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!
In this episode of Laugh, Lend & Eat, our host Fobby Naghmi is joined by the founder of Mortgage Marketing Animals, Carl White. Carl shares his unconventional but highly effective strategies for success in the mortgage industry. Through his straightforward and no-nonsense approach, Carl emphasizes the importance of building relationships, leveraging realtor referrals, and focusing on proven methods rather than chasing social media trends. Let's delve into the key takeaways from this insightful conversation.
Redefining Failure and Embracing Testing:
Carl believes that redefining how we perceive failure is crucial. By considering unsuccessful attempts as learning experiences rather than failures, loan officers can eliminate the fear of failure and become more open to testing new strategies. Carl, a meticulous tester himself, highlights the importance of studying and testing various approaches to identify what works best.Embrace the Power of Offers and Rejections:
Carl's formula for success is simple: offers minus rejections equals money. He emphasizes that loan officers must make more offers to increase income, which naturally leads to more rejections. Rather than trying to avoid rejections, focus on increasing the number of offers made. Loan officers can achieve greater success by reframing rejections as a natural part of the process.The Art of Simplification:
Carl encourages loan officers to avoid overcomplicating processes. While being intelligent is valuable, overthinking and making things more complex can hinder success. Carl believes in being brilliant at the basics and removing distractions. Loan officers can maximize their efficiency and productivity by streamlining workflows and focusing on what works.Realtor Referrals and Past Database Marketing:
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, realtor referrals are the top source for loan officers, accounting for 35% of loans. Carl emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships with real estate agents and leveraging their referrals. Additionally, he highlights the effectiveness of marketing to past clients and their friends and family. By nurturing these relationships, loan officers can generate a significant portion of their business.The Surprising Role of Social Media:
Contrary to popular belief, the influence of social media in the mortgage industry is relatively low. The Mortgage Bankers Association's data revealed that only 3% of loans originated through social media, while online search accounted for 11%. Carl encourages loan officers to prioritize realtor referrals and past database marketing, which have proven to be more effective in generating business.
Conclusion:
Carl's unorthodox but highly effective strategies offer valuable insights for loan officers aiming to thrive in the mortgage industry. Loan officers can achieve remarkable success by redefining failure, embracing testing, focusing on relationship-building, and leveraging realtor referrals. While social media and online search have their place, Carl emphasizes the importance of prioritizing proven methods and avoiding the distractions of trendy marketing approaches. By implementing these principles, loan officers can elevate their performance and build a thriving business.
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