On yesterday’s teleconference, one of the most interesting calls I got was from someone that said that their family might think that they are broke.

And my answer?  Who cares.

Who cares what your family thinks.  You have a Job to do, and that’s help people get loans closed.  If someone thinks that you’re begging for business…that’s THEIR problem.

The reason you call–in your heart–is because you trying to help.  You can’t control or influence what is going on in someone else’s head.  You can’t control what someone else is going to say or do to you.  All you can do is control yourself, and control what your intentions are.

Lots of people have misconceptions about what it is that we do, how we add our value.  We can’t change that.  We can only offer to help.

Thanks for tuning in.

I know that I have gained a ton of lurkers, so don’t hesitate to sign up: if you sign up by Monday, you get on Tuesday’s call about how to get JUNE CLOSINGS from Realtors that have never met you.

Take action, and I’ll talk to you soon.

Right now it’s an incredible time to be an originator.  The tools and tech we have available are absolutely incredible, and DESPITE what’s happened in the market, changes in the last 2 years completely favor the smart and savvy.

Think I’m kidding?  No.  I used to write on Blown Mortgage.  I get the picture when it comes to the industry, and I still think we’re about 1/2 way through the mess and we’ll STILL see programs get tightened.  But…

…it’s still an incredible time to be a Loan Originator.

Because the web connects us, and we can build communities and trust ourselves.   We don’t need to be stuck with our own local market.  If our homes aren’t appreciating, we can reach out to Realtors, Financial Planners, and other referral sources from Seattle to St. Louis to South Florida. 

Oh, it’s still important to maintain a local presence, for now, but we can generate 30-70% of our business OUTSIDE our states.  Yeah, you have to be lawfully licensed in the state we’re talking about, but once you do, reach out throw your people in the database, and market to ‘em automatically….and do a better job then their local source. 

I’ve done this (personally) in:

• Maryland
• Oklahoma City,
• Portland Oregon

to prove it works on the east coast, west coast and middle America.  Previous strangers can quickly become loyal fans.  

You’ve always thought this would work, well, I’ve figured it out, and I’m teaching all of that on my monthly course in July–how to dominate a market you don’t live in and have never been to.  If someone comes to this course and still says I got nothing new to give, then I can’t imagine what it will take.

Let’s have some closings!

-Chris

Yesterday I talked about the aimless way most loan officers shuffle into "work."  Talk about stress!  Talk about an undefined and endless list of semi-obligations.   This market is tough enough–nobody needs to add to it.

But I’m not all work-no play–at all!  I’m just saying, if you’re working, BE WORKING…mind body and soul.

Why?  It’s honorable.  When you’re choosing to do something, do it 100%.

They say "Work hard, Play Hard" for a reason.

So many agents and mortgage guys are always in a halfway state between work and play and whatever else, that there’s no differentiation from the two.

We have a weekend coming up–memorial day weekend–and it’s a great time to think about getting to RELAX.

Yes, we CAN be available 24/7.

But why?  Let’s not have clients turn into interruptions.  Let’s carve out some time to ourselves.

Over the weekend, let’s do this:

1. Decide–for sure–when you are unavailable to clients.
2. Decide–for sue–when you are taking time for yourself.
3. Decide-for sure–when you will be working HARD to give all you can to cliets.

And of course, come train with us…

Why are loan officers failing?   Probably because the typical day of a loan officer goes something like this:

Get to the office at 9:30. Talk about deals that are going sideways. Look at the bond. Look at their voice mail Send a forward about people urinating in public places. Bitch about their deal Call an appraiser. Go to lunch. Talk about lunch. Talk about what’s on ESPN today. Talk about how stressed out they are. Return a Realtor call from 2 days before. Bitch about guideline changes. Hit refresh on a deal that’s in underwriting to see if the status has changed. Complain about the market and the business. Go home in a stressed out funk. Self medicate with booze. Lather, rinse, repeat.

This is no way to win the game, is it? Why not have a plan that includes steps towards your dreams and peak experiences… …so you don’t have the stress that’s caused by administrivia, procrastination and other nonsese… …so you can use one of the easiest businesses in the world to create the life you want and love. Sound impossible?  It’s not for my survivalists. Come join me and see where it takes you.

One 17 year veteran recently passed on my training program.  Fair enough! She initially was excited about it, but she wanted "new" stuff.  When I told her that I was going to teach her to work her past clients in the most effective way–she balked.  People have been teaching that for years. 

Mostly, she said she wanted 100% techniques that haven’t been around for very long because ’she’s been in the business 17 years’ and has seen it all. 

Her production last year?  Not great.

Her production this year? Not great.

Yet she wants to have nothing but the "newest" stuff.  My guess is that this isn’t the problem.  My guess–and it’s just a guess–is that there’s a fear of action now that the business is different.  No longer is EVERYONE a possible customer, and she probably lacks the skills to put herself out there.

Ego is something that kills careers.  When the market changes, the past stuff you did no longer can pay today’s Visa bills.  The stuff that used to work to a mass audience doesn’t work anymore.  Ego makes us all revise old memories.  It makes us go back in time and color things so you were a little more correct, a little more spot on, and a little more in tune with what is happening.

And it distorts reality.  To make Tenure an asset, we have to throw away subjectivity.  Really, it doesn’t matter TODAY how many loans you closed 5 years ago.  It doesn’t matter how you used to get customers.

What matters is that you have 17 ways of getting customers right now that work in a post-implosion world.

What matters is that you take action, embrace NEW ways of doing things, and commit to the OLD ways of doing things that still work.  Pay attention to reality–not fantasy–and don’t worry about the method’s you’re using so much as what’s working.

