Interview with a Winner:
Ryan Nelson
Great Southwest Mortgage, Mesa AZ
2006 Origination Volume: $71.5 million
2006 Average Loan Amount: $225,000
Software: Scoreguardian
Referral Source Mix: 60% past client and affiliates (such as CPAs and Financial Planners) and 40% Realtor
In Touch Today: How did you get started in the mortgage business?
Ryan Nelson: About six years ago I had a friend who was originating mortgages, and he told me that if you have good people skills and you are good with numbers, you should be able to do very well in the business. So I decided to give it a shot. He showed me the ropes and I learned how to originate loans from him.
You need to have a good mentor to succeed in this business because even though it's not hard, there's so much to learn. And hands-on experience with somebody who knows what they're doing is the best way to learn.
In Touch Today: Were you an immediate success?
Ryan: It took about 90 days to close my very first loan. Then it grew from there. Once you get your pipeline built up, business is going to come your way. But you need to stay in touch with people and create opportunities.
In Touch Today: How did you start building your pipeline?
Ryan: Basically, I went out and marketed myself by handing out my business card. I also would fax flyers about our products to companies in the phone book. I actually received a few loans in return, and I still maintain some of those early relationships today.
When I first got into this business, I accidentally told people a lot of stuff that wasn't true because I wasn't sure of things. I thought we could do something and then would find out that we couldn’t. It was a humbling experience because I got shot down quite a bit but over time I really learned my job. If you stay dedicated and focused, it becomes easier every day. You can learn something new every day.
In Touch Today: What mistake do you think rookie loan officers typically make?
Ryan: I don't see enough hustle from rookies. I don't see them out talking with people enough or on the telephone enough. Somebody asked me for advice on becoming successful the other day and I responded by saying, "You cannot close a loan for anyone without talking to them about something - about their situation, about interest rates, about consolidating their debt, about them and getting to know them. You cannot close a loan without talking to somebody."
If you want to be successful in this business, you need to be on the phone for 8 hours a day. You should have only two work modes – you’re either on break or you're on the phone. The more you do this, the more people will think of you, and the more referrals you'll receive. It's about being consistent. I have found some really useful technologies and tools over the years to make staying in front of clients much easier for me as well. For instance, the web-based database system I use forces me to stay in front of prospects and clients and that always leads to more business.
People who are new to this business seem to think that somehow people are just going to call them, and it doesn't happen. You have to be assertive and call people. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask them for business. You're not going to get anything if you don't ask for it.
In Touch Today: What mistake do you think veteran loan officers typically make?
Ryan: I don't think they have an effective way to stay in touch with their clients.
Before I found a really good system to use, I would do a loan for someone and then I would be out looking for my next loan instead of cultivating my database. The statistics are pretty simple. Everybody closes a new loan every three years, on average, between purchasing a new home, refinancing their existing home or buying another property.
Veterans should make sure that they work on their client relationships. If you have an effective way to foster those relationships and stay in touch with people, you're going to be busy forever. The value of a client isn't that loan you're closing for them today. The value of that client is their next five loans over the next 15 years.
I've done loans for hundreds of people, and I know those same hundreds of people have gone on to do hundreds of other mortgages through other originators. And it's “shame on me” because I did not stay in touch with those clients. You have to find a better way stay in touch with your clients because sending only postcards and newsletters won’t cut it anymore.
In Touch Today: How do you stay in touch with your past clients?
Ryan: I use a technology called Scoreguardian that is designed to help me call them three times a year to give them their FICO score and provide a 5-10 minute conversation about their credit and situation. I want to make sure that they're “mortgage ready” at every point throughout their life. I want them to know how much they can qualify for and help them keep their FICO score as high as possible so they'll always receive the best rates and the best terms available.
When you become an advisor to someone in this fashion, you become very valuable to them. It is subsequently much easier to obtain their trust and their future referrals by adding value in this way.
In addition, I’ve discovered that offering a valuable service like this to the new prospects I meet works well too. There is real power in offering a valuable service to someone up front, whether they need a loan right then or not. It becomes a win-win situation because every good client I add to my database leads to more loans, more leads and more solid business relationships over time.
In Touch Today: What differentiates you from the average loan officer?
Ryan: I work very hard every day when I'm at work. I know my job very well because I've closed a lot of loans for a lot of people. If you're honest and upfront with people, good or bad, about every situation, they're going to respect you. They're going to refer you out to a lot more people. So I think that the better you are at that, and the more consistent methods you have in place, the better you're going to do. It's all about having a system in place that will allow you to originate at the highest level.
In Touch Today: If you had a son or daughter entering the business, what advice would you give them?
