Having a successful loan origination team and being a successful loan officer is a balancing act. Here are our top ten steps to take when you’ve decided to move from being a single loan officer – to building a team.
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Have a Clear Goal in Mind
This is an important step. Do you want a big team, or would you prefer a smaller one? How much mentoring do you want to do? That will tell you whether to focus on recruiting newbies or veterans.
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Know Your Strengths
Do you excel at reaching out and making connections? If so, that’s a valuable skill to focus on, and have your team do some of your other tasks.
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Write Down What You Spend Your Time on
Do this for two weeks. That will give you an idea of what you can delegate and what to focus on. Yes, this sounds boring, but it’s worthwhile because you’ll see where you’re wasting your time and losing money.
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What tasks would be the most helpful to get off your plate?
Once you’ve kept a list of what you’ve spent your time on the last two weeks, it will be obvious what you can pass.
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Delegate What You Can – or What You’re Not the Best at
Does gathering documents drive you nuts? If so, delegate it. Not so great at keeping your database up-to-date? Delegate it. Are you lagging on the follow-up? Delegate it.
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Utilize Systems in Place
When you’re lucky enough to work for Homestead Financial Mortgage, there are systems in place that you can plug into. We’ll talk more about that below.
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Decide What Key Positions to Fill
Many loan officers wanting to build a team utilize the CSR team first and then add a strong transaction coordinator.
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Know the Value of a Referral
Take a look at your past loans that were referrals. What’s your average referral worth? How many referrals do you get a month?
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How many times do you network a month?
What about events and referral appointments – how many do you go to per month? How often do you MISS networking because you must handle other things?
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Have a Solid Marketing Plan
Besides setting up the foundation of your team and who does what, another valuable resource you can use is Homestead’s entire marketing team. The marketing director is available to sit down with you and create a marketing plan.
Homestead’s Systems Build Successful Loan Officer Origination Teams
The great thing about being part of Homestead is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We have systems in place.
- Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) can do your follow-up and get the prospect back to you when they’re ready.
- Transaction Coordinators can keep the loan moving through the lines and pick up any dropped balls.
- A good and thorough processor is incredibly valuable and makes the difference in closing early or on time.
- And the same goes for closers – a good closer has smooth files and results in happy customers.
Key Positions For a Successful Loan Origination Team
Although some of the positions wouldn’t be solely dedicated to you and your team, the main point is that the key to expansion is utilizing the resources Homestead has available or can get for you.
And when it comes to expanding and building your team – Managing Partner Greg Aftayev will help you every step of the way.
Whether you’re new to Homestead Financial Mortgage or considering a move, you can feel confident that you’ll be able to build a successful team with the backup you’ll get.
Reach out to Greg today and let him know you’d like to expand.