Interview with a Winner:
John Haydin
"..sharing ideas helps develop solid relationships."
John Haydin, Loan and Mortgage Center, St. Francis Bank, FSB, New Berlin, WI
2001 Volume: $44 Million
Average Loan Amount: $120,000
Software: ACT, More Vision
Boni Lonnsburry: What is your referral source mix?
John Hayden: Right now, I am at about 45% past customers and the remaining 55% is Realtors, divorce attorneys, financial planners, builders and miscellaneous.
Boni: How did you get started in the mortgage business?
John: My background was in the auto business. I ran finance departments for car dealerships for six years. The demand on my personal life was so great that I almost needed a divorce attorney myself. So I decided that I needed to make a change. While researching fields where my qualifications and experience could be utilized, I gravitated towards the banking industry. When I researched the banking industry, it seemed that mortgage origination would be best for me. It would also be the easiest transition.
Boni: When did you begin in the mortgage industry?
John: In September of 1999.
Boni: Were you an immediate success?
John: My first year, I did 9 million.
Boni: How were you trained?
John: We have a pretty good training program here at the bank. I don’t work for a brokerage; I work for a bank, which is a much different environment than most originators experience. We have a three-month training program – it is quite intense.
Boni: What mistake do you think new loan officers make in this business?
John: Lack of follow up with both their strategic partners and their clients. Especially through last year with all the refinance business, there is not a lot of unused time. People want to be smashing successes from the get go, and they don’t realize that they need to spend time with their current customers and their strategic partners (such as Realtors) so that they can ensure long-term success. I think they just get caught up in the now and don’t worry about the future.
Boni: Do you think veteran loan officers make the same mistake?
John: The younger loan officers don’t care about spending time building relationships because they don’t know any better. The veterans choose not to care; they choose not to do it.
Boni: If you had a son or a daughter entering the business, what advice would you give him or her?
John: I would encourage them to find a good mentor. I think that was essential to my success. I would also suggest that they take it slow and develop relationships. That way, the years ahead will become easier for them. They won’t have to stress out every month, when the pipeline is empty, if they develop their business as a business and keep a CEO mindset.
Boni: How did you go about finding your mentor?
John: My mentor was my boss. I think I was one of the luckiest originators, as I fell into the right place at the right time. My boss took the time to help with my transition from the very fast paced auto business, where you’re only as good as your last deal, to the mortgage business, where it’s important to develop high trust relationships.
Boni: How do you go about building those relationships?
John: It changes as I move forward in my career. When I meet a Realtor or referral source whom I think I’d like to work with, I learn more about them and make sure that I enjoy spending time with them. Then I know my customers will also enjoy spending time with them. I try to take the first interview with someone to just spend time developing rapport, finding out if we have a connection. Then we’ll decide if we want to work together and develop a long-term business plan and short-term goals. We decide where we’re going to go from there.
As a matter of fact, this morning, I sat down with my top Realtor and we talked about weekly planning. We developed a weekly schedule, including time blocking, and made sure time was scheduled to get certain things done during the week. Sharing a schedule with each other on a weekly basis, sometimes even a daily basis, helps keep us accountable with our planning.
Boni: Sounds like a support or coaching group. How many Realtors do you do this with?
John: I do this with two Realtors. It benefits all of us. You have to get in mind that it is a two way street, and sharing ideas helps develop solid relationships.
Boni: How many Realtors do you actively work with?
John: Eight Realtors. That’s why I only keep two Realtors at the highest level relationship.
Boni: How do you work with the other six?
John: I meet with the others bi-yearly or sometimes monthly, to make sure we are trying to achieve the same types of goals. But we don’t hold each other accountable to schedules or plans. The two main Realtors I work with, we’ll meet once or twice a month to discuss different marketing strategies, to update each other on our pipelines, to reaffirm where we want to be, and what our expectations of each other are.
Boni: How did you choose the divorce attorney niche?
John: When I was about six or eight months into the business, I would take the “floor calls” at the bank. During one two-week span I received three or four phone calls for refinancing that involved working with divorce attorneys. Of those four, two had the same divorce attorney.
