Don’t Forget Your Big Goals
Every loan officer in the country has goals, spanning the simple: “Here’s what I need to get done today” to the “Here’s the number of loans I want to close this month.” But beyond these short-term and intermediate goals are long-term goals, like opening a mortgage business or climbing the ranks to become your company’s CEO.
This happens all the time.
For example, Bill Emerson, the current CEO of Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online mortgage lender, began with his company as a loan officer in 1993 — doing the dirty, but necessary work below deck to keep the company chugging along.
But most impressive is the story of a man who grew up on a poor farm outside a small town in Minnesota.
Poor Child Becomes Loan Officer, then Company CEO
John Stumpf, one of 11 children raised in poverty on a small farm in Pierz, Minnesota, population 1,393, went on to join Norwest Corporation in 1982 as a loan officer. That may seem like a success story in itself, but it gets better.
Norwest Corporation eventually became Wells Fargo, which we now recognize as the largest mortgage lender in the country, with 12.7% of the national market. And 25 years after joining the company, John G. Stumpf of Pierz, Minnesota, became the company’s CEO.
This is the same man who grew accustomed to bankers making visits to the family farm, after which the lights would invariably be shut off because they couldn’t make the payments.
The Takeaway
So, what does it all mean?
You’ve heard the maxims like “Always work hard and things will turn out alright” and “Early bird gets the worm” countless times. Everyone knows these things are true, yet not everyone feels that they are succeeding.
In a cyclical industry, loan officers must make money while they can and capitalize on the market when volume is high. I can’t tell you how many loan officers I’ve met that wish they’d pushed themselves harder — even when things were busy. It’s not so much “hard work” as it is consistency and tenacity that put John Stumpf in the position he’s in today.
For more actionable sales advice and real-world success stories to motivate your team, check back on the Armour Title blog!
Thanks for reading!
Tali Raphaely
