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2006 origination volume: $40 million
2006 average loan amount: $330,000
Software: Workcenter (for CRM) and Mortgage Coach
Referral Source Mix: 100% attorneys, mental health professionals and past clients who have gone through the divorce planning process.

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In Touch Today: How did you get started in the mortgage business?

Jonathan Klein: 11 years ago I was in corporate relocation. I helped corporate executives throughout the country find temporary housing. It required a lot of travel, and I was a single father at the time. A friend of mine was in the mortgage wholesale business back in the late 90’s and introduced me to it. Like many people entering the business, it was sink or swim – and I sank for a long time. Unfortunately you have to teach yourself a lot of the business.

In Touch Today: So you weren’t an immediate success?

Jonathan: I was an utter failure. A lot of it was my own fault. I'd been in sales for many years and I felt like I could transfer that to the mortgage business without talking to any veteran mortgage professionals or getting any advice.

I tried a lot of things in the beginning that were destined to be less than successful. You know the coin operated newspaper dispensing boxes? I would take my son out on a Sunday morning, go to the newspaper box, open it up, put a brick on the door to hold it open, and stuff the newspapers with my flyers. It took time to do that, and that kind of approach just doesn't work. To be successful, you have to become a professional. You have to know more than just what the current rates are.

In Touch Today: What mistakes do you think rookie loan officers typically make?

Jonathan: They jump right in without finding their niche. Find something you do well, and make it into your niche. Specializing doesn’t mean giving up all other business – it just means being the best at the niche you’ve chosen to exploit.

For example, my father and brother are both doctors. My father is a cardiologist while my brother is an orthopedic surgeon. If I asked them for advice on anything other than their particular specialty, they would say to me, “what the hell do you want me to tell you? I don't know anything about that!” Much as medicine and the legal fields have become specialized, so have successful mortgage professionals. Are you going to go to a general practitioner if you're having chest pains? No. You're going to go a cardiologist. So become a specialist. Whether it takes self-training or professional education, invest the time.

My specialty is divorce planning and it is uncontested market space. I don’t have to waste time answering fruitless calls every day about rates. The people who call me have specific needs which I’m specially qualified to meet. I don’t worry about other business I may be “giving up” which doesn’t fall into my niche. I know that by spending that time on becoming a specialist, and networking in my specialty, I’ll make any lost revenue back and then some.

In Touch Today : What mistakes do you think veteran loan officers typically make?

Jonathan: They don’t manage their database. Your past client database alone is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. One lesson I learned early on in sales was if you stayed in contact with everybody that you ever met, from early childhood to adulthood, you'd never have to make a cold sale. It's that simple. But because we're such a mobile society, we lose contact with our high school and college friends and the people from our hometown.

In Touch Today: What do you think differentiates you from the average mortgage professional?

Jonathan: I’m in a completely different marketplace. While your typical mortgage professional may go after Realtors, financial planners or tax advisors, there's no one targeting mental health professionals and attorneys. Can you imagine someone a decade ago saying, "I'm going to go target mental health professionals for home loans"? You would have thought they were crazy!

Divorce affects all aspects of obtaining home financing - where you live, your income, your assets, your liabilities, your cost of living, and so on and so forth. My consultations with clients are part of their divorce process. Clients are referred to me by attorneys, or mental health professional and I charge a retainer for that consultation.

In Touch Today: If you had a son or a daughter entering this business, what advice would you give them?

Jonathan: I have a 14-year-old son and an 11-year old daughter, and we actually talk about this a lot. The first thing I advise them to do is to stay in touch with the people they know. We talk constantly about adding value to their friends (basically their niche).

After college, at 22 years old, I sold life insurance. I couldn’t go up to a 50-year-old guy and say, “By the way. You're going to die.” That doesn't work. But my father was a doctor, and he had a lot of young residents and interns working for him. So I went to his hospital and introduced myself to these young guys. I sold them disability insurance to protect them in the event that they became disabled after spending all their time and money on medical school. This was their “pain” or their “hook.” When you sell to anyone, you have to find the hook and structure your pitch to it. Find out what they need or want first and foremost. Otherwise you won't get their attention.

For example, when I deal with divorce attorneys, I describe my service by using my trademarked acronym CRADLE. This stands for Credit, Resolve, Asset, Dependent, Life and Estate. It is the basis of my Divorce Plans for their client. But quite frankly, the attorney really only cares about how he or she is going to get paid. So I make sure they understand that by utilizing my consultation services, I can make sure they will get paid. How do I do this? I do it, for example, by telling their clients to take out an equity loan on their house when they decided they want to be divorced. Too many clients run out of money in the process of getting divorced and the attorneys don’t get paid. This proposition is understandably attractive to the attorneys I’m in contact with.

In Touch Today: What has been your most successful marketing campaign?

Jonathan: Mortgage Coach has become the cornerstone of our marketing campaign. We use it to generate the first piece that is mailed to attorneys and therapists. For lack of better words, it rocks. We know who we're mailing to. We know that they're our target audience. We know that they're professionals in family law or family matters such as therapists and mental health professionals.

A new letter goes out about every 15 days. We see a quicker rate of success with the mental health professionals. It doesn’t take them as long to see the benefits as it does for the attorneys. This could be in part because we’re able to appeal to them with an artistic and passionately worded piece. The attorneys are not as easily impressed. So our cover letters are tailored to each industry and spell out quite clearly their pain (or hook) in order to get their attention.

We also make sure we are constantly filling our funnel with new potential referral prospects. And we find them all on the Internet. I don't buy a single source. When I need more leads, I go on the Internet and I just Google an industry. I also get referrals from other attorneys or therapists I’m working with.

In addition, our campaigns would be impossible if were not for our CRM application by Workcenter. When you’re sending our 75 letters a week, and making that many follow up phone calls, you must have an application that is automated. Your campaigns are loaded and all you have to do is push a button and go.

In Touch Today: Who or what has been the biggest contributor to your success?

Jonathan: My father has been a huge supporter. Believe it or not, my ex-wife, who still works for me, has been a tremendous supporter as well. In terms of professional support, I think that listening to people like Barry Habib, Jim McMahon and Dave Savage are invaluable. And I also say Randy Rife, who created Workcenter, has helped me tremendously in getting where I am today.

In Touch Today: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your current business?

Jonathan: I would make divorce less acrimonious. Divorce planning is about benefiting the client and making the best of a bad situation.

In Touch Today: What are your current goals?

Jonathan: My goal is to continue expanding my divorce planning expertise. I want to bring divorce planning into the mainstream for our industry, and to make it an actual certification.

In Touch Today: Is there anything else you'd like to say to other professionals who aspire to the kind of success that you've created?

Jonathan: Always remember that practice makes perfect. If you have a passion for what you do, practicing your craft will be a joy. Become an expert in your niche. If you're not going to do that, then it's not worth doing at all. Learn to sell by asking better questions – then making the answers easy to understand. Be prepared for every meeting. Even if it's just lunch with a contact, or even a friend, be prepared. Write down questions that you want to ask. Preparation – it's your roadmap. If you don't prepare, you'll never know where you got lost.