Ryan: I would tell them that they need to have a good mentor. It's absolutely crucial to really learning their job. This should be someone who is willing to take them on and give them the time and attention needed to learn the loan process. Get with somebody who is very successful at what they do, shadow them continually, and observe exactly their system.
You need to put in 40 to 50 hours a week, especially at the beginning, to really learn the business and make sure you're making the most of your time every day. If you do that consistently, you can't be anything but successful because there's so much business out there.
You want to get to the point where you have less capacity than you do opportunity. Once you have more opportunities, more people to talk to, and not enough capacity, then you're at the point where you can hire others to help you. It will free you up down the road to have a little bit better lifestyle and do other things that you want to do.
I have one assistant and one processor on my team. They are able to handle a lot of things that come up, and free me up to just go out and originate more loans.
In Touch Today: What has been your most successful marketing campaign?
Ryan: A few years ago, we built several websites which had noting to do with mortgages. They were geared towards people who wanted to buy and sell real estate out in cyberspace. We would gather leads from these websites and then provide them to real estate agents to establish reciprocal relationships.
The typical Realtor/lender relationship is very one-sided. The lender is always asking for the referrals and buyers to do loans for, but very rarely does the lender ever have anything they can offer in return to the agent. We were different because we were able to provide leads to different real estate agents.
We partnered with a title company and they paid for a lot of the advertising of the websites on Google and Yahoo! The agents who made sales from the leads would open up their escrows with the title company in return. It was a win-win-win situation for everyone. And it gave me an opportunity to shine because Realtors were able to see that I could close loans quickly, give them referrals and please the customers. So they would do business with me again and again.
Sometimes I'll provide leads to real estate agents and they make sales but I don’t get the loan. This could happen because they’re selling a newly built home and the preferred lender has incentives, or perhaps the buyer pays cash for the home. But this never bothers me because I also get other business from the Realtors for sales which did not come from my referrals.
In Touch Today: Will you tell us a little bit more about these websites?
Ryan: One type was a relocation site. Another type was a “Just Listed” site for people looking for new homes that were just listed on the internet. And the third type advertises new homes in particular areas. We had 10 different sites up and running. They're still running today actually but we don't really advertise them anymore because we've taken our business in a new direction.
We now use the Scoreguardian database system to stay in touch with all of our clients. I’m able to bond with my clients as their advisor in trying to help them obtain the highest FICO score possible throughout their lives so that they pay as little interest as possible on all of their debt - not just their mortgage, but every credit-type relationship that they have. Because the higher FICO score that you have, the more feasible rates you get on credit cards, auto insurance, home owners insurance, consumer loans, installment loans and auto loans.
So now we just focus on relationships with our past clients because it's just better to deal with people you know and trust. Certainly we take on new clients but for the most part every new client is referred.
In Touch Today: Who or what was the biggest contributor to your success?
Ryan: Working for a good company is the key. I prefer to do loans in-house, from underwriting to funding. This means I can do loans very quickly because I don’t have to send them to another bank. I've oftentimes been able to close loans in two or three days when no one else could get the loan done that quickly. I’ve been able to come through and save deals for real estate agents by helping them close by a deadline so the buyer doesn’t lose their earnest money.
I've been with Great Southwest Mortgage for about 3.5 years now. They have an incredible system and we're able to get stuff done very quickly with such a phenomenal team. I’m also able to have a lot of out of state clients. I have relationships with people in California, Florida, and a lot of investors who are buying homes all over the country. I would say probably 80% of my business is in Arizona, because that's where I reside, but one out of every five loans is in another state. I've originated a loan in almost every state in the United States.
In Touch Today: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your current business?
Ryan: I would put more time in the day so I could talk to more people. But seriously, I don't know that there's a lot I would change besides having more time.
I suppose I wish I would have gotten into the business earlier. Who knows where I would be if I'd been in this business eight years longer. But I'm so grateful that I'm in this business now. I love what I do. I really have found my calling in life. I love originating loans, talking to people, meeting people and helping people.
In Touch Today: What are your current goals?
Ryan: I'd like to originate no less than $100 million a year, which is going to be fairly simple now with the systems we have put in place. I’d also like to have more free time, which certainly is going to be forthcoming with getting some additional staff trained to help manage any processing that we're doing. I’d love to spend more time with my family. Those are my goals for the most part.
In Touch Today: Is there anything else that you'd like to say to other originators who aspire to the kind of success you've created?
Ryan: You need to be comfortable with the company you work for, and make sure that they have all the tools in place to allow you to be successful. Being able to do loans out of state has been big for me. If I wasn't able to do that, I certainly would've lost a lot of relationships and not originated nearly as much business.
Other than that, I think you need to have a good mentor and a good work ethic. If you have the desire, and you're going put forth the time to be successful in a good operation that will allow you to do those things, you'll do very well.