While the residential lending industry continues to grow, the competition has always been tough. With more than 300,000 currently employed as loan officers in the country, it’s important to find ways to stand out. Find different ways to hone your skills and improve your marketing.
If you’re just getting started with this career, your priority is to stand out from the competition.
In this article, we will cover some of the common roadblocks you may encounter in your life as a loan officer. We will also provide some home loan sales training advice to help you overcome these challenges. Hopefully, this post will shed more light on how to fast-track your career and jumpstart your lending business.
Common Pain Points You May Encounter
As we all know, the home-buying process has evolved throughout the years. There are multiple changes in every state, which makes it even more challenging for loan officers. For rookies who want to stay in the game, keep in mind that every day is a work in progress.
Before we jump to our training advice, let’s take a look at some of the most common challenges in the lending business.
Remember, even the top-producing loan officers have also struggled before they reached success. Just like any business or career, you will go through different phases. This is why it’s advisable to know the possible risks and be prepared. To give you more ideas, here’s a list of the most common roadblocks you may encounter as a lending officer:
- Saturated Marketplace
As mentioned earlier, the mortgage industry is fierce. With the rising number of loan officers and mortgage brokers in the country, it can be difficult to reach every milestone. According to the latest reports, there are now nearly 4,200 lending companies with an estimated number of more than 60,000 branches. Whether you work as a loan officer at an established company or you’re planning to start your own lending company, you need to be smart with your decisions.
- Building New Real Estate Partnerships
The majority of homes are purchased through a mortgage and potential buyers usually prefer working with a Realtor to guide them. This is where new loan officers or lenders struggle the most. For rookies, establishing solid Realtor partnerships requires a lot of work.
- Nurturing Existing Partnerships
Just like any other business, client retention is vital and this could be tricky as you also want to attract new clients. Take note that losing one of your existing clients can cost you five times as much as generating a new lead. Clearly, maintaining a strong relationship with your current clients is vital. In addition to securing your profit, this can also lead to more referrals. As you start to grow your network, you have a chance to earn more first time and repeat business.
- Constant Changes in Market Demands
Another challenge in the mortgage industry is the constant changes in market demands. This applies to both building a new client base or retaining your existing partners. The home loan business is always evolving with new rules and regulations to keep up with. Additionally, people are always looking for the fastest and most convenient way to get approved. As a loan officer, adapting to these changes is now mandatory. Otherwise, you’ll be losing profits.
- Financial Crisis
This is one of the biggest problems loan officers or lending companies may encounter. An economic crisis can drastically affect your overall business operations. This includes payment system problems, cash flow, and many more. Without the right strategy, you can lose your business.
Look at the 2008-2010 timeframe and how many people left the industry. Now a lot of them are coming back in since real estate is booming again.
Roadmap to Success: Loan Officer Sales Training Advice
Now that you know the common challenges loan officers or lending companies deal with, it’s time to reassess your strategies.
Let’s talk about some of the best advice that can help you prepare and overcome these possible roadblocks you may encounter in the future.
Feel free to follow these loan officer sales training tips below:
Tip #1: Build & Empower Your Brand
Everything starts with a strong brand presence. Create a solid marketing strategy that can showcase your credentials and highlight your unique selling points. Take advantage of innovative marketing platforms like The Legion of Loan Officers.
Explore your opportunities in various online marketing channels such as social media, email marketing, and other digital tools.
Today, Facebook marketing has become one of the most efficient ways to promote brand awareness and generate new leads. Choose the best platform that suits your requirements.
Tip #2: Innovate & Streamline Your Process
As you start to grow your network, you may need to make some adjustments to streamline your system. From acquiring new leads and communicating with your current and previous clients to handling processing, collecting docs, and attending closings, you need to find the best way to improve your operations. Invest in productivity tools that can help scale your business. Keep yourself updated with the latest trends, as well.
Tip #3: Add Value to Your Clients
In addition to improving your mortgage business structure, there are other ways to improve your customer service. As mentioned earlier, nurturing partnerships is one of the keys to growth and success. One way to do this is to keep your clients informed about the latest news and updates. Provide all the necessary information on market changes, new loan products and local policy changes that might affect them. This only shows that you truly value your partnership.
Tip #4: Always Respect the Sales Process & Understand the Borrower
Make sure to follow the basic principles of the sales process. Prepare a series of qualifying questions to screen your clients accordingly. This includes their objectives, timeframe, financial status, and other important details. You can even refer borrowers with credit challenges to a company like MyCreditGuy.com to help them.
As a loan officer, the least you can do is to have a network or service providers to refer clients you can’t work with. Create a roadmap that helps you understand all the steps home buyers have to go through and the possible pain points.
Tip #5: Put Everything on Paper
In the lending business, you will deal with tons of paperwork. Make sure to put everything on paper or email record. This is important, especially when there are sudden changes in interest rates or available loan programs. An old lawyer in Texas called it the “Txas Two Step”. Anything you talk about, you need to write about and document it.
Tip #6: Join Loan Officer Training Programs
Many successful loan officers can vouch for essential sales training programs to their career development. In fact, even the most successful loan officers still take the time to participate in such programs to improve their strategies.
Today, there are several loan officer sales training courses online you can choose from.
Learn more from the experience of those who have gone through different phases in the lending industry.
Final Words
We all know that lending is a competitive business. Standing out in this saturated marketplace requires a lot of work and findig your own unique angle. There are also risks you need to prepare for.
Whether you’re just getting started in this career or you have a growing lending company, it’s important to always keep learning, growing and attracting new referral partners.
As they always say, consistency is the key to success in every business.
If you need help adding 10 Realtor partners, generating consumer direct leads and increasing your database referrals, check out The Legion of Loan Officers.