It is just as important for a manager to role play his/her loan officer prospect discussions as it is for loan officers to role play their mortgage prospect discussions.

Of course, if you never get to meet with loan officer prospects, you will never be in a position to uncover their needs. The first step is to get an appointment. This isn’t so easy, especially since most loan officers have recruiters cold calling them all of the time.

• Cold calls. Like mortgage prospects, cold calls are harder to convert. If you can receive an introduction through a mutual source, you are at least starting out on the right foot.
• Start with value. Send an article, news update or other information the prospect will be interested in, instead of information about your company. The more value you give the prospect, the more likely he or she will reciprocate by agreeing to meet.
• Don’t use the obvious approach. Don’t start with this statement: Can we meet so that we can talk about you coming to work for our company? This question belongs at the end of the process, not the beginning.

I suggest trying one of the following approaches or formulate your own:

• "I have heard a lot of good things about you through my contacts. I am always networking so that I put myself in position to help others within my sphere. Do you have time to meet so that we can get to know each other better?"
• "I am always talking to top loan officers to find out more about how they generate their business and handle challenges. I would love to meet with you and share some of this information and also find out more about your business model."
• "I am a producer as well as a manager. I get a lot of my business from other loan officers, as I always find some deals that they can’t do or prefer not to do, and vice-versa for me. I would love to meet with you to find out what type of business you specialize in and how we might be able to help each other grow our businesses."

Being a producer, many times this production is what keeps you from recruiting. But if you specialize in getting referrals from other loan officers, then you would be able to work both of your priorities at the same time. This is a prime example of synergy.

Keep in mind that these approaches are not always going to work. Again, so many recruiters are calling these loan officers that they are going to be on the defensive. Let them know the meeting is about networking. If you have contacts to help them, you will be happy to share. And you can encourage them to refer other prospects to you.

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..