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[caption id="attachment_9654" align="alignright" width="268"] Dave Hershman[/caption]

A: This is the second part of my response to Peter. In the previous column, I discussed investment in your business and the scope of your sphere. There are two points that are very important with regard to your sphere, which is a compendium of your life.

First, you need to be able to leverage your sphere. What do I mean by that? You must be willing to reach into the spheres of those within your sphere, what I call "Micro-spheres." Every transaction you close or every lead you receive which you do not close has a sphere.

Think of your transactions as living beings. What are the components of that sphere? Well, in a real estate transaction there is a settlement company, two agents, an insurance agent, perhaps a CPA and more. What if for every loan you closed, you were able to add one more relationship in addition to the customer?

For those you are close to within your sphere--friends, family and neighbors--it is not about badgering them to do business with you. It is about you teaching them how to help you. The biggest mistake most of us make is assuming others will know how to help us.

Imagine that a good friend you have who is not in the real estate business has a brother who is a real estate agent. But, you never asked. How would they know to introduce the two of you? Top producers instinctively take advantage of this opportunity. Others do not.

Speaking of opportunities, with regard to success, we know there is a series of traits that will determine whether a loan officer succeeds--from hard work to attitude to investment in their business. But, what really separates top producers from the middle of the pack?

If you would go to these national events and hear these top producers speak, you will hear them say 'this is what I do.' Yet, when the attendees go home and try to do these things, they work for some and not for others. And they are more likely to work for the top producers.

The difference? Top producers see opportunities and take advantage of them. Those who are not successful either miss the clues--or when they see the clues, they don't act upon them because of certain 'reluctances.' This is something you can't teach, which is why you rarely hear it mentioned at these events.

To me, the goal of training is to open people's eyes wider so that they will see opportunities and help them overcome reluctances. The goal is to act upon the opportunities. Top producers always will. Those who don't, will always be trying to catch up.

Dave Hershman is Senior VP of Sales of Weichert Financial and the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School – the online choice for expert mortgage learning and marketing content. His site is www.OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..