| Kate Wilson questioned her timing.
After all, she decided to enter the loan origination business on April 6, 1987. And for those who don't remember, interest rates began a steep climb that week.
The result? Loan officers throughout the country scrambled for business. Others threw themselves across their desks and bemoaned their fate.
And Wilson? She wondered what she'd gotten herself into.
From "Bringing Value"
Minnesota MortgageMakers,
Winter 1998
Wilson Succeeds by Offering What Others Can't
Kate Wilson questioned her timing.
After all, she decided to enter the loan origination business on April 6, 1987. And for those who don't remember, interest rates began a steep climb that week.
The result? Loan officers throughout the country scrambled for business. Others threw themselves across their desks and bemoaned their fate.
And Wilson? She wondered what she'd gotten herself into.
"I had no idea what was going on," she says. "I remember thinking, 'I don't know if I like this.'"
Things got bad in the lending industry. So bad, in fact, that real estate agents shut their doors and practically hung up "No Loan Officers Allowed" signs.
This didn't discourage Wilson, though. In fact, it motivated her.
"I had to figure out a way to get to the agents," she says. "If they were shutting their doors, how was I going to get to them?"
The first thing Wilson did was target a group of top-producing real estate agents who needed to learn how to use a type of Hewlett Packard financial calculator to pass the class for their CRS designation. Wilson studied the calculator's manual until she mastered it. She then wrote her own handbook, "The HP12C Made Easy."
The next step? She started teaching these top agents what she had learned.
Did this approach work? You bet it did; Wilson still works with six agents from her first-ever CRS class.
This is what Wilson,now a broker/loan officer with Summit Mortgage, means when she counsels lenders to find some way to add value to the lives of their potential customers. Providing them with this, she says, is the surest way to earn their respect, their business and their referrals.
"Loan officers have to figure out how they can ask for someone's business. What value can they add to a person's life?" Wilson says. "You have to add value before you can even think about asking for someone's business."
Wilson knows this secret. It's why she's already notched more than 288 loans this year as of the end of October, and why she will register more than $31 million in closed sales volume. And this year's success is no fluke. Last year, Wilson recorded 321 loans and earned $29 million in closed sales volume.
Adding Value
Technology has changed the business of real estate and lending. Real estate agents who don't adapt will one day be left behind.
Wilson knows this. It's why she's mastered personal computers. And it's why, just a few years ago, she held some more classes, this time instructing agents on the basics of installing real estate software and the fundamentals of computer programs like Top Producer.
"A lot of people might say they don't have time to do something like that," Wilson says. "But that's the difference between a top-producing officer and someone who's mediocre. Top producers go the extra mile. If it's easy to do, a lot of people will do it. By doing what isn't easy, though, you separate yourself from the pack."
About three years ago, Wilson again added value to the life of a new group of customers. This time, she worked with an Hispanic Realtor to create pamphlets and brochures in Spanish. She applied for and got a grant from the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority. From this, came CASA, a bond program targeting low-income Hispanic buyers.
Wilson even tried to teach herself Spanish. And when she couldn't master it, she made the decision to hire an Hispanic loan officer.
"If you're stuck, and you need new business, sometimes you can create your own program," she says.
Measuring Success
Back in 1987, when Wilson got her start in the industry, she faced a tough market. With interest rates rising, few homeowners were eager to move or refinance.
So Wilson turned to affordable housing and first-time home buyers. This earned her steady business during a time when many loan officers were begging for customers.
"In this business, you have to stay ahead of the pack," Wilson says. "If everyone's doing one thing, it's time to do something else. You can't do what everyone else is doing."
Wilson still does much of her work in the affordable housing market. That means she isn't always working with the biggest of loans. Because of this, she measures success not in total closed sales volume but in the number of loans she writes each year.
"I like to think of how many people I've helped put into homes each year," Wilson says. "That's how I view success."
What's her target? Wilson aims for 320 closed loans every year.
"That's about the right number," she says. "Any more, and I'm too busy. It's easy to spend too many hours working, to spend no time with your family. But you can't do that."
Wilson avoids the trap of working overly long hours by making sure she has enough help. That means hiring assistants, something she recommends to all busy loan officers.
Lenders shouldn't be scared off by the money they'll need to spend on help, she says. A good assistant is well worth the extra dollars, she says.
"If you don't hire assistants, you become one," Wilson says.
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