When you first started out in the lending business, you did it all. Respond to every client email or phone call, reach out to new prospects, personally checked the status of the underwriting, and then relayed the message to your borrower.

But now that you’re business and team is growing, so have your responsibilities.

You’re spending time finding new talent, mentoring new LO’s, and integrating seasoned pros looking for a fresh start. You’re networking, marketing, processing, researching, closing and growing. With so many hats to wear, you may be left wondering how you can do it all.

Quite simply, you can’t.

The trick to having a successful business, whether it’s in the mortgage industry or real estate, is not doing it all or even mastering it all.

The trick to a thriving lending business is in having a dynamic team do it with you! Read on to learn exactly how to build a mortgage team.

The True Value of Your Mortgage Team

Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest men in American history with an estimated worth of 310 billion dollars by modern calculations, says that his success was partly due to the people he hired. One of which we’re sure you’ve heard of: Charles Schwab.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States famously said, “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg put it this way, “I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person.”

Time and again, every successful leader owes some part of their success to building a team that got them there. If you want your lending business to drive itself (and maybe free up some personal time!), you must build a strong mortgage team.

Here’s how to do it:

Define The Team Workflow

As you build your team, think about what role they’ll play in your organization. Will they be moving files forward while you nurture leads? Will they be originating the loans or coordinating the front-end process? The appraisals and conditions — who will take care of those?

At the same time, you’ll want to think about what your role is in your lending business — preferably based on your strengths and hire people to fill in the gaps.

Define what those roles are for each person and stick to it! If you feel they cannot do it on their own, train them until they know how. Which brings us to our next point, consider each member’s skills.

Maximize Each Team Member’s Skills

You may have heard that being a jack of all trades but a master of none is a good thing, but you’ll want to reconsider this when you’re building your mortgage team. A single loan officer that knows how to network like a star at a single event is worth more than three that are so-so at ten events.

Observe their strengths and interests. Every LO won’t be good at everything or have the desire to improve on specific weaknesses. That’s where your keen eye for talent and leadership comes in.

Find those niches that your organization needs and that the LO can deliver and you have yourself a cocktail for business growth!

Value Each Role

On the same note, treat each role as valuable and every team member like their role matters in your organization. There’s truth to the uncommon saying, “treat everyone you meet like they have I’m special” stamped on their forehead. Not only does it foster respect for one another, but it’s also a way to motivate your team without being pushy.

A team member that feels like they are vital to the success of the company is willing to give more. They push harder for that lead and hustle more to close before the end of the day.

Communicate

Effective communication involves different elements:

• State your points clearly – It’s your job to help the others understand you.
• Actively listen and respond – Listen, listen, and listen some more. Give feedback as needed.
• Have a policy of transparency throughout the office — Nobody likes to feel left out or conspired against.
• Be respectful of one another’s time — Your team is just as busy as you are. Keep communications brief and to the point. Allow for a reasonable amount of time for response or action.

Outline Objectives

Your objectives for growing your mortgage business both sets the foundation and guides the direction. It also serves as a benchmark that reinforces growth mindset to drive your mortgage business to the next level.

Objectives give your mortgage team the vision, and it motivates them to move toward it. In this way, milestones and deadlines don’t feel like a burden, but an opportunity to reach a goal. With objectives set in place and defined, you’ll soon find that you don’t have to hover over your team to see if they are doing their tasks.

Daily check-ins and weekly meetings will suffice because your well-oiled mortgage machine is now driving itself.

Streamline The Process

Now that you have your mortgage dream team in place, the next step is to give them the tools they need to function at full throttle. With so many moving parts in the lending process, from getting the lead to seeing it through closing, it’s essential to have a system in place.

Remember, nothing frustrates your team or your clients more than inefficiency — and inefficiency is the sure road to losing a winning team, clients, and revenue!

A reliable digital mortgage platform is the preferred tool of driven lenders.  Your website should be your lead generating machine, your client portal and management system, your cloud-based loan application intake and document uploader, and career gateway for prospective team members to apply.

If you want to level-up your lending business, you need to have the team and tools to take you there. It may seem complicated, but the change begins with you. A change in mindset, an action, a word of appreciation, a click toward being streamlined is all that you need to get started.

Did you find this article helpful? Let us know in the comments below! Want to find out how our digital mortgage platform can streamline your lending business? Call 888-377-1265 for a live demo.