Correct ethos is crucial for eking out success, executives argue
Loan officers and mortgage brokers seeking opportunity in the current market will find it if they seek it – and approaching things with the right mindset is key to success at present, according to a top lending executive.
Troy Molitor (pictured top right) founder at Molitor Financial Group, told Mortgage Professional America that his team had focused their conversations with loan officers and other mortgage pros in recent times on taking a proactive and consistent approach to their business in order to eke out a successful approach in a challenging market.
“When you work with individuals who are going through a difficult market like the one that we’ve been experiencing for the past couple of years, our conversations with them are really about their mindset, the businesses there,” he said.
“It’s all around you. It’s still happening. Don’t buy into the culture out there of folks who are operating from a space of lack. Allow yourself to believe that business is there and that you deserve it- and be consistent. Consistent action creates momentum. Momentum requires that the universe respond in the space in which you’re focusing.”
That’s an outlook that will stand the mortgage community in good stead when the market gathers pace and activity begins to pick up again, Molitor added.
“The more consistent you are every day with the responsibilities that need to happen, you will create a sustainable business for yourself that by the time this market shifts back a little bit, not only will you have been successful through that – but your success will double once the market [accelerates],” he said.
According to a recent report by Attom, the first half of the year is prime time for selling homes, with May, February, and April offering the highest seller premiums.https://t.co/Rw0i1ME38O#homesales #housingmarket
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) May 4, 2024
Relationships, not transactions, driving business at present
The company’s president, Craig Messman (pictured top left), urged mortgage professionals who haven’t already done it to move away from a transaction- or volume-heavy approach, and instead prioritize forging the types of connections that can lead to opportunity down the line.
“I would say focus on relationships rather than transactions,” he said. “Relationships are so important, especially in this market, and the stronger the relationships, the more opportunities you get. A lot of people focus on the transaction, which is the completely wrong way of approaching things.
“Focus on the relationships, because those relationships will help you expand your business quicker than anything.”
The executives said Molitor Financial had stayed true to its “grassroots” origins since opening its doors in Chicago in 2005, an approach rooted in carefully scaling and making sure none of the company’s culture was lost in its rapid growth since then.
“Our goal right now is just to continue – not growing fast, but we are expanding and smart,” Messman said. “We want to have continuity of the way we think about things. Every company that you go to, they put together a mission statement and they put some plaques on the wall.
“But then when the management is in the backroom, they’re not the same people that they are when they’re out on the floor with their people. They become authoritative-mindset type individuals who sort of look down on the team members and make an effort to control what they’re doing instead of supporting them and operating from the ground up through the system.”
That’s part of the reason the company has eschewed such an approach – concentrating instead on building a team-oriented ethos and helping loan officers foster strong relationships with industry partners and peers.
“[With] our salespeople, we cultivate more of an entire-team mentality instead of competition between them,” Messman said. “Every loan officer helps each other. That includes building relationships with real estate agents.
“If Troy has a really good experience, but he doesn’t work with that person that I’m trying to go after – well, Troy’s going to help me get in what that agent to solidify it. That’s the culture that we have: everyone is here to help each other. Because you never know when you have to help that other person and vice versa. It’s a true team environment.”
Identifying and securing talent that fits the mold also crucial
On the recruitment front, Molitor said the company is placing an emphasis on finding the right people, rather than simply adding personnel for the sake of growth.
“We’re just constantly reinforcing the stuff that we’ve been talking about which is the way of being, the way of treating customers, the way of treating referral partners, the way of how the team members treat each other,” he said.
“We don’t say people work with us. We say they work with us because without them, we’re really nothing… We’re really just focused on finding good-hearted people that want to create a sustainable business for themselves and we’re doing everything we can to help them, because the side effect is that the company grows.”
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