In general, coaching is aligned towards dictating actions and performance. When you are telling a loan officer to meet with three real estate agents and bring in at least one lead, you are coaching them.
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Dave Hershman[/caption]
A mentor is someone who imparts knowledge and advice but does not necessarily dictate particular actions or results–though certainly they would advise within these areas. In other words, a novice would go to a mentor to get the answer to a question. That same novice would go to a coach to tell them what they should be doing with their day and what results they need to achieve.
Can a coach also mentor and vice-versa? The answer is yes. But, it is important to draw the distinction between the two because the purposes are different.
Many sales managers don’t have the time to mentor because they are top producers and thus it is hard for them to be a “sounding board.” On the other hand, these top producing sales managers may be able to direct these loan officers as to what they need to do.
Unfortunately, many sales managers don’t have the time to follow-up to make sure the tasks are being implemented correctly and adjustments are being made.
Mentors are doing more than giving direction. They are also teaching and monitoring. They act as a sounding board for the loan officer. Perhaps the loan officer needs to know which agents to call first, or how best to arrange their day. Or even what goals to set.
To demonstrate the distinction in another way, consider this: one could hire a commercial coach to help their production. You might meet on the phone with this coach one time per week for an hour. Or perhaps, the frequency might be one time per month.
On the other hand, a mentor for a novice loan officer would interact with a loan officer every day. This might be in the form of a meeting one time per day and/or it could be several interactions throughout the day.
With regard to novice loan officers, the need for mentoring is clear and no novice should be in this industry without a mentor. A training program will not be enough to transform novices from knowledge to success. There needs to be a bridge and this bridge will take the form of mentorship. Too many times loan officers go through elaborate training programs costing thousands of dollars. But, when they get back to their companies, they don't know exactly what to do day-to-day.
Those who are already working for an organization and are under-performing presents another question. Does the company want to invest the resources to help coach-up these underperformers, or should they be leaving the organization?
This is a major question that needs to be answered before undertaking an sort of mentorship program. There must be a complete agreement between the loan officer and the company regarding these facts:
- The loan officer desires to improve and is willing to put in the time and energy to affect a plan of improvement.
- The company is willing to expend the resources to assist the loan officer in attaining their goals.
Too many times, companies designate loan officers for coaching as a “last resort,” when, in reality, they have one foot out the door.
Coaching should not be a last resort program. It should be a clear decision that the employee is willing to work to improve and the company feels that this employee is a resource because they can be a part of the organization.
Dave Hershman is Senior VP of Sales of Weichert Financial and a 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. 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.
