I had the privilege of interview-ing another top performer the other day.  She’s been averaging over 20 closings a month through 2009 and last month funded 43 loans.

In this interview, I did find a powerful “gem” worth sharing.  When I asked this loan officer what made her different from her peers, she answered: “I don’t work on bad loans!”  She went on to explain that she has become very particular about the type of borrower she’ll work with and the quality of applications she’ll write.  “Even good loans today are tough to do,” she told me.  “If it looks like a bad deal or tough loan or tricky property or a hard-to-work-with customer at the very beginning, it is most likely not going to fund.  I have decided to turn those opportunities away, or give them to other originators in my office who need business or have the patience, or stupidity, to work on these transactions.  Sometimes, yes, they can get them through.  But ninety percent of the time they can’t and they waste everyone’s time.”  She went on to say:  “I have made a conscious decision to work on good loans with good borrowers and good scenarios.”  She told me that nine out of ten applications she takes will fund, while it’s about five in ten for most everyone else in her office.

How you run your business is up to you.  And while no lender should discourage or deny a loan application opportunity without justifiable cause, there’s a lesson to be learned here.

Think about your pipeline and your pull through percentages this year.  Have you hurt your income and chances for success by taking in loans you shouldn’t have?  Are you beating up your processing and underwriting teams trying to fit people into loans they really don’t qualify for?  Are fewer than seven out of ten applications you take reaching the closing table?  Finally, do you find it hard to say no when you know you should?

For many loan originators it’s hard to say no.  They want to say “yes” to every borrower and every Realtor referral.  That’s why they are saddled with impossible deals and time-consuming loans that drag through the process.

As a wise mentor taught me long ago: “You only get paid on loans that close.  If you want to get paid well for what you do,   do loans that you know will close.”  He, too, was a top performer.

Power Selling
is a monthly publication of
Douglas Smith & Associates.

The editor of Power Selling is Douglas Smith.  Please direct any comments or input to 877.430.2329.
© Copyright 2009 DS&A.  Reproduction in whole or in part by any means without written permission of the
editor is prohibited.
www.DougSmithOnline.com

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