When you think about closing and funding a loan, you probably don’t think about flowers and soil. But the truth is, the mortgage process is very similar to tending to a garden.
Even if you don’t have the greenest thumb, stick with me here. Because these lessons can have a massive impact on the relationship you have with your prospects and clients (and remember: these relationships are the bread and butter of your mortgage business).
Here’s how running a mortgage business is like gardening.
Key Takeaways
- Like growing a garden, growing a mortgage business takes research, time, and dedication.
- Once the seeds are planted with marketing and advertising, it’s important to nurture prospects and leads.
- Maintenance is also important to make sure you aren’t spending your time, money, and energy on the wrong tasks or people.
- Growing a mortgage business isn’t for everyone, but it’s good for people who like a challenge and want to see the fruits of their own labor.
Being a Loan Officer Requires Patience and Research
Unfortunately, the sales cycle for a loan officer typically takes a few months, which means having a solid foundation is absolutely critical. It’s important to ask yourself these questions and get these things squared away before generating leads to give you the best chance at success. Gardening is the same thing. Without instant results, you have to trust the process.
For loan officers, marketing and advertising plant the seed in a prospect’s mind, but you have to go through all the right steps to turn them into a client and get them to the closing table. This is where nurturing comes in.
The Importance of Nurturing Leads, Prospects, and Clients
One of the key similarities between gardening and running a mortgage business is the importance of nurturing relationships. In gardening, you need to take good care of your plants by watering them, pruning them, and protecting them from pests and disease.
Similarly, in the mortgage business, you need to build strong relationships with your clients by providing excellent customer service, getting to know them beyond their application, and being responsive to their needs.
Personal touches like mailing out cards for birthdays and graduations make a huge difference. It shows the client that you’re not just in it for the commission, and you care about their family. Manually following up with clients is one option, but a hybrid-automation system gives you more time and freedom to focus on the actual relationship and rapport building.
By building trust and loyalty with your clients, you can create a thriving mortgage business that will continue to grow and flourish over time.
Watch Out for the Weeds in Your Mortgage Business
Weeds can quickly overtake a garden and stunt the growth of your plants. They can ruin hours or even weeks of the work that you’ve put in to make your garden beautiful.
In the mortgage industry, toxic relationships and business practices are the weeds to look out for. They need to be removed ASAP so you can create a healthier and more productive environment. Otherwise, you risk losing time, business, and energy.
Preston and I have dealt with our own “weeds” over the years and that’s why we’re very protective of our Lendsetter community. We’ve learned that this famous quote by Jim Rohn is true:
Your network is your net worth.
The right relationships can make you thousands or even millions.
But that also means…
The wrong relationships can cost you thousands or even millions.
