you know, doing a certain level of production.
39:36
We have the minimum standard requirements.
39:38
So we're serious about it as a company.
39:40
We don't just have it not important.
39:43
So definitely, it's either nine units a quarter or one of rolling 1.8 million
39:52
rolling three month average.
39:53
So it's really not that high.
39:56
But I think that's something that we've established that makes sense for our company and what we
40:02
offer. I mean, that's what I love is we're a company that is set up.
40:06
And I'm plugging cornerstone and I'm so grateful I'm part of that company
40:10
because we really are a company that just sets up our loan originators for success.
40:14
We have so many tools.
40:16
It's like all your time should be on focusing business development and client development.
40:21
You shouldn't have to focus on anything else.
40:23
And then when you add my branch in there, that's 100% true.
40:27
Like you shouldn't have to focus and get in the weeds.
40:30
You've got to support staff.
40:31
We've got the marketing.
40:33
We've got everything keyed up.
40:36
What?
40:36
Okay, so 22, this is kind of back to the original question.
40:39
22 years in the business.
40:41
There's some things in terms of how we build this business today that, you know,
40:45
haven't changed a lot in terms of like realtor relationships and right,
40:48
belly to belly, all that kind of stuff.
40:51
But moving forward, right?
40:53
Is there any, are there any changes or pivots you think you've had to make to your business,
40:57
how you originate business recently or moving forward that maybe you didn't expect to have to
41:05
pivot or change or how you're preparing for the future might be a better question.
41:10
That's a really, really loaded question.
41:13
Not just a question.
41:14
I mean, I think one thing I've been, and I say stubborn, I said that earlier,
41:20
I'm really stubborn on staying true to myself and remaining authentic to who I am and what aligns
41:27
with me.
41:28
And so I've struggled a little bit in the social media category.
41:33
I know videos are a really huge thing, so I have
41:37
drank that Kool-Aid, and I do believe it works.
41:40
I think videos are powerful, but there's nothing more powerful than the face-to-face connection.
41:47
You mentioned belly to belly.
41:48
I mean, I think that's really where I shine is really that connection, the trust,
41:54
the credibility that we build with a client.
41:57
I mean, we're in a relationship business, but as long as you have your foundation of knowledge
42:03
and that your heart then it for the client, it's all about the client and the relationship,
42:08
I just don't think there's anything more powerful than that is going to win.
42:12
If you have to continue to adapt and we've had to adapt with technology,
42:15
I was super resistant to technology, but go through a change of transitioning a team
42:21
and getting onto a whole new platform and every single software is different,
42:25
including your silly phone system.
42:27
You learn technology quickly.
42:29
And so I think being open-minded, and I had to check myself on that.
42:33
You know, the mortgage coach was the perfect example.
42:36
I was so close-minded to learning it.
42:38
And then when I made a change and I didn't have a client presentation talk for like I had before,
42:44
I wish I would have done mortgage coach years ago,
42:46
because I think it's definitely in the client's best interest to present that way.
42:52
So I don't know if I answered your question other than like just staying authentic
42:56
to what aligns with you, so don't get too caught up in all the hype.
43:01
You know, social media is good, but it can also be abused.
43:05
How like email?
43:08
I think the big takeaway from that is what I like is be authentic and true to yourself.
43:13
And I definitely appreciate where you're coming from on the social media thing, right?
43:16
That's like doing a workout that I haven't done.
43:19
That's a muscle I have to exercise, and it doesn't feel totally natural,
43:24
right, to kind of put yourself out there.
43:26
Right.
43:26
Interesting coming from a yoga host of podcasts, but
43:29
it's true. We all have our lanes.
43:32
I think that we excel in and yours, similar to mine, is actually face to face.
43:35
I think that's where I have my most power, and that's where I think most people do.
43:39
But let's face it, the world is changing.
43:42
And if we, if we, if we expect to be relevant and not a secret agent, so to speak today,
43:49
we do have to be have some kind of presence online. Would you agree with that?
43:54
Oh, yes, absolutely.
43:55
You know, I mean, we, we, we try to search our realtors at times like, oh, we have this
43:59
realtor and you try to search them and you can't find them.
44:01
You know, a lot of times like looking for loan originators, you can't find them very easily
44:05
online. I mean, those are kind of a basic one on one.
44:08
You need to be able to find yourself like Google your name and see where you're at.
44:13
You know, Google it. I mean, I think online reviews, I mean, I think all of that is important.
44:17
You have to have that, but you also need to make sure that you know what you're doing,
44:24
you're advising clients within their best interests and you're just staying authentic to yourself.
44:30
I mean, you don't have all those other tools being online, having an online presence, but you know,
44:36
not going, not totally losing yourself and thinking that you don't need to be out there
44:41
in the real life in your town, going to events, you know, getting clients to, you know,
44:47
meeting with clients face to face. Can't forget that.
44:51
Yeah, I mean, the basics are still true. It's a relationship business.
44:53
And while we have to, the other thing I think I take out of what you said is,
44:57
yeah, we have to evolve and kind of embrace certain technologies, but that doesn't mean leaving
45:02
behind the fundamentals that we know is this the only work which is relationships.
45:06
Yep, correct. Holy great.
45:09
Beautiful, beautiful. Well, tell you what, I appreciate you being here. I know you're busy.
45:12
You got a lot going on in terms of directing our listeners in case they wanted to learn more about
45:17
the Kelly Mars team, Cornerstone Home Learning Santa Barbara. Who knows? Maybe there's your next
45:20
recruit. Where would you like to direct them to your website, Facebook? What do you want to,
45:26
what do you want to get put out there? Yeah, I mean, there is the KellyMars team.com. That is my
45:31
website. You can also reach out and call us. You can call me. Again, the phone number, you can
45:38
easily find me if you go over Kelly Mars, the Kelly Mars team. Kelly Mars Santa Barbara. You
45:45
definitely can find me online. That's probably the easiest way and reach out and give me a call,
45:49
shoot me an email. I mean, that's an example. I really, really love helping people. It feels
45:55
really good to help people. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for helping our listeners
45:59
today. I really enjoyed it and I'll put all the links to your various destinations, Facebook,
46:03
your website and all that kind of stuff in the show notes. And listeners, once, you know,
46:08
thank you again for tuning in as always. If you like this episode, hey, share some love. Leave
46:12
us a review on iTunes, Stitcher, wherever you're listening to this. And we appreciate you tuning
46:17
in. So we'll see you on the next one. Bye for now. Thanks for listening to Mortgage Marketing Radio.
46:24
One more truth in mortgage marketing. Get more free training and resources at MortgageMarketingInstitute.com.
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