Clients need to understand their employment history is a piece of the mortgage application puzzle.
Loan Originators (LOs) drive the core of a mortgage business. In fact, the ability to attract and retain exceptional LOs is integral to the growth of an office. Whether an office is experiencing turnover or a team has been together for years, it may be a good idea to strengthen your recruiting and retention plan — and we’ve got some industry-best practices to enhance your opportunities.
Build Your List
It doesn’t hurt to post openings, but taking a proactive approach to building your potential recruit list can bolster both the quality and quantity of mortgage professional hires. An additional benefit of this approach is a personnel buffer in case you unexpectedly lose an LO from your team – speedy hires aren’t always the highest of quality.
Experienced real estate broker owners may learn that connecting with mortgage professionals is more difficult than reaching out to agent recruits. The less-saturated mortgage professional arena makes way for torrents of regular recruit calls. They likely trust 2-3 LOs with their clients’ home loan needs, which bodes well for the quality of those referrals. Include the agent in the introductory call or meeting to bridge the “jaded” gap. Take this approach one step further by incentivizing valuable connections through a referral program in order to promote the highest of quality referrals.
If your mortgage office isn’t co-located with a real estate brokerage, reach out to agents in your community. It may also be beneficial to reach out to personal networks for mortgage professional referrals – many family and friends have likely worked with someone to acquire a home loan.
Nurture Your Contacts
Successful contact nurturing comes down to the ability to continue meaningful communication for the long term. The LO you have your sights set on may be happily situated for now, but could experience work-place frustration in the coming months. You never know when a potential recruit will be ready for a change. That’s why it’s essential to continue connection efforts.
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Send scheduled holiday and topical messages to stay top of mind. Many CRMs (customer relationship management systems) enable automatic messaging for just this purpose.
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Engage with potential recruits on their preferred social media platforms to show that you care about what’s going on in their world. This will help forge a foundational and personal connection.
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Did you notice an important life event for your prospect while engaging with their social media? Give them a call or send them a short text to congratulate them or to provide a supportive comment.
Ask Questions
Once you’ve attained a valuable phone conversation or in-person meeting, be sure to lead with questions. Recruiting is no different from sales in that it’s all about them. Experts say that by asking your potential hire just a few questions on the topics of life and work, you’ll be able to gather essential information about that desired LO’s pain points and professional desires. Then, you can respond with the solutions your office can provide. Rattling off every highlight of your operation can be overwhelming and impersonal, but addressing the specific concerns of the individual can be a priceless recruiting tool.
Leave Them with a Reminder
After making an impression on your desired recruit, leave them with a continual reminder of your mortgage office. Provide the LO with office information and your business card, at the minimum.
Retain the Best
Don’t lose sight of the valuable LOs already supporting the success of your office. Retaining a great professional is far less costly and time consuming than searching for a new one of the same caliber. Keep an open dialogue, demonstrate your appreciation frequently and be sure your compensation model is competitive.
