Interview with a Winner:
Cindy Ertman
Platinum Capital Group, Manhattan Beach, CA
2004 Sales Volume: $146 million
Average Loan Amount: $450,000
Software: Calyx Point, ACT, and Mortgage Coach
Referral Source Mix:50% past clients, 40 % Realtors, 10% corporations and CPAs and new business contacts.
Boni Lonnsburry: How did you get started in the mortgage business?
Cindy Ertman: I got started in the business a little over 17 years ago. I was working for a real estate development company that ended up closing their doors. A friend of mine suggested that I consider becoming a mortgage broker. I have to admit, I had a really difficult time imagining myself going from Senior Vice President at a reputable company to a loan rep. But she did eventually convince me that it would be a great opportunity, particularly for a woman. She put me in touch with some people at California Federal Savings in Brentwood, California. I started directly with the bank and quickly realized that it was a match in terms of personality. I’ve been doing it ever since, so something must have worked for me.
Boni Lonnsburry: Were you an immediate success?
Cindy Ertman: In hindsight, I was so naïve regarding the lending industry. To some degree I think that helped me. I worked incredibly hard with a great amount of focus. I was brand new to the Los Angeles area and was assigned four real estate offices. I knew absolutely no one and I had no idea what I was doing.
It was a tough way to get started in the business. I had a quota to meet – I was supposed to submit 20 loan applications per month – and it felt like a significant amount of business. I worked extremely hard to meet that quota. I basically walked into each real estate office, talked to the manager, and asked for the names of their top five people. Then I just focused on the top five in each of those four offices and ultimately hooked up with a couple of top producing Realtors who were responsible for 75% of my income for the next three to four years.
I concentrated on great communication skills with the agents, incredible follow up and follow through and smooth execution. When you are building a business, you have to focus on the things that make you stand out from the crowd. You have to be the total package.
The hard work eventually paid off and I knew I had found my future career.
Boni: How did you win over those top Realtors?
Cindy: It wasn't (and isn't) an easy thing to do, but I think persistence is the key. When you’re starting a new career, consistency is difficult – we all want that instant gratification. If you beat on somebody’s door for three weeks, and they don’t respond, it's natural to think that you're never going to give you any business and that you are wasting your time. I am a competitive person by nature and I could not afford to fail. So I put forth a diligent effort to get through to the Realtors in other ways. I attended broker open houses and weekend open houses. I sent hand-written thank you notes and made follow-up phone calls. I would call them on Friday afternoons and let them know that was available to handle their client needs over the weekend and give them my contact information. Then I would follow up on Monday to see if they had anyone they had met over the weekend that needed to be prequalified. I truly went above and beyond what they were used to from their current mortgage professional.
Boni: What mistakes do you see rookie loan officers making?
Cindy : One of the biggest mistakes I've seen them make is to fail to seek out new information and educate themselves on what is going on in the overall marketplace. I’m a sales manager as well as the top originator at my company, so I spend a lot of time meeting with other loan officers and trying to help them build their own business.
Loan originators need to spend time reading mortgage publications. They need to research the newest, latest and greatest mortgage products. I encourage our new loan officers to look at resources such as Dave Savage’s The Mortgage Coach, Barry Habib’s Mortgage Market Guide (editor’s note: similar to In Touch Today’s, Mortgage Matters weekly email update http://www.intouchtoday.net/mortgage/mormortgagematters.asp), and Tim Braheem’s Loan Toolbox (editor’s note: similar to In Touch Today programs, http://www.intouchtoday.net),. These tools can give them an edge in the marketplace. My biggest frustration is that a lot of loan officers tell me, “yes, I’m going to do that,” and then I talk to them three months later and they still haven’t done it.
I still believe that to be successful in our industry, you have to pick a path, whether it be Realtor, Financial Planners, CPA’s etc… and work a plan and stick with it. We are in the relationship business and relationships just simply take time to build. Most loan originators just give up too soon and change their course. Staying focused and working a plan will pay off over time.
Boni: Do you think veteran loan officers make different mistakes?
Cindy: I’m always amazed, even within our own company, that more loan originators don’t seek out tool that will help them perfect their trade. We need to constantly reinvent ourselves and bring new ideas to the table. It is important to "think outside the box” and create new ways to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. I attend at least two mortgage conferences per year to try to stay up to date on software mortgage products and programs and sales ideas. It only takes one new idea to continue to differentiate yourself or to ignite your career. Just implement one new idea and it can make all the difference for your future.
Veterans need to realize that it is critically important to fine-tune their skills and find ways to bring new value to their referral and customer base. I believe in educating my clients and my referral sources and trying to help them find ways to build their own businesses. If I focus on helping them build their business, then my business grows as a result.
Boni: Please share with us a little about your customer retention program.
Cindy: About 10 years ago I was encouraged to form a database marketing program. I really fought it. The only thing I had done right was to hang onto every loan application I had ever taken. I ultimately hired a student from a local college and paid him $10 an hour to set up my database because I didn’t have the time to do it personally. I highly encourage people to pay a few bucks and get someone else to set up and manage their databases.
I broke my databases down into sections so I could target market certain sectors. I have broken my database down into closed loans/previous clients, business contacts, Realtors, friends and family and prospects. I consistently send about 10-12 pieces per year to my databases. I have sent a mortgage newsletter out to my database consistently every 60 days for the last 10 years. This has created more success and client retention than any other thing I have done in my career.
Boni: What do you think differentiates you from other originators out there?
