Interview with a Winner:
Sue Woodard
"Just decide what is best for you and then go after it 110%"
Sue Woodard, Hometown-Mortgage, Maple Grove, MN
2002 Volume: $55 million
Average Loan Amount: $160,000
Software: Calyx Point, ACT, Mortgage Coach
Potential 2003 Statistics: $75 million, average loan $175,000
Boni Lonnsburry: What is your referral source mix?
Sue Woodard: 75% business partners and 25% past or current clients. Our percentage of past clients has increased because of the refinance market and our marketing efforts, which we instituted a year ago. Before that, we didn't market to our past clients much at all.
Boni: Who are your business partners?
Sue: I work with Realtors, financial planners, accountants and attorneys. 90% of my business partners are Realtors.
Boni: How did you get started in the business?
Sue: I was working at a credit union in the early 90's and got tired of opening checking accounts, IRAs and doing car loans. There was an opening in the Real Estate department for a processor. I became a processor in 1993 and learned to do everything. The processing environment was completely "cradle to grave". I did originating, processing, underwriting, closing, funding, and serviced portfolios. I acquired a wide range of experience in the business.
From the credit union I went to another company that was "cradle to grave", but at an even higher volume. I was almost exclusively part of operations and management until 1999, which is when I began originating full time.
Boni: Were you an immediate success?
Sue: In some ways, I was. I had developed excellent relationships over the years with business partners and past clients, so I had a good reputation to build my business on.
Boni: What mistake do you see beginning loan officers make?
Sue: Their biggest mistake is not investing enough in themselves. They are not willing to spend the money that they need to spend to build their business. When you're on 100% commission, you're self-employed. Too many new loan officers look at their positions as jobs, not businesses that they're running.
A business owner would never begin a business without investing in the things they need to do business. First, they have to make the investment to get computers, equipment, staff or whatever else they need. They launch into business when they are finally able to serve their clients. I see too many new loan officers trying to get clients before having any of the things in place that will enable them to be successful.
Boni: Do you think veteran loan officers make different mistakes?
Sue: The mistake that I see veteran loan officers make, and I certainly don't consider myself to be a veteran yet, is to become complacent. It is too easy sit back and go with the flow instead of taking a good look at the new ideas and technologies that are out there.
Veterans tend to sit back and say, "Well that's not the way we've ever done it before." One of my college professors said something that I've never forgotten. He said that the people who are new to an industry are usually the ones who are going to be on the cutting edge. They are the ones who have the time, the energy, and the drive to read all the industry journals, to investigate all the new ideas, and to spend time coming up with new, fresh, exciting things. Those who have been in the industry for a longer time are more set in their ways of doing things.
Sometimes I'll catch myself looking at something a new loan officer is doing and saying, "Oh that will never work. We've never done it that way." But I try to remember what my professor said, that quite often the new loan officers are the ones who have what it takes to dig into new ideas.
Boni: How do you stay motivated and goal oriented?
Sue: I have such a passion for this business; it has always been pretty natural for me. I've never looked at it as a job. It is something that I'm so excited and passionate about, that I love doing every day. It really isn't that hard for me to stay motivate. We all have our down days, but I have a great group of people around me and we build each other up.
Boni: How did you get such a high volume of Realtor participation in your business?
Sue: I had a good reputation when I began originating full time because the Realtors were familiar with me. I've done a lot of work since then building stronger relationships with those Realtors. I feel very strongly about educating myself, my business partners, and our clients. I focus on educating them and making sure they are aware of any changes happening in our business, new ideas, and other ways to make them more effective in their businesses.
Another thing I do to build the relationship is to take total responsibility for the entire transaction regardless of what it is. They know that they can rely on us. I'm never going to call them and say, "Gosh, we can't get the appraisal back so your deal is not going to close on time." They know and can trust in the fact that we take total responsibility for the entire transaction.
Boni: Do you do anything else to maintain the relationships?
Sue: I don't stay in constant contact with my Realtors. I work with high producing Realtors who don't want a lot of visits with donuts. Their primary concern is that their clients are taken care of, serviced in the best manner possible, and given the best and most appropriate programs. They want their transactions to close smoothly and without stress.
We have a database that we use religiously to help us stay in contact with our agents and we do several special things every year. Once a year, we throw an appreciation party and invite each Realtor to invite his or her ten best clients or referral sources. Last year we had about 250 people. It's a great situation because we are able to make them look good to their clients, and they all entertain themselves. They aren't just sitting around with a bunch of other Realtors, talking about real estate. They're building their businesses.
Another special thing we do is deliver goody baskets each fall (apples, caramel, tea, and hot chocolate). And I send books quite a bit. I love to send books because they are very personal and high impact, but don't cost a lot of money.
Boni: What are your favorite books to send?
Sue: "Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service" by Kenneth H. Blanchard, and "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason. You can go to the bookstore and find all kinds of books on business, motivation and customer service.
Boni: If you had a son or daughter entering the business, what advice would you give them?
Sue: I'd be thrilled if my daughter ever wanted to get into the business. She's only five, but I do talk to her about what I do. I tell her how I help families and other kids get into new houses. I want her to understand what I do while I'm gone all day and to feel some pride and excitement about that with me.
I would tell her not to be afraid to invest in herself, to believe in herself, to work hard, and to never give up. A lot of people get into this business thinking that it is going to be easy and it's just going to happen for them within a couple of months. But it's a difficult business, and it takes a lot of hard work.
Boni: What was your most successful marketing campaign?
