Loan Officer Recruiting - Fast Track To Dominating local Markets

If you’re the CEO or VP of Production of a medium size mortgage company, defined as 200 – 2500 employees, the recent rebound in the housing market is prime time for beginning your next growth spurt. As an Executive Recruiter and trainer it’s been wonderful to watch many companies chip away market share from the Big Banks. Recruiting loan officers now will accelerate your momentum.

The industry changes over the past five years were overdue. Prudent, financially solid mortgage operations have been gathering steam and re-shaping the mortgage landscape. Some companies have added in-house recruiters to their roster; also a smart move. As a rule in-house recruiters tend to be over burdened with search requests from all factions of the company.

Take your company to the next level by training all branch managers to recruit. Most mid-size mortgage companies expect team leaders and managers to recruit but how many actually know how to recruit? As business picks up, sure you’re going to close more loans because you’ve worked hard to put all the pieces in place to handle the influx of loans. What’s your strategy to continue on the same trajectory?

Don’t stop growing. Take this opportunity to side-step inertia and grow exponentially. A handful of your competitors are arming their front lines with the same tools the best headhunters use. Those managers will recruit more efficiently and effectively with recruiting principles in hand. For a small investment in recruitment training, your production goals will all be exceeded.

As a recruiter, today if I picked up the phone and left messages with five branch managers, three would call me back. We’d talk about their goals and company culture and I’d accept two search assignments. There are not enough good recruiters in the market to fill the need for loan officers. Put your company's future in the hands of 'recruiters' (branch managers) who are emotionally and financially invested in your success.

Recruiting training will have your branches avoiding common mistakes and hiring loan officers every quarter or every month. For example, most managers are oriented to the bottom line (one of the reasons I love them as clients). Their direct style and urge to state the highlights of a company immediately when ‘pitching’ an offer to a candidate is a strategy that most often fails. What’s the best way to engage a candidate? You need to know.

What would happen if you proposed marriage on the first date? A healthy person would turn you down. Good recruiters use sound principles to attract, engage, build a little rapport, and establish some trust all within their first phone call. They withhold their strongest, best company tidbits until the candidate is emotionally and mentally ready to buy the information that will close the deal.

Recruiting takes practice, but one can be successful during the first recruiting call IF they know the process and what to say and what to do in the proper order. While candidates typically react in a handful of predictable ways, how a recruiter manages the process is crucial to not wasting precious time thwarting their own efforts.

Find a recruiting mentor for your all your branches (pick me, pick me) and whip your new-hire strategy into shape within twelve months. Recruiting looks easy but it can be brutal. What does not recruiting cost your company? If there were a simple solution (training) would you be interested in buying it?

Ask yourself: What’s the biggest challenge and frustration surrounding complacency of branch managers when it comes to recruiting? Is the answer a lack of recruiting skills? Loan officer recruiting  is the path to rapid expansion. This investment will pay dividends for a lifetime. The best way to meet all your production and market growth goals is to empower local markets to capitalize on recruiting loan officers they hear about every day.

***A no-fluff, step-by-step recruiter training program on how to recruit loan officers will take your mortgage production to the next level within 12 months. Kimberly Schenk has recruited in the mortgage industry for 20 years. She’s recruited in multiple industries and has been training recruiters and business people for 10 years. Schenk cares about your success and over 1100 professionals have benefited from her programs.