ALPH LOVUOLO
THE MORTGAGE GODFATHER
Learning How To Make More Money
Look at your competition and then do the opposite BY RALPH LOVUOLO, SR. | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL
S
o, here’s a story that happened recently that makes so clear what I’ve been trying to get across to all of you for the last 40 or 50 years … be different. To be successful, get outside of the person everyone is trying to fit you into and present yourself differently, like a chameleon. Look at what your competitors do and do it better! Do things different and take it up a notch to do things even more differently. Find out what they do and follow the principle of Wall Street brokers: “Buy when everyone is selling and sell when everyone is buying.” It doesn’t take a super genius to know what your real estate agents need, find out what they need and give it to them, and do that repeatedly. A client of mine, Scott, told me the following story … When he started in the industry as a loan officer in the early-1990s, Scott went to the most successful real estate office in his area. In his hand, he carried his company rate sheet,
as was the custom since getting rates via an app had not yet been instituted. With only a couple of weeks under his belt, this was an office he had not yet visited. Strangely, he had learned that no other MLO in his company was doing business with any of that company’s agents. He couldn’t understand why. But having the confidence of an alpha male lion, he walked in with no appointment. He told the receptionist that he had an appointment with the broker/ manager. Scott had done his research and knew the reputation of the company and their people— they were sharks. Was he afraid? Apparently not much. He decided that the worst that would happen would be that his butt would be kicked out the door. “Hell,” he said, “they weren’t doing business with me at this point, so I had nothing to lose.”
USE YOUR TENACITY The receptionist was distracted and told him where the office was for the broker/manager and he walked right back. He introduced himself, and while standing in front of the desk, handed his rate sheet to the broker/manager. She asked him what his name was and ripped his rate sheet into many pieces and told, not asked, him to leave the office and never come back.
Seriously, what would you do if this happened to you? Do you have the alpha-male lion attitude? Here is what he told me. “I said, ‘OK, thank you.’ I walked straight for the front door and went to my car. I waited about two hours before I saw her leave. When I saw her drive away, I got a few more rate sheets and walked back in the office and put one copy in the mail slot for every salesperson. “What, you think I’ve never heard ‘No!’ before? To be successful in the business, at a young age, I learned that a loan officer is going to be told ‘No!’ at times. In the short time before I went to that office, it had already happened to me a bunch of times. But, I also know that they can’t say ‘No!’ forever. Today, I still do business with those people. They loved and still love to tell people that story. They loved my tenacity. I know you teach my salespeople to never give up and that’s why I have you coach them.”
ADDING A TWIST That conversation took place about 2 p.m. and three hours later, I had another call with another guy I coach, Bernie. When he answered, I said, “Tell me something you did since our last call that you are happy about.” Bernie replied, “Ralph, you know I love these ideas you give me, but I heard an idea on a podcast the other day that I knew you would love. So, I’m doing it, but I added a little twist.”
