Follow-Up With a Winner: Stephen Rockefeller, CMA, Vice President SunTrust Mortgage, Virginia Beach |
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2006 team origination volume: $202 million
2006 average loan amount: $212,600
2007 team origination volume: $252 million
2007 average loan amount: $222,653
2008 year-to-date (as of March) team origination volume: $80 million
2008 year-to-date average loan amount: $238,000
Original Interview August 2002
In Touch Today: We first interviewed you back in 2002. How do you think the mortgage business has changed since then?
Stephen Rockefeller: Wow! It has changed by leaps and bounds. DU and LP took over and ran the ball all the way to the finish line for us. Who would have ever thought a computer would render a lending decision that a commissioned loan officer could then underwrite to close? With the automated systems, some of us were able to take loans from application to close within a 24 hour window. The automated systems were so helpful that lending began to resemble the days of the “wild, wild west.”
Then the sheriff came to town. The system started tightening and here we are – faced with changes that 70% of those out there have never faced before. Loan programs are disappearing almost daily. Who ever heard of a “Liquidity Crunch?” This is serious business! When American Home Mortgage filed bankruptcy, that alone spoke volumes to those in the industry.
Ask anyone on my team what my office saying is and they will tell you, “it’s about keeping people employed.” There are many good people losing their jobs daily due to the decline in the industry. And there is no one to blame. Unfortunately Wild West lending brought us to this point. I have always said that after every refinance boom you can expect significant changes in the industry. Can anyone guess what further changes we will see in 2008? In my opinion the most significant change will be the loss of many products. Always remember applications cure the ill.
In Touch Today: Where do you see this industry headed in the future?
Stephen: I see an industry where only the strong and determined will survive, one where many who do not have the “fiscal financial survivor experience” will not last. No one has a lending advantage any more. The playing field has been leveled. This is far from over. Based on information from many sources with far more economic experience than I, we may have two years to go before the dust settles.
In Touch Today: How must today’s originator change to address the new needs of the consumer?
Stephen: They must listen to the consumer’s needs. They need to be honest and be candid. If the consumer does not qualify, tell them. However, get them on a plan to some day be able to secure a loan. Too often we are afraid of saying no for fear of them saying BOO back. Not everyone can get a home loan TODAY.
You also need to go back to the basics. I meet with my team at least once a month, and I frequently ask a few of them to speak about what they are doing to get business. All of them, without question, have said, “We're going back to the basics.” What does this mean, you ask? It means stick to your guns, maintain your reputation, ask for business, be available and knock on doors.
I'll give you an example of one of my loan officers. This guy has been in the business for a little less than five years. He was strictly a subprime loan officer. In fact, he was the only subprime loan officer that I had. So consequently, what would happen is he would get referred business internally. In other words, my other loan officers don't do subprime, so they would refer the business to him.
When we shut our subprime department down, I had to make a decision. Was I just going to let him go? Or was I going to turn him into a successful loan officer? When I hired him, I gave him a goal. I told him that I wanted him to do a certain amount of A and B loan business along with the subprime. And he always exceeded that goal. He would send out five letters a day to different people, telling them what the market is doing, where the rates are, and he would go out and just get business. And here he is today and he's closed as much as $1 million a month.
In Touch Today: What do you feel has been the secret to your success?
Stephen: 13 years ago, I went to a Sales Mastery event. It was at that point that I realized how many industry experts out there truly want others to succeed. These professionals include Steven Marshall, Barry Habib, Tim Braheem, Todd Duncan, Chris Carter from Market Focus, and the list goes on. They all offer great information. I often wonder where I would be today without their direction. Why reinvent the wheel when they were offering it to you? Pay the small amount they charge for their valuable knowledge and consider it an investment in your future.
A small group of industry friends and I talk on a regular basis. One would call when he or she was at a cross roads and say HBO – in other words, “help a brother out.” We are all brothers and sisters in an industry that has the ability to provide for a comfortable living. Do not try to be everything to everyone. Do not shotgun your approach. Following those rules and staying focused has allowed me and the team to continue to grow. Pass your help and experience on. When you leave this world, don’t let the dirt cover the box with your knowledge.
In Touch Today: What do you feel is the best advice you could give someone entering the business today?
Stephen: Stop making excuses. An excuse is a reason not to do something. Be patient; definitely make sure you have enough savings to carry you for several months. Make sure you understand your product guidelines, rate add-ons and can without hesitation tell a Realtor or builder, “we can close that loan for you on time.” Be able to back it up. Your reputation is only as good as your last application.
In Touch Today: Have you become creative with your marketing efforts in the current market environment?
Stephen: I do a lot of personal marketing on a routine basis. I believe in doing unusual creative things. I mean really creative things. For example, I’ve used wooden nickels. Your mother always told you not to take wooden nickels, so I used them for my business cards. I also give out magnets with liquid measure equivalency charts on them. I pass out million-dollar bills. I pass out back scratchers.
Every person that comes into the office and fills out an application with me ends up leaving with a “ Steve Rockefeller Kit” that includes Steve Rockefeller ChapStick (with my picture on it, Purell hand cleaner, wooden nickels, a Strategic Homeowner magazine, a drink cozy and a back scratcher. The back scratcher is always a big hit. It comes with a disclosure that lets you know that it was designed to be a back scratcher, not for use beating your children or your spouse. They always laugh.
I even donate the ChapStick to local schools. Little kids are always going to school with chapped lips. Then they get sent to the nurse’s office. And the nurse doesn’t have any lip balm to give them because the schools don’t have any money. So I provide them with ChapStick. Parents have actually called me to say thank you for providing this to the school.
In Touch Today: What are your goals at this juncture?
Stephen: The ultimate goal would be to get my team up to $0.5 billion dollars in production. Putting a time frame on it, it's almost impossible, but I would like to say in the next five years. And that's a pretty lofty goal, to pick up $300 million in the next five years. But I think we can do it.
As for my personal goals, I’d like to be able to retire in the next 12 to 15 years. I don't know that it will be possible, by today's standards, but that's the goal. I'd like to ultimately spend a little bit more time with my kids. I'd like to do things in life that I've always wanted to do. I've really gotten into fast cars in the past eight years. I've been to a couple different racing schools, and I plan on going to the Skip Barber School in 2008, which is a three-day school with an open cockpit car. Kind of like an Indy 500 car. Ultimately I think I would like to take on something like that as a hobby.
In Touch Today: Is there anything else you’d like to say to other originators who aspire to the kind of success you’ve created?
Stephen: My friend, Tim, owns a large electrical contracting business. He absolutely hates olives. He recently went through a tough time in his life. He decided he needed to stop complaining, stop the “Stinkin Thinkin” process and attempt something he had never attempted before. He went to the store and bought a jar of olives. As much as he hated them, he set a reasonable goal of finishing off the jar within five days. Now when things are not going his way he says, “I ate my olives.” Meaning life is not always comfortable. Sometimes you have to do things you do not like, for example cold calling, or take that call from a client who is about to close and wants a lower rate. Be patient, eat your olives and listen to those who have been there and done that. That’s the train you want to be on.