All rights reserved. Third-party reproduction for redistribution is prohibited without contractual consent from Scotsman Guide Media.

Reprinted from Scotsman Guide Residential Edition and scotsmanguide.com, October 2012

Rebuilding and ReenergizingRebrand your business with focus and drive

The mortgage industry can be a fickle place — as any branch man-ager, loan officer or broker who’s

been laid off knows all too well. In these difficult times, companies and programs can come and go seemingly overnight, and it’s often up to individual brokers and originators to rebrand themselves and their entire teams as quickly as possible. Learn-ing how to roll with the punches is a crucial skill to have in the industry today.

It can be easy for brokers and origina-tors to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind and forget that they’re in the sales business. In order to rebuild or rebrand their business, however, mort-gage professionals must go back to the basics: They need to prospect. It’s virtu-ally impossible to grow — or re-grow — your business if you’re the only one who knows just how good you are. You need to be seen and heard, and you need to be seen widely.

When it comes to rebuilding your busi-ness, keep the following three points in mind.

1. Embrace disciplined changeIf you’re rebuilding or rebranding your branch or brokerage, you need to begin by strategi-cally monitoring your activities. If you want your business to grow, you have to be com-pletely committed to your daily disciplines.

At the same time, if you need to make changes to your business to move it for-ward, you need to introduce changes gradu-ally. Have you ever come home from a high-energy, industry conference with thousands of new ideas, tools and business strategies? The following few days can be exhilarating, but then your interest often wanes. As you

move away from new gadgets and goals, it’s easy to move back into that comfortable rut that’s been plaguing you and your busi-ness all along. With that in mind, be careful to make small, sustainable changes.

2. Find connectionsWhen rebuilding or rebranding their orga-nizations, mortgage professionals also should create lists of their current and target partners. Many brokers and origi-nators create such lists from time to time regardless of their business plans, but this list can be especially crucial in a tran-sitional time of your career.

Don’t just create your list — take action. Once you’ve done your initial research, the real work begins. With your targets identi-fied, prioritize your list and choose your top three targets. There’s a saying that friends do business with friends and, in this respect, Facebook can be one of the best ways to learn more about the people you want to do business with. What do your networking tar-gets like to do in their free time? Do you like to do something similar?

Try to find an authentic connection with them. For instance, if you’re an active per-son and you find that your top networking targets are active, as well, try making a con-nection in that respect. Spending time get-ting to know your colleagues in a non-busi-ness setting is a wonderful way to rekindle a business relationship.

In other words, remember that success is not entirely about money or transactions. True success is about the relationships that you nurture and maintain. If your net-working targets are interested in some of the same activities as you are — whether hiking, golfing or another sport — don’t be

By Dana Mundy Branch manager Cherry Creek Mortgage

afraid to reach out. Keep in mind, however, that it’s important to find true common ground with your colleagues; you should never fake an interest in something sim-ply to deepen your connection with your partners.

3. Draft a planIn addition to merely forging connections with colleagues and partners, consider cre-ating a written prospecting plan. This plan doesn’t have to be complex; you simply need to identify the where, what, when and how.

Your written plan can include any num-ber of networking, business-building or prospecting activities, and every profes-sional’s plan will be different. Still, here are just a few of the activities you may want to include, slating specific days and times for each activity:

•• Phone•calls•to•partners•and•target•partners;

•• Creation•of•thank-you•cards;•• Face-to-face•meetings,•which you may want to hold in your own office, simply for the “home-court advantage” this can provide;

Dana Mundy is a certified mortgage plan-ner and the branch manager of Cherry Creek Mortgage. A recognized leader throughout the mortgage industry, Mundy has contributed to national mortgage publications and has been a featured speaker at high-profile loan industry conferences. Her innovative marketing strate-gies have won her numerous industry awards. Mundy and her husband, Robert, live in eastern Washington with their four nieces and neph-ews, five children and three grandchildren. Reach her at dmundy@ccmclending.com.

continued >>

<< continued•• Lunch-and-learn•meetings;•• Realtor•meetings; and,•• Networking•events,•such as open houses,

conferences and chamber functions.Of course, execution is key when it

comes to fulfilling any plan. If you don’t monitor your activities, your pipeline will fluctuate and your business may falter. You have to plan for each and every day and then stick to that course of action.

Consider making to-do lists for each of your work days. Some people create lists for days, weeks or even months in the future, but you should do whatever you feel most comfortable with. Get into the habit of look-ing for daily gaps in your schedule and then fill those gaps with prospecting activities. It can be a good idea to set certain weekly standards or goals for yourself, so long as you make sure to hold yourself to those goals with discipline and strictness.

• • •For many brokers and originators, some of this information may not be entirely new, al-though that doesn’t mean it’s any less valu-able, especially when it comes to rebuilding or rebranding your organization. Sometimes, the strategies or plans that can seem the most dull may turn out to be the most necessary — and the most constructive. In an industry of near-constant change, a little focus, commitment and planning can make all the difference. •

All rights reserved. Third-party reproduction for redistribution is prohibited without contractual consent from Scotsman Guide Media.

Reprinted from Scotsman Guide Residential Edition and scotsmanguide.com, October 2012