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On Purpose
By Joel S. Pate
Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed peeling back the onion for you by describing in great detail the financial characteristics of a builder's operation. This exercise has given many of you your first glimpse into the banking side of the homebuilder's business.
For the next few weeks, I would like to go in a different direction that will lead us right back to doing business with builders. I would like to start by asking you a question: Are you doing what you are doing on purpose?
Said another way: If you were to list your daily activities, would you discover that you have activities in your daily schedule that you never envisioned yourself doing?
Yesterday, I finally had to clean off my desk. Not that it had cups and cans all over it, not that it was dirty, rather I had allowed it to become cluttered with projects. I felt unorganized.
Many of you may know why a lion tamer uses the four-legged stool. For those that don't: It seems that a lion cannot concentrate on too many things at once. When the lion tamer projects the four legs of the stool towards the lion, the lion can't decide what to concentrate on and literally sits down. The lion becomes confused and can't do anything.
Well, that's how I felt yesterday. I had so many projects and plans and business opportunities that I lost focus on my main priorities. How about you?
That's why I have started on another new resolution--a tactical mission really--of organizing my desk, my office, and then my life. In order to refocus on the business plan, you've got to get the clutter away from your eyes before your mind can see its way to begin to assist you in organizing your life. Does that ring true with your experience? (I say "another new" because I've had to do this before and I am sure I will have to do it again.)
Allow me to ask you a few questions:
- If you were moving to your town, would your business be a business that you would purchase? Is it well known, organized, systemized, and making money?
- Maybe you haven't thought of your work as a business. What would you do differently if you did?
- Would you like to learn a little more about building an organized business?
You see, whether you know it or not, you are the head of your own origination production business. Even if you work inside one of the largest companies in the country or for the smallest brokerage firm in the country, your organization consists of you at the top and then who else? Most consist of a processor, perhaps an assistant, your referral partners, insurance agents, appraisers, title companies, inspectors, underwriters, etc. All of the people inside and outside of your organization are part of your production unit.
With this is mind, let me ask a few more questions:
- How are you structured inside of your organization?
- What are the rules?
- What are the systems?
- Who is responsible for what?
- How are customers processed?
- What is your plan to attract new customers?
- What is your plan to close loans on time, every time?
- What are your plans to follow up effectively with the listing agent as well as the selling agent on each transaction?
- What about after closing? Who is going to follow up with the satisfied customer since statistically, they will influence the selection of a mortgage every 18 months?
- What is your plan to attract new referral sources?
- What method of measuring the value of referral sources do you have in place?
I bet you're thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of questions Mr. Pate."
Yes I know, but it is really just the basics. As you know, there are a lot more.
Loan originators ask me all the time: How do I get more business? The answer is really very simple:
Go to the zone where the decision that someone needs a loan is being made. I call it a zone because it takes on so many different attributes. Sometimes it is a model home, sometimes, an agent's office. The decision a person makes that leads them to need a loan occurs in many places. So, we'll define it simply as the loan zone.
You see, no one wakes up in the morning and decides, "Hey, I think I'll go get a loan." No, they wake up and say something like this: "Hey, we need to pay for the children's tuition," or "we need to refinance," or "let's buy a new home," or "let's add on to this home" or "let's purchase a second home." But, never do they want a loan. They just understand that it will take getting a loan to allow them the thing that they really want.
Therefore, in order for you to close more loans, you must be around, near, connected to, have influence in, and near the point of decision-making. Because, without a doubt, the purveyors of the needs outlined in the paragraph above know this and already have originators in place to call on. Why? They too know that in order to sell their home, remodel, educate their children or themselves, purchase a second home, etc., that a loan will be necessary. So, they have their favorites. Right?
So, if the folks controlling the deals already have originators they are using, how can you get in the door?
Well, it is actually very easy. While you will not be able to go into every door, you will be able to get into enough, if you are prepared to bring greater value to the relationship than the current provider they are using.
And by prepared, I mean your business system is prepared, ready to support you, ready to go into action with you at a moments notice and you, the head of the production organization are ready to lead the charge, know everything you need to know about the particular battle field, weapon you will need, and most importantly, have the personal skills sets to use the weapons at the right time with the right people.
As many of you know, I am supposedly the "CP Loan Expert." Why do you think I call myself the CP Loan Expert? Simple. I decided I wanted to be known as the CP Loan Expert, so, that is what I started calling myself.
Well, I guess that secret is out.
But seriously, the point I am getting to is this: I didn't choose the name "Car Expert," "Refinance Expert," or any other number of titles that are freely available. I choose the one that I know something about.
At the beginning of this article, I asked you a simple question: Are you doing what you planned to do, or, do you spend most of your day doing activities that you never thought you would be doing?
If the latter is more closely like your life, I know one thing about you: You are not an expert. At least not yet.
I spend the majority of my time studying, thinking about and talking about one time close construction perm loans. I really do know a lot about that business and I work at it as a primary part of my day.
You could even say that I have a business system built around the promotion and delivery of OTC-CP Loans and that the system is good enough that when I am unavailable, the customer can be handled in a satisfactory manner.
I have built a business. I have built systems. I have built something that is valuable. I have done it on purpose.
What will you do this week?
I hope that you think about the issues discussed in this article. I hope that you decide that it is time to do something on purpose. Or perhaps, if you are where I found myself this week, you decide that it is time to clean off your desk. Clean off all of the things that begin to cloud your vision and distract you from your purpose.
Would you like to know more about dealing with builders?
As you know, in these short articles, I am only able to present the outline version of the information. If you interested in the full version E-Book of this information or would like to join one of my conference calls on this topic, send me a request by visiting www.vadiumgroup.com/cpexpert.php.
Dedicated to coaching YOU to CP Loan Success!
Joel S. Pate
Joel S. Pate, a dedicated entrepreneur, has spent more than two decades in the building, mortgage, and real estate industries and has been involved in over $100 Million in construction loans and over $1.3 Billion of residential lending. As the CP LOAN EXPERT columnist, Mr. Pate provides straightforward, unbiased advice about every aspect of construction permanent lending. If you ever wanted to unravel the mystery surrounding new construction lending, then you should tune in.
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