Ask the Expert: how to coach the right hires

Learning to coach your LOs is key to team success

By Dave Hershman

05 Jul 2018

I am a producing manager and never have had any trouble bringing in loans. Unfortunately, some of my loan officers do. Whether someone is too young, or is just not a good sales person, how can I help them increase their production? I really do want to help. Other than feeding them referrals (which I sometimes do). What can I do? I seem to be at a loss here. ~Bryan from New York

In the past two weeks we have addressed hiring the right people and setting the right expectations. Now we can move to the area of coaching the right hires. While you can't mold the wrong people, the application of coaching support is very important for the right hires. There are a wide variety of factors which go into successful coaching. Some loan officers actually move to hire outside coaches to help them move to the next level. Here I will focus upon what a manager can do from the inside to help their loan officer:

Make sure each of your loan officers have a business plan that not only includes goals, but the targets and actions that will take them to meet their goals. There must be goals of self-improvement as well.

Make sure sales meetings are set to help improve sales. For example, there should be a variety of role playing activities, from cold-call leads to meeting with real estate agents. These role plays should include objective analysis.
Benchmark with other top producers in order to develop best practices -- with the understanding that everyone will need to add their own flavor.
While following you around and listening is not coaching, setting an example of doing things right yourself will give your loan officers a standard to follow.
Be innovative. For example, set up buddies for loan officers that can serve as day-to-day accountability partners.
Most importantly, be specific. Statements such as "go out there and get some business" are way too general. Give specific suggestions as to what they should do and exactly how should they do it, including what you expect them to say and how they are expected to carry themselves.

Dave Hershman has been the leading author and a top speaker for the industry for decades with six books authored and hundreds of articles published. His website is www.originationpro.com. If you have a reaction to this commentary or another question you would like answered in this column? Email directly at [email protected].