When you see someone with 17 years of experience, they may not be teachable, or they may, like Brian Brady, America’s #1 Mortgage Broker, learn new techniques, new ways of doing things on such a regular basis that they are absolutely unstoppable.  

When experience meets an eagerness to learn, there are no limits to what a loan officer can do.

Why not train with us to see what you can accomplish?

http://loanofficersurvivaltraining.com/classes

We all have peak experiences. The enduring memories that we have that we live for. The time we were able to push ourselves to run a marathon, to do our jobs better…peak experiences are why we’re alive. Some of ‘em are found at work. Some of the things that we live for are in our jobs, but some things have nothing to do with the loan business. Peak experiences leave us with a permanent mark, changing us for the better. And let’s be honest. Making money is fantastic, it’s fun, but it’s not an end-all be-all. Having an extra $600 bucks from a closing in your checking account isn’t the point. …the freedom money allows is the point. The reason we’re in this business is to fuel those peak experiences. That’s it. The reason we do what we do The picture you see is e on May 1 2008. I’m holding my brand new baby daughter, Ruby. A peak experience to be sure, she was born healthy and happy. Raising my son, shown on the right is the most joyful and important thing that I’ve done. Not Every Peak Experience is found at work! The work that we do–even in the mortgage business–can make it so we can be around for more and more peak experiences. If we are ALWAYS having things that change us for the better, exposing ourselves, pressing ourselves, and doing whatever we can to have new and better experiences…life becomes a fulfilling playground of wonder and joy. And that’s what L.O.S.T is all about. I created a program that was going to give you more Peak Experiences.

Know Your Peak Experiences

Often, the worry about money, the worry about ego driven “junk” can hide from us what the peak experiences we’re after really are. We elevate other things that don’t matter, and we strive for stuff that doesn’t really make us tick because we think we oughta have it. Some people who don’t care about cars buy a Mercedes. Some people that don’t care about houses buy a big house. These decisions are made because they do what others do, they don’t take JUST a moment to figure out and connect with what really turns them on. The business planning that we do at Loan Officer Survival Training STARTS with YOUR peak experiences. We anchor how you spend your day in such a way that you always are weeks away from what could be a peak experience. Sometimes peak experiences cost (i.e. Christmas shopping in Manhattan), and you need to arrange your budget to include them. Sometimes, Peak Experiences don’t cost much at all (taking my kid to the park, playing baseball with him). The point is, we need to have a peak experience to look forward to.

What If I Don’t Know What My Peak Experiences Are?

Be adventurous. Try new things. What might your peak experiences be? What do you think you’ve always wanted to try to learn? Don’t think about what other people are doing–what turns YOU on?

What are the best memories that you have? What things do you want MORE of in your life? What things do you want to have in your life? What is going great right now? Spend some time thinking about this–how can other people be served by your peak experiences?

You’ll come across goals that really charge you and really turn you on when you’re always asking the question: what next?

A List of Peak Experiences

To help you get started, here is a List Of Peak Experiences.

1. Shopping in New York City
2. Paying off A credit card
3. Running a 5k
4. Running a Marathon
5. Being completely debt free.
6. Being recognized as #1 in your office.
7. Starting a scholarship fund in your community.
8. Competing in an Iron Man Triathalon
9. Giving Money To Church.
10. Completing A Course on Being a Public Speaker
11. Running in a Road Race.
12. Making amends with family members
13. Buying a Sports Car
14. Performing our Art in front of a good audience.
15. Getting the recognition of our peers.
16. Getting in world class shape.
17. Reading 500 books.
18. Learning a new language.
19. Renewing wedding vows.
20. Taking a month long vacation
21. Meeting a famous mentor
22. Helping a famous mentor.
23. Creating a new church program
24. Quitting Smoking.
25. Going to Mardi Gras.
26. Going to a World Series Game
27. Teaching your child baseball.
28. Re-finishing family heirloom furniture.
29. Becoming an expert in a sport or game
30. Getting an article published in a magazine.

See? This List of peak experiences is just few things–but they come in a wide variety of things. What are your peak experiences? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for following whatever link you followed to get here. I’m honored by your presence. Now, over the weekend (5/11/08) you’ll see a lot of changes to the site and intermittent operations. I did this because I wanted to get the content out first, and the container for the content is less important. So welcome. This site will teach all loan officers (and even some Real Estate Agents) how to survive and thrive…in a post bust market. We’ll see you soon!

So I’ve finally done it. I wasn’t going to, but how can you say no when Brian Brady and Tony Gallegos say you have a good idea? I’m expanding on the stuff that I was teaching in my first book, “Loan Officer Survival Guide,” and making it into an ongoing training course. See, this market is different. I’ve known it for years. At the height of the mania in 2005, I knew that there would be a Tsunami of forclosures. I knew we’d have to survive on lower LTVs, full doc purchases, and more. So I changed the way that I do business, back then. And now? It couldn’t be more relevant. I’m ready to help the remaining LOs not only SURVIVE, but as Brian said, THRIVE. I’m gonna give a LOT of secrets away, but I’m also gonna keep a lot of secrets behind the wall. And I want you all to join. I’m doing my first training call on 5/15/08…at 4pm EST. What I’m doing is giving you all 17 under $10.00 ways to get leads in this market. Closable leads with grateful people. I’m not gonna promise you stuff that doesn’t work, but I’ll betcha in less than an hour you’ll get paid from this call. Stop the roller coaster effect. EVENT: 17 (Dirt Cheap) Ways To Get Business: DATE & TIME: Thursday, May 15th at 3:00pm Eastern FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice) TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW… http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=2843472 At the END OF THE CALL you will be offered the opportunity to join L.O.S.T for a special introductory price.  Do Not Delay!