I snapped this picture as I sat down to one of the sessions at the recent Loan Toolbox Business Plan 2008. My first thought was, “this is great fodder for a post on upgrading your lead management system to tackle a tougher mortgage market.”

Lead Management System?
However, as fortune would have it my schedule prevented the original post. As is often the case in life, misrouted paths lead us to better things. And such is the case with this post.

On my latest trip to San Diego, I visited with a colleague and friend, David Schneider of ZipSearch!. During our chat I noted a book in his office that I have been meaning to pick-up: “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
,” by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. I mentioned my interest in the book and David said, “take it with you for the plane ride home.”
I did. And that has made this post all the more important for your success!
Cialdini’s book is a powerful tool (that means Buy It!
) in any sales person’s arsenal. Ahead of you getting the book and tying back to the photo above, I want to highlight one important Cialdini principle: Commitment and Consistency–Hobgoblins of the Mind. Cialdini quickly explains, in this chapter, this mental and behavior barrier:
“Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment.”
Boy, is that true!
I see a lot of old “systems,” like the one in the picture above, that worked in the heyday of the mortgage refi boom.
Sloppy systems that were good enough to catch a spoonful of water in a tsunami.
I hear day in and day out, “I only take referrals.” Then without even taking a breath, “yeah, the market is tough and my production is down,” yet loan officers refuse to take a referral from the Internet.
That’s right! A referral.
A consumer raising their hand to be called–if that isn’t a referral, I don’t know what is. Sure, you have to compete, but it is far more profitable than staring at your phone hoping some one will ring it to pay your mortgage this month.
Unfortunately, many are trapped in their minds and behaviors, as Cialdini predicts:
“When it [consistency] occurs unthinkingly, consistency can be disastrous.”
“…people will hide inside the walls of consistency to protect themselves from the troublesome consequences of thought.”
Are you going to take control of your success in this market? Or, huddle in your walls of consistency until you have to find a new profession?
Tags: mortgage, sales, loan officer, tips, influence, persuasion, cialdini, loan toolbox, lead management, referrals, success