Welcome to Laugh, Lend and Eat, the podcast hosted by Fobby Naghmi and Madison Keenan. This podcast is all about three things they love – laughing, mortgage lending, and eating good food.
Fobby and Madison are both engaging and personable, and their combined years of mortgage experience allow the guests to be able to share valuable insights, whether on sales strategies, fintech, or a number of topics; The guests have the comfort of knowing their experience is being shared properly.
If you want to increase your awareness of the mortgage business, be sure to listen to Laugh, Lend, and Eat!
Join Fobby Naghmi, SVP of Homecomings Mortgage, and Madison Keenan of CrossCountry Mortgage in a riveting discussion between father-daughter duo Joe and Maddie.
We get a behind-the-scenes look at how industry veterans and fresh talents view the landscape of sales, mortgage, and networking. It turns out the age-old saying ”Father Knows Best” holds a significant value when you dive into the world of sales and relationship building. But don't let the generational gap fool you; the pair has more in common than you think.
Both Joe and Maddie employ humor as a powerful tool in their respective professions. Maddie uses wit and charm on TikTok to break down the complexities of mortgages and home-buying, turning what could be a stress-inducing topic into something relatable. Joe, on the other hand, reminisces about the days he would employ humor to diffuse high-stakes conversations about loan rates, taking the edge off a topic that tends to be tension-filled.
Joe's 50-plus years of experience shine when talking about the power of referral networks. He shares an incredible story about moving vodka from the United States to Moscow, an opportunity that came from a simple phone call from a friend in England. Maddie, too, has begun to see the networking potential, albeit digitally. Her TikTok videos act as a lead funnel, drawing viewers into her 'tribe' and eventually converting them into clients.
While Joe remains a staunch advocate for traditional networking, he acknowledges the digital shift. He talks about solving a shipping issue by going straight to the top via LinkedIn, showcasing that tenacity knows no bounds. Maddie, a digital native, corroborates this view, emphasizing the importance of leveraging online platforms to reach wider audiences.
No one is immune to blunders, and both Joe and Maddie share their 'cringe-worthy' experiences in sales pitches and marketing. For Joe, the cringe came from a bizarre pitch he received that included a box of $100 in one-dollar bills. Maddie's pet peeve is the saying, ”Marry the home, date the rate,” a term she feels misguides borrowers. Learning from such instances only adds to their growing expertise.
While Joe might have decades of experience under his belt, Maddie's fresh perspectives and digital savvy make her a force to be reckoned with. This loving father-daughter rivalry manifests as a mutual respect for each other’s craft, providing a wholesome picture of how traditional and modern approaches can coexist and enrich the industry.
The dialogue between Joe and Maddie highlights that while the tools of the trade may change, the essence of relationship-building, tenacity, and humor remains timeless. And in this case, father truly does know best—but he's got a lot to learn from his daughter, too.
Growing your presence on social media
At 3:15, we learn how people meet and build relationships on social media. In the past, meeting someone online was weird, but today it’s the impulse. Social media is for being social, and it is not just for posting funny memes but also for asking for the business. However, everybody has the means of communication that resonates with them most, and for Joe, memes are key. They are his criteria for keeping his engagements and friendships going on social media. Statistics show that a large number of relationships start online. In fact, most of us often kick off relationships either in person, which transit to online relationships, or online to personal relationships, and this is totally normal.
Developing social networks professionally to create real relationships
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to increasing your social networks. Everybody has their favorite means, and going multi-format is important for any type of communication. According to Joe, this is one reason why online relationships often turn into personal relationships. As an individual or a salesperson, if you want to have a relationship with someone, you have to adapt to their communication style and needs in order to take that next step. Sale is social, and they go hand in hand. Developing successful relations online is the ability to adapt, change and use different formats that make sense out there. However, if you are not putting yourself out there and are unwilling to take that step, it will never happen. You have to go out and make it happen. To hear more, go to 9:05
How to increase your leads and referrals from your social engagements
At 12:46, Delilah defines engagement on social media through comments and likes. However, sometimes people engage with your content, but they don’t tell you they engage. For Raquel, even with a lot of engagement, visibility, and presence on LinkedIn, she was making zero dollars, despite having a great influence. She was not doing the asking and didn’t have a call to action. Relating to this, Joe argues that many people come to social media thinking they want to be influencers, but if you pull off the layers of the onion, all they want is business. People want to get more referrals from their influence and engagements to increase their leads. However, from his experience, Joe has discovered that more often, some of the lowest engaging posts have the highest leads and referrals. What matters is consistency in posting value to your audience.
Bringing your social media personality to the real world
Delilah shares that you just have to be genuinely who you are so that people will find the same person today, tomorrow, and next week. Being consistent is absolutely the most critical thing, and if you are faking it, you can’t keep up with the consistency. For her, being her authentic self is what gives her permission to connect with people and create genuine relationships. She doesn’t give tips or actional steps to her audience. She leads by example by showing up just the way she is and keeping real. To hear more on how you can maintain a consistent personality on social media and in the real world, go to 19:48.
Attracting your Tribe and building a community
How to add your personality to your social media
The power of using videos in creating connections on social media
KEY NUGGETS:
[03:15] Growing your presence on social media
[09:05] Developing social networks professionally to create real relationships
[12:46] How to increase your leads and referrals from your social engagements
[19:48] Bringing your social media personality to the real world
[21:51] Attracting your Tribe and building a communityÂ
[28:18] How to add your personality to your social media
[33:23] The power of using videos in creating connections on social media
