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Special Reports
Recruiting & Training
Where All Other Events End, This One Keeps Going
By Brad Finkelstein
LAS VEGAS -- The reason many people go to sales and training seminars is to learn
new tricks and break old habits. Yet, when they get back to their office, very few of those new ideas are implemented.
LoanToolbox.com and SourceMedia, the parent company of Broker, Origination News
and National Mortgage News are teaming up to present "Business Plan 2006: Where All Other Events End ... We
Keep Going." It will be held Dec. 6-9 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.
Greg Frost, president of Frost Mortgage Banking Group, Albuquerque, N.M., and
vice president, new product development for LoanToolbox, said, "Tim Braheem (LoanToolbox chief executive)
and I have put our heads together and we are creating a seminar that picks up where most other seminars leave off."
Mr. Frost, a noted trainer in the industry, said generally he has a limited amount
of time when speaking to get across the strategies and tactics he has used to be successful.
But Business Plan 2006 will have more than three full days of content. "What
we're bringing are the strategies, tactics and ideas that have helped both of us enjoy great success in the industry.
We're allowing ourselves the time to go deep, so we can actually provide training, rather than a performance,"
he said.
Mr. Braheem added, "I realized the most frustrating thing for me as a speaker,
and as an attendee at seminars over the years, is that the seminars that are in this industry are never created
from a prospective of taking action.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you know, it is what you do
with what you know."
Mr. Braheem said there are a number of fine events in the mortgage industry, but
in evaluating the creation of his first event, he and the people at LoanToolbox wanted to create something that
went a little bit further. So this seminar is one where the attendee walks away with an actual plan, not just a
bunch of notes.The final day of the show will end with everyone leaving with a written business plan for the coming
year, not with a bunch of ideas and wondering how to implement them or with euphoric feelings that soon fade away,
Mr. Frost declared.
"I've never been to a mortgage seminar that is structured this way. We are
bringing in people that are expert at teaching people time management, teaching them planning skills, teaching
them how to stay on plan.
"We are bringing in several of the new superstars of the mortgage industry,
the people that are employing strategies and tactics that Tim and I have been sharing on the Loan Toolbox for several
years now. We are going to have them on stage, sharing exactly how they are doing it, not leaving anything to the
imagination."
Mr. Braheem added that attendees would create "very specific goals and action
plans to address the deficiencies and needs of focus within their business plan. Everybody will leave this event
with a finite business that is specific to their business."
There is much economic and professional uncertainty facing mortgage brokers in
the upcoming year. Mr. Frost said the answer to uncertainty and shaky economic times is larger market share. The
aim is to teach attendees how to get a bigger piece of the pie.
Even a top originator like Mr. Frost notes it is a continual learning process.
"I have listened to the strategies and tactics of several of the people which are going to be presenting at
this seminar and I have picked up ideas that have helped me tremendously. So even an old dog like me can learn
new tricks.
"Regardless of the loan originator's level of productivity at this time,
attending this seminar will allow them to come into contact with others doing new and unique things in their marketplaces
to enhance their careers."
Mr. Braheem noted that as a company LoanToolbox "at the beginning of this
year really started to shift our focus as a management team to strategic business planning. I have been personally
reading a lot of books on the subject matter." In addition, it has hired some consultants from the UCLA Graduate
School of Business, including Yvonne Randle as lead consultant for LoanToolbox.
Going through the process of strategic business planning at the company, Mr. Braheem
said he "realized that this is something that is very applicable and very important to the average loan originator."
The first industry-specific presenter will be Mr. Braheem, with a new presentation
he calls "The Pyramid of a Complete Loan Officer." It addresses the stages of loan officer growth, starting
at the beginning and going through to being a seasoned loan officer. But a lot of loan officers skip some stages,
he said, creating lots of problems and holding them back from success.
The model for the business plan comes from Ms. Randle and Management Systems Consulting
Group and used for its clients, but made specific for loan originators.
There will be a substantial list of goals provided to attendees, and it is their
responsibility to pick those they want to focus on. They will be instructed on how to take notes in a very unique
way, so they can reflect back on those notes and create actionable items.
While it is not necessary, it suggested for attendees to bring a laptop computer
to the event. Everyone will be provided with a user name and password to a website, where they type in their notes
and they can create their business plan. There will be high-speed Internet access in the room, but Mr. Braheem
suggested bringing extra batteries because there will not be a lot of outlets available.
Besides Ms. Randle, other speakers at the event include Bill Dallas, the founder
of First Franklin and current chairman, president and chief executive of Ownit Mortgage Solutions; Tom Ward of
the Majestic Group; and author Douglas Andrew.
Also speaking will be the Afterburner Performance Team, a group of precision pilots
who have taken those skills sets and turned them into a book on proper planning and flawless execution.
Among the loan officers scheduled to speak include Sally Bucciero of GreatHouse
Mortgage, Cindy Ertman of Platinum Capital Group and Jim Sahnger of Palm Beach Financial Network.
Finally, "we are going to have Les Brown there," Mr. Frost said. "Anybody
who has seen Les Brown knows he is one of the great motivators of our day. You spend an hour and a half with Les,
you feel like you can walk out and right through a brick wall."
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