I read a blog written by Andrew J. Lenza, ABR GRI MBA today entitled When Realtors Attack or What's NEW on Active Whine! and it got me started thinking. First things first, that is dangerous because then I start writing about what I think about. Which, brings me to this blog.

I have to ask you, at what point do we quit complaining about our situation and start reacting to the issues at hand. Let me give you a few examples.

A week ago, I heard a loan officer say that they did not have enough leads. Since our company does not provide any leads, then if you got any, that is more than anyone else got.

Last week, a Realtor told me that his phone just did not ring enough. I asked him what does he do to change that. His answer left me going crazy. It was "I sent an ad out a month ago." Do you think that maybe you can do a little networking? Ever thought about hitting the streets and meeting people? You are a Realtor for goodness sake. Get out of your office and act like one. Don't expect them to come to you.

A couple of weeks ago a loan officer told me that he was not getting business from Realtors or builders. I asked him when the last time it was the last time was the he picked the phone up and called one of them and said "Hello". Or, when they sent you a deal, did you thank them for it, even if it was crappy?

My motto is simple when it comes to business:

Those that actively search for business will eat plentiful while those that wait for business to come to them will starve.

Nothing fancy to it, just truth. I decided a long time ago that I would never sit back and wait for my phone to ring. I will make it ring on my own with the help of the people that I service.

Wonder what our market would be like if we all took that stand; customers and industry professional alike.

It is time to quit waiting, it is time to get off the couch, it is time to take action, it is time to BUY.

I have wrote this 4 times and deleted it 4 times. Here is the 5th time. The reasons vary from not wanting to step on anyones toes to too much generalization. So, I am going to ask this question;

Who's expectations do you live up to?

The reason I am writing this today was I was told that I did not meet someone's expectations and I took it a little rough. The reason was not that we could not do the loan, but that we could not jump through 600 hoops and then eat fire, and then balance 5 people on our nose while doing this purhcase that was so far fetched.

I am all for people realizing the american dream, but lets keep it in reality. When we get a customer, how hard is it to be honest up front?

One thing that people have always told me is that they get a straight answer from me all the time, so that they do not wonder why things are taking so long. One of the biggest traights that are missing is HONESTY and I think that we need to bring it back.

Some may ask how do we do that. It is simple process. It starts with the first handshake. It starts with the first introduction. It starts with the first meeting. Whatever it involves, HONESTY has to be there in the beginning.

If that happens, unrealistic expectations will not be an occurance. It was hard to write this and for some people it will be hard to swallow because they think that they are always honest.

What I am referring to is when your customer can not qualify for a loan because of an issue, tell them what the issue is and you will be suprised how many of them will thank you. When your customer is looking out of their price range, tell them, based on this infomation, we need to be in a different price range.

So, I ask you again, who's expectations do you live up to.

I have to answer this with mine. I am ruled by Honesty, Intergrity, Trustworthiness, the responsibility to offer the best product for my customer, and the best customer service possible.

I had a loan officer that I interviewed the other day and here is how it went:

LO: I want the perfect job.

Me: Describe for me the perfet job.

LO: The perfect job would be where I could get up at 10 am and read a few emails. Then after a leisurely morning of drinking coffee and reading the emails, I would think that I would take lunch and network till about 2 PM. Then come back to the house and network till about 4 pm when I would log off and close down.

Me: (interrupts) would you be available via cell?

LO: Do you provide cells for your Loan officers?

Me: No, why?

LO: Because I do not give out my personal cell?

Me: Thanks for coming by to see me. If you find the perfect job, please let me know.

OK, now you read it. I have to say, that does not exist. What exist is you are up early and go to bed late. What happens between those 2 times is what makes business happen, but always be available, otherwise, in this industry, you snooze, you lose.

Someone asked me today this very question and I really had to ponder it. Most people would say this: Weekends are the time that I use to catch up on the daily things that I do not get to during the week. WOW!

I work hard for my clients all the time regardless of when it might arise and that is what is wonderful about working for a mobile company, or a web based company. No matter where I am, as long as I have my cell and an internet connection (thank you sprint for the wireless card) I am good to go and if the need arises, I can jump to it and get it done.

I would have to say that we either do not plan very well or we work to much. In this day and age, there has to be a better balanced life. To me weekends should be time that is spent with the family or friends and loving life. During the week is when I make it happen for my clients and even more, for me at home. We get teh household chores done daily so that they do not mount up and all come upon us on the weekends.

There are those things that you cant always get done suring the week like working in the yard and that has to be done on the weekends.

 I will leave you with this thought: Do you work for the weekends or do you live for the weekends?

This has been a debate in both the companies that I have worked for in the past. I believe that everyone has their own ideas of what makes a great loan officer. I have put together what I think are the 7 areas that I think it takes to make a great loan officer.

1. Customer Service - I believe that this is the first and foremost of all traits of being a great loan officer. You can close 15 files a month and if you do not handle your customers with the best in service, you will never get repeat business.
2. Follow-up skills - In my 15+ years of customer service, I have seen more laziness that what I would care to mention. Bottom line is, when you tell a customer that you will call them back in a timely manner, then do it. And this does not just stop with the customer. If you are dealing with an issue for a customer, then don't allow that issue to fall to the wayside because of neglect. Do not expect what you do not inspect.
3. Product Knowledge - most loan officer can get a file through because they do not know their own products. When you stop learning, you might as well find another profession.
4. Time Management - too many loan officers do not now how to manage their own day. To many times have I seen loan officers that try to manage their day without a To Do List. If you are not making a plan, you are planning to fail. 
5. Listening skills - when I mention this to new loan officers, I always get a weird look out of them. It is plan and simple, if you do not listen to your customer, how do you know what their needs are?
6. Management of a pipeline - I have seen so many loan officers lose a customer in the cracks because they can not manage more than a few files at a time. This is bad. I always have told my staff to have 20 files working and know each and everyone of them. It use to amazing some of my staff that as a manager of a branch and having over 100 files in the pipeline working and another 100 being solicited, that when a customers name was mentioned, I could tell you the entire file.
7. Honesty - this is something that I think all loan officer possess but do not always use. Here it is in a nutshell. If you are honest to a customer, in the long run, it will benefit you and them. More over, you, because the customer will trust you and refer you to people they know.

I truly believe that if you can master all of these areas, you can be a master at your career. The greatest compliment to a job well done is for a former or current customer to send you a referral. This shows a trust in you doing your job to perfection, or at least close enough.

 I would love to hear so feedback on this. If it helps you get ahead in your career, then I did what I set out to accomplish. Hope to hear back from you.