Sue: We've done two really successful things. First, the annual party I mentioned earlier is a huge success with our business partners and their clients. Our website is the second thing. We worked on it for a long time (www.suewoodard.com) and designed it to be a source of information rather than a prospecting tool. My ideal client isn't one who is browsing online. But it has been helpful to have a website out there with more information about myself, my team, the loan process, pitfalls borrowers should watch out for, the basic steps of getting a loan, terms that are used, etc. It's been a big time saver for me because there are so many things that I want clients to understand, and I can direct them to my website for more information. I think sometimes people just want to know that you have some type of presence online. It adds an element of professionalism.
Boni: Do you have a turnkey sales or marketing idea that we can share with people?
Sue: Something we do, and which anyone could do in a short amount of time, is to produce a document with a closing cost chart on it that gives an estimate of closing costs for various loan amounts. There's a blurb on there describing what is included in closing costs, what isn't, and how to calculate an estimate of pre-paid items. We have current loan limits on there, how to calculate mortgage insurance, how to calculate funding fees, what the caps are for seller contributions, etc.
By providing this two sided, laminated sheet to my business partners, I can help them do their job more efficiently. I've found that they all stick it in their portfolio or their briefcase, and then they are able to answer questions without calling me, yet my name is still in front of them all the time.
Boni: It sounds like you have different campaigns for different clients or segments of prospective clients. Can you describe them?
Sue: Our client database was developed in three segments because of the gaps I discovered in my business. One of them was a gap after initial contact with the prospect and pre approval. I found I was filing away the prospect's information and then never having any further contact with them unless they called me. Once you reach a certain volume of business, you aren't going to remember to take the time to call everyone back. But I realized my retention rate with those initial contacts was poor because I wasn't staying in contact with them.
Sometimes you get the deal because you are in the right place at the right time. If you're not right in front of the prospect, and they don't have your name and number handy, they are going to call whoever they think of first. So we have a segment of our database called "Before". It is designed for people who have had initial contact but no transaction. They are sent information twice a week, beginning with my personal brochure and more information about me and my team. This is followed by a loop of more market-type information: what's happening in the market locally, what's happening with the housing market, etc.
None of it is in depth, but it keeps my name and number in front of them. And because it is automated with the database, it isn't something I have to think about. As a result, my retention rate has gone through the roof (from 50% to about 95% now).
The next segment is the "During" phase, and was designed to eliminate the gap between when I'd lock in their rate and pass them on to my team for processing. I wouldn't have any further contact with the client because my assistants and my processor would take care of everything. I found that clients were left with a bad feeling. In my opinion, I'd done my piece of the job. But from the customer's point of view, we were just getting started.
So we implemented a series of letters and triggers for me to call the client. The letters are personal letters, signed by me, with status updates on their loan. And I'm given a reminder to make an unsolicited phone call to the client to check in and let them know that I'm thinking about them. Our satisfaction rates have gone up incredibly, but again, because it is all automated, it doesn't take a lot of time out of my day.
The last segment, "After", was designed to correct the ineffectual job we were doing of marketing to our past clients. I've always had a database, but it was more of a warehouse of information than a tool for marketing. If I had always done a decent job at marketing, I might be doing twice the volume I do now. But it's never too late to correct mistakes. With our new system, once the transaction is complete, there are a series of things that happen specifically for after closing: getting the client a copy of their settlement statement, making sure they know how to make their first payment, and sending out our newsletters.
An important item to note is that during all these segments we ask for referrals, consistently, at every single contact. Our referral rate has gone up incredibly since we've instituted this small step. But it hasn't been a lot of work because it is automated through our database system.
Boni: How often do you contact clients once they've closed?
Sue: About six times a year. We're trying to determine the right frequency. We want to be consistent, but we also want the ability to turn on or off business. This past year has been challenging because we've had more business than we could handle. We didn't want to do many mailings to our past clients because we couldn't handle much more than we had.
I made a huge mistake, at the end of 2001, when I sent out a mailing to all of our past clients trying to make sure we squeezed the last bit out of the refinance market. We had 300 phone calls over the next two days, and we couldn't get back to people fast enough. The rates started changing, and we ended up with a lot of unhappy people. It was a hard lesson to learn. So next year, when business slows down, we will mail more frequently. Maybe once a month.
Boni: Who or what was the biggest contributor to your success?
Sue: I've had a manager here locally for years, Al Velasco, who originally encouraged me to make the change from operations to the production side of things. He has been a huge mentor and encouragement to me over the years. I'm so glad I made the switch. I love what I'm doing and I've never been happier. I owe making that decision to him.
Over the last year or two, I've been influenced by Barry Habib and his Mortgage Market Guide, Tim Braheem and his loan tool box, and Mike Baker, whose articles I have cut out and pasted around my desk.
Boni: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your current business?
Sue: I'd freeze time for a month or two so I could implement my plans and ideas, then flick it back on and resume business. Maybe I'd even take a week or two off in there somewhere, which would be nice as well.
Boni: What are your goals now?
Sue: I have a lot of ideas for new ways to build business. I've got a good team of people around me and I'm looking forward to growing that team. A good friend of mine said recently, "Winners are successful, but champions take others with them." That is what I want to do. I want to be successful, but I want to bring other people with me. If there is any small way that I could give back to the industry, that would be a thrill for me.
Boni: Are there any last thoughts you'd like to leave for originators who aspire to the kind of success you've created?
Sue: There are two things I'd like to say. Number One: Do not be afraid to make your business your own. Don't feel you have to model it after someone else's. All of our businesses are made up of little tidbits of what we've learned. You take all those little pieces and put your own spin on it, and that becomes your business. Your business doesn't have to look like somebody else's, you don't have to have a massive team, and you don't have to do $200 million. Just decide what is best for you and then go after it 110%.
Number Two: What I think separates the great loan officers from the good loan officers is that the good ones get ideas and talk about them, but the great ones actually take the steps to implement them.