NMLS
Three Ways to Prepare Your Referral Network for 2012 By Erik Wind
Why W hy NAP NAPMW? M MW? Three T hree Simple Reasons Reaso ons Education E d duccation Organized Or ganized ffor or the pur purpose pose of providing providing education education tto o pr professionoffe essionals in all phases off the mor mortgage industry, NAPMW offers educa-tgage industr y, NAP N MW off ers educa tion via man enues – seminars and w orkshops k ound the manyy vvenues workshops held ar around on-line,, and National Conference ccountry, ountry, on-line a at at its Na tional EEducation ducation C onference held May. each hM ay. NAPMW NAP MW membership membersship gives gives you you exclusive exclusive access a cess to ac to timely educaeducaaffecting career tion regarding regarding the e regulations regulations aff ecting yyour o car our eer such as a webinar FREE TO TO MEMBERSS monthly monthly w ebinar on industry ind dustry updates updates AND education class offering our 8 hour NMLS continuing continuing educa tion cla ss off ffe ering (NMLS Provider 1400309) P rovider # 140030 09) 14
Leadership p Leadership
NOVEMBER 2011
PENNSYLVANIA MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
NationalMortgageProfessional.com
IIff you you believe believe in helping helping to to elevate elevate the educational edu ucational standards standards of this industry, industry, or assisting asssisting in developing developing the e most competent competent industryy w work industr ork force, force, then you you believe believe in NAPMW. NA APMW. NAPMW Butt sinc since women NAP MW is not a women’s women’s organization. organization. Bu ew omen make majority profesup the major ity off professionals professionals in the mortgage/banking morrtgage/banking pr ofession, our purpose business,, personal personal,, purpose is to to help them advance advance in business and leadership development. de evelopment.
Net wo ork king i Networking NAPMW is a ccommunity NAPMW omm munity of near nearly ly 2,000 professionals prof o essionals acr across oss the Country engage mortgage banking industry. C ountry who eng age in the mor tgage / ba anking industr y. Men Men and w omen from from all backg rounds have have joi ned NAP MW because women backgrounds joined NAPMW excel whatt they do do.. Emplo Employers want they want want tto oe xcel e aatt wha yers who w ant eexcelxcellenc e from from their employees emplo e yees engage eng NAP N MW for for up-to-date up-to-date lence with NAPMW education. educa tion. B Both oth pr professionals p ofessionals and emplo emp employers yers e have have found found there there is a plac e ffor or them in n NAP MW W. place NAPMW.
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To T o Join NAPMW NAPMW W visit: www.napmw.org w ww.napmw.o org or ccall: all: 1-800-827-3034 1 800 8 1-800-8 827 3034 827-3034 Have Ha ve Q Questions? uestion ns? Please ffeel eel free free to to e e-mail -m mail us a at: t: napmw1@aol.com napm w1@aol.c . om
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I usually find Halloween to be the “Two Minute Warning” of the year, reminding my clients and myself that once Thanksgiving arrives, the opportunity to write new business significantly diminishes. Of course, I’ll get a number of calls I didn’t expect, and transactions I’ve been working on for months will come to fruition, but overall, it’s the slow period of the year. While my business is technology, I know it’s the same for the mortgage business. While many use this time to kick back and relax, or even “Now worry about the slowdown, the producers are using this time to review their goals and assess if their business is probably is in a position to reach these goals. Since referrals not the time to be are such a large part of my business, I examine my current referral sources, as well as my introducing yourself efforts to obtain new referral sources.
to real estate agents, unless you like walkSet your goals Did you set goals last year? If you didn’t, take ing into empty offices, this slow period to put together some real simbut it’s a great time ple plans. Work backwards with the most importo start listtant question: How many loans do you want to close per month? Once you have that answered, how building.” many referrals will you need to get there? How many real estate agents and/or real estate attorneys will you need in your referral network to receive those referrals?
Assess your referral sources Take a long, hard look at the people in your referral network who you are putting time and resources toward helping grow their business. Are you getting a return on this investment? For example, an originator friend of mine shares ShortSaleSpeedway with his real estate agents. The agents close more short sales, and he gets more mortgage referrals. In one office, he shares ShortSaleSpeedway with seven agents, but only gets referrals from five. Why aren’t the other two referring? It turns out that one of the agents has a family member in the mortgage business. With that knowledge, he can focus his efforts elsewhere, knowing that agent is not in his referral network. By weeding out those who aren’t reciprocating the referral relationship, my friend is able to better help agents who are referring business, and also put more time into gaining fresh sources of referrals.
Attract new referral sources Now is probably not the time to be introducing yourself to real estate agents, unless you like walking into empty offices, but it’s a great time to start list-building. Put together a list of potential real estate offices and agents who you want to meet. Write out a marketing plan that involves getting in front of them along with a compelling offer as to why they should do business with you. Once again, my friend reaches out to each agent/office multiple times by mail, e-mail, phone or even stopping by until he gets to introduce himself properly. When he does gain that introduction, he’s ready. In a no BS approach, he explains how he can help the agent close more short sales and how he can be a reliable go-to person for the agent’s mortgage needs. Get your list, plan and offer ready now, so when 2012 rolls around, you’ll be ready. With a combination of reflecting inward on your current referral network and outward toward new relationships, 2012 can be an amazing year for you and anyone you choose to do business with. Erik Wind is co-founder of ShortSaleSpeedway. He may be reached by phone at (516) 882-6930 or e-mail at erik@ewdc.net. SPONSORED EDITORIAL