Cindy: I think my determination differentiates me. I’ve set my sights very high in terms of personal accomplishment. The thing that I love most about what we do as originators is that we help people. Buying a home is the single biggest purchase that anyone will ever make in their life. It’s thrilling to be part of that process. I focus on building life relationships with my clients, rather than looking at them as one loan.
I’m a “big picture” person. I stay very focused on looking at where I want to be in a year and in five years. I make my decisions based on those goals. I don’t make decisions based on making an extra thousand on one particular loan, just because I can. I choose to make less per deal and make it up in volume. I try to establish my credibility in the first phone call and make the assumption that I will handle all their future mortgage needs. I try to get their loan application during the first call. This works very effectively for me and my team.
Boni: If you had a son or a daughter entering the business, what advice would you give them?
Cindy: I actually have three kids, and they’ve all helped me out in the office over the years. I’ve told them that being successful in the mortgage industry takes an incredible amount of self-drive. There are two types of individuals: one type is extremely entrepreneurial in spirit and self-driven, the others need more of a structured environment and directive. The first type is well-suited for the mortgage industry.
I would strongly encourage any of my children to get into this industry because you can be your own boss, manage your own time and be compensated based on the effort you put into it. If you’re a hard worker, no one will stand in the way of your success. I wanted to be in this type of situation personally and I’d want it for my children as well. I don’t think there is any other profession on the planet that would have kept my interest for so many years. Every deal is a new deal; Guidelines, products, market trends and technology are constantly changing.
Boni: What was your most successful marketing campaign?
Cindy: I send a magnet calendar to my databases at Christmas every year. I've personally been into client's homes and seen three or four of my magnets on the refrigerator – because they don't throw them away! I try to focus on simple, cost effective marketing strategies that my clients are going to retain.
About four months ago, we started providing our closed loan clients with a “Homeowner Book of Records.” When their deal closes, we put a copy of their appraisal, a copy of their final closing statement, a copy of their purchase contract, new address labels and one of our magnet calendars into the book. They can easily keep track of their property insurance info, home warranty, appliance information, utilities and household services. It is personalized with our logo on the front and our business card in a plastic pocket. These run about $17 a piece but have been extremely effective. No one is going to throw them away. Every time they pull it out, our business card and name is right on the front of them.
Boni: Who or what was the biggest contributor to your success?
Cindy: The development of a database management system has had the biggest impact on my success. I would encourage any loan officer who doesn’t have a database to start the process. A lot of newer loan officers seem to think that if they don’t have previous clients, they don’t have anybody to put in their database. But one of the single best pieces of advice given to me by one of the owners of our company 10 years ago was to start a personal database with your friends, your family, and every single person you come into contact with. If you get a business card from anybody, add them into your database.
In addition, I had some incredible mentors along the way. I try to surround myself with knowledgeable professionals and model my business after others. I believe there is no need sometimes to reinvent the wheel all the time when someone else is doing something that works. I am a big believer of modeling those that are more successful than me.
Boni: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your business?
Cindy: I would have worked harder on delegation and training staff to handle more of the day to day earlier in my career. I am a control fanatic and am very detail oriented and had a hard time giving up the control piece, which to some degree limited my production abilities. I have now learned to delegate and am still working on not over committing myself. I am trying to implement one new idea per month, whether it be improving our technology, implementing a new marketing piece or working on improving our systems for origination. I also work to “give back” and help other originators improve their business strategies. It makes the work so much rewarding to help mentor another loan originator and help make them successful.
Boni: What are your current goals?
Cindy: My goals are changing. Going into my 18 th year as a truly hands-on originator, I’m at a point where I want to restructure a little bit.
I want to personally set up two different teams. One would focus more on corporate relationships, business managers and CPAs. The second team would help me manage my in-house lending relationship with our local Real Estate office.
I personally would like to spend some more time giving back to the mortgage industry. I’ve had some key people mentor me. I’ve spent time in the last year mentoring some other loan officers. I’m also working on some training programs within our company. We are trying to match new loan officers us with a mentor that can help train and educate them and give them someone to model. This has been a very successful tool at Platinum Capital Group.
Boni: How do you plan to begin to establish your corporate relationships?
Cindy: I went back to my previous client database to look for the people I had done loans for who were presidents and vice presidents of major companies, or human resource directors. I started focusing on these folks who I knew were in Southern California.
We made our first contact of a local company with 900 employees. Honestly, I was surprised at how easy it was. We offered them a discount package that could be part of their employee benefit program. Based on the size of the loan, their employees will get a certain amount of discounts off the fees. Within the first week, we had four calls for new loans!
I have decided that this is an area that people really need to focus on. It’s a great resource for the companies because it costs them nothing but they can present it as a benefit to their employees. We have access to email all their employees with new loan product information, and we can have information inserted with the employee pay stubs. We’ve just met with our second company and already have a verbal commitment to move forward with their program as well.
Boni: Is there anything you’d like to say to other originators who would love to obtain the kind of success that you’ve created?
Cindy: Take advantage of any opportunities you have in the way of education. Don’t fall into the trap of saying “that’s a waste of time,” or “I don’t have the time.” Many years ago I was scheduled to attend a seminar in New Mexico and I almost cancelled because I felt that I was just too busy. I finally talked myself into going anyway. At that seminar, I met Barry Habib and Greg Frost and ended up doing an interview for Broker Magazine. Barry Habib developed the concept for Mortgage Market Guide at that conference and I developed a friend and mentor for life. Through those relationships I have met so many extremely talented people that have had great influence on my life and my business. I just really recommend that you constantly quench the thirst for knowledge and take advantage of the opportunities to learn from the best.