By Brian Sacks

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with an originator who is stuck.

I'm not sure how he found me, but he did, and continued to call my office until I agreed to finally meet with him for a consultation.

[caption id="attachment_7900" align="alignleft" width="332"] Brian Sacks[/caption]

He worked locally for a large bank and had a specialty niche. Because of his expertise in this niche, all of the other originators in the company sent him deals since they didn’t like to do these loans. Most didn’t understand the program.

Well the bank stopped doing this program, and he was forced to go elsewhere. He went to work for a big independent mortgage company, but to his horror his deal flow has slowed down to a trickle because he is no longer getting these referrals from other loan originators.

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He scheduled a one-on-one session with me; he does want to succeed, and I respect that.

During our session, he explained that he has been calling realtors and visiting open houses and doing lots of the things he has been told to do. By the way, he’s been originating for almost 10 years, so he isn’t exactly a rookie, right?

Calling realtors or going to open houses uninvited is chasing business and doesn’t work long term at building profitable relationships.

You are seen as an annoying pest instead of being embraced as an invited guest.Your goal needs to be getting them to chase you, not the other way around. You can do this by teaching classes or having pre-approved buyers you can connect them with, or even by being the celebrity originator in your town.  I do all of these, and you can too.

He is a perfect case of someone having all of their eggs in just one basket which never ever ends well. Instead, diversify and develop multiple sources of business that come in at all times, have a plan and track where the business comes from.

The business I focus on comes from the follow areas.

• Realtors.
• Past client referrals.
• Professionals, such as accountants and attorneys.
• Direct to consumer via free public relations and direct mail.
• Other loan officers will help, if you have a specialty niche.

Let’s say the goal is 10 loans a month: You could focus on getting four deals from realtors, three from direct to consumers and public relations, two loans from professional referrals and one from other originators.

Each month you need to go back and see how your actual volume did compared to your goal. What worked? What didn’t? Now you know where to focus your energy and marketing efforts for the coming month. If you don’t have a goal, and you don’t track, you simply can’t succeed.

The most important aspect of this is the following: You can only achieve to the level of your own self-image. He’s frustrated and truly can’t even see the forest for the trees, so he is simply going out and begging.

Make sure your business is well diversified. That you have a plan, that you can track your progress, as well as multiple tactics, strategies and sources that can deliver a constant business flow. But always make sure that your self-image is in the right place and you use tactics that make you an invited guest --instead of an annoying pest.

About the Author: Brian Sacks is a branch manager and originator with Homebridge Financial in Baltimore Md. Also, he is the founder of TopOriginatorSecrets.com and the author of the best-selling success manual for originators “48 Proven Ways to Immediately Close More Loans"