It clicked in my head that when you’re a divorce attorney, you have a huge need for contact with a loan officer. A loan officer can give you marketing and rates information and can tell you what can and can not be done with a loan. Right away, I called up the divorce attorney and scheduled a meeting with him. I was surprised that there was a virtually untapped niche market. I stepped in and now I work with about four divorce attorneys in very close relationships. It’s a big part of my business at this point.
Boni: How do your relationships with the divorce attorneys differ from your relationships with the Realtors?
John: Divorce attorneys are much busier; therefore the relationship is more distant. They mainly want numbers, facts and updates. They are happy with a rate sheet and one phone call a month. They don’t really want to sit down with you. From what I’ve seen, generally speaking, their business is very fast paced. They’re often in court and they have a lot of things to do during the day. It requires less time on my part to maintain a relationship with a divorce attorney than with a Realtor.
Boni: What do you do when you receive a referral from a divorce attorney?
John: I handle it the same way I do with a Realtor. The only difference is, instead of taking the application for a purchase, you’re actually taking it for a refinance. As with the Realtor, you want to keep the line of communication open. With a Realtor, you want to make sure you’re telling them about the appraisal, about title, about closing dates, etc.
With a divorce attorney, your main cue is with the divorce papers. You are maintaining communication because everything revolves around the date of divorce. That is where the main line of communication is. But all the divorce attorney really wants to do is hand it over and forget about it. They want to make sure the customer gets handled within six months because there is usually a six-month stipulation in the divorce decree. The divorce attorney doesn’t need as much as a Realtor does.
Boni: How do you begin a relationship with a divorce attorney?
John: The same way that I do with a Realtor. I set up an appointment, see if they are someone I want to work with and share some of my goals with them. I try to find out if what I can bring to them matches up with what they can bring to me. If so, we then have a basis for working together.
Boni: Have they been pretty open to working with you?
John: Yes, they have been very open actually.
Boni: What was your most successful marketing campaign?
John: I recently came up with the idea of targeting a specific profession. In my case, I targeted firefighters. I did it with the premise of a zero-down loan just for firefighters. I think it was successful because everyone wants to see something that is meant just for them. I sent out one flyer, with a letter, to six different fire houses. From that effort, I received about 15 phone calls within four business days.
The idea originated with my assistant. I think that having an assistant is extremely important to the generation of ideas because we mortgage originators are moving so fast and we have to stop and slow down to come up with these things. It is important to have someone else geared to help you make your business succeed.
Boni: Are you going to target any other professions?
John: Yes. I’ve already started. I plan to target teachers next.
Boni: Was the step to hiring an assistant a difficult one?
John: It was difficult. For me, hiring an assistant took about eight months of planning. The hardest part was to learn to delegate things and to realize it was worth it to pay somebody else to do the work.
Boni: Where do you start?
John: Write out a job description for yourself. Write down exactly what you do, every day, for a week. Try to pull out pieces that you feel can be easily delegated. Those pieces make up the assistant’s job description.
Boni: Who or what was the biggest contributor to your success?
John: The “Who” was my boss and mentor, Barb Kratz. She gave me the tools that I needed to succeed. She introduced me to the right people; she showed me how to deal with them. She exposed me to the whole origination business. The “How” was really my own personal drive and motivation to become the best that I can be.
Boni: You’ve got a pretty high percentage of past clients and referrals. How do you keep in touch with your past clients?
John: I do newsletters and maintain excellent customer service standards.
Boni: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your current business?
John: I would have Realtors asking me for business, rather than me asking the Realtors for business. This would go for all my strategic partners.
Boni: Do you have a plan for that?
John: Everything that I try to do revolves around it.
Boni: What are your goals now?
John: I want to close 60 million next year, which is probably my biggest goal.
Boni: As we close, are there any other thoughts you’d like to leave for originators who aspire to the same kind of success that you’ve created?
John: Keep a CEO attitude and always have a positive outlook.
Boni: Do you find it a challenge to keep positive?
John: At times, yes. Everyone has their bad days. To stay positive you have to surround yourself with positive people. If you continue to do that, it will help you. The positivity and success will rub off and take you where you want to go.
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