By Todd Duncan

Have you ever tried to have a perfect day and it didn’t work out as you planned it? The good news is that if you can visualize a perfect day, you can make it happen. But you may have to change the way you think. First and foremost, you need to understand that event management, not time management, is the critical factor for creating the perfect day.

By Michael Regan

As we continue into the second half of 2013, I'm reflecting on the past decade in American mortgage lending. Many thoughts come to mind. Historically, low-interest rates in 2003 & 2005; real estate market all-time value highs in 2006; record foreclosures and REO/Short Sale transactions in 2009; the refinance boom of 2011 that is just now tailing off in 2013.  It has been an amazing decade, no matter how you define amazing.

By Todd Duncan

The best way to avoid stagnation in your sales career is by following the final step: Surveying yourself. Something I’ve practiced and preached for years now is what I call the “Annual Review with You.” And it’s geared to ensure that your needs and values in life are consistently met and upheld over the course of your selling career.

By Todd Duncan

What I mean by “playing the market” is to become a buyer in your own market. If you sell anything, to remain ahead of your competition, you must understand what it’s like to be a consumer of your product.

By Todd Duncan

The next move in avoiding a stagnant sales career is to transition your current clients into strategic partners who have a shared interest in your success. When you’ve taken steps to ensure that happens with each client, being aware of any changes in their wants, needs, or values is easy.

By Todd Duncan

To avoid the stink of a stagnant sales career, you must learn to grow with change. In other words, you must learn to keep a finger on the pulse of the market (something we hear quite often) and on the pulse of your clients’ needs and values, the pulse of your product or serv­ice, and your own pulse. It’s a good thing you have so many fingers.

By Dan Foster

Too often recruiting presentations are packed with benefits and features that loan officers will enjoy if they join a particular company. When that message becomes the centerpiece of a recruiting strategy a manager often makes a hiring decision based on someone’s excitement and acceptance of that message. While this strategy may help you to recruit lots of new people, it has a greater probability of leading to higher turnover, increased costs and loan officers that are “culture misfits”.

By Todd Duncan

To a certain extent, all of us play the numbers game in selling. However, it is erroneous to assume that if you see more people you will get more business. It’s true that you usually need more prospects when you are starting your sales career than when you’re established. But in either case, it’s not the numbers that ultimately count. It doesn’t matter how many prospects you see. It matters how you see the right prospects.