By Brad Finkelstein

MAY 9, 2012

What loan officers want from their employer first and foremost is integrity, said Sue Woodard, president, content and publishing at Mortgage Success Source. She was speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association National Secondary Market Conference in New York in a session called “Powerhouse Production in a Compliance-Driven World.”

She was citing some of the results from a survey conducted by Hammerhouse in her presentation, including the finding regarding employer integrity.

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Recruiting to grow production is Business Development, and with all Business Development, there are large (hopefully) pipelines of opportunity you are working on to accomplish your infilling or strategic expansion goals. This means that whether you are a branch manager meeting with an individual producer, or a sales leader or senior leader meeting with groups and teams, you have to prioritize your time and the opportunities in your pipeline. Understanding the position of your audience is a critical element in setting the stage for WHAT kind of meeting to have and HOW to prepare for the best possible outcome. With that in mind, we believe all opportunities fall into three categories: Read More >

Early on in your career you may have had to experience a less than smooth transaction.  Your client had no idea what they were in for, your consultation skills were not as refined as they are now, and it was most likely difficult to tell who was more frustrated by the process…you or your client.  Like learning to ride a bike, your new consultative skills are rarely going to work well the first time.

Selling is really the same.  Cause and Effect – Learn and Apply.  In order for you to learn a new skill, somebody or something has to be the catalyst to teach it to you.  If you plan on being at the top of your game and staying there, the process never stops as you improve and refine.  Many of our companies have studied how the top 10% of revenue generators think.  What do those studies consistently show?  Simply put, the top 10% think and apply differently than the other 90%! Read More >

MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA (April 2, 2012)

Hammerhouse LLC, an expanding national recruiting and strategic growth firm for the financial service industry with mortgage sales and leadership placement at its core, has announced the hiring of David Bertany as VP, Strategic Growth Partner. David is being hired to help support existing and future client growth as well as expand the company’s national mortgage recruiting infrastructure and footprint. David will work directly with Drew Waterhouse, CEO and Eric Levin, Managing Partner in support of clients in the eastern and central part of the country and will be based in our new office in Atlanta, GA. David’s sales and recruiting experience spans 12 plus years. He has been recruiting exclusively within the mortgage industry since 2001. His depth and relationships nationally span many years and he has impacted many people positively in that time. Read More >

How many producers have you hired, lost to your competition or fired? How much revenue has attrition cost you along the way? What is the perception of recruiting by top talent in your local market?

Stable growth requires a strong foundation. Over the past decade we have found that a key factor of sustainable growth lies in the preparation. Once a business begins to grow, execution needs to be flawless. Following through on all aspects related to adding new people, additional production, clients and business partners is essential. Read More >

Mon, 2012-03-12 17:44 — Drew Waterhouse

The mortgage industry is on the verge of a new chapter, characterized by lower overall production volumes relative to years past, greater compliance burdens and lower product-based differentiation among participants. However, lost in this seemingly depressing news are the seeds of real opportunity for firms and individual originators well-suited to the new environment. A much smaller pool of players has created a need to achieve greater production with fewer originators. No, that is not a contradiction—due to the shrinking of the mortgage industry, the loans closed per originator figures are actually headed higher. This reality has put originators with a documentable track record of strong production in great demand. Could this be the time for you to consider a move to a mortgage lender in which you are better model-matched? Read More >

One of the primary functions we play as a Strategic Growth Partner with our clients is to set up meetings with top producer or sales leader candidates that are keeping their options open. More often than not, these candidates may have heard of, or competed with, our client managers, but never met or sat down to talk about the opportunity of working together. Thus, these are new relationships and opportunities to ‘get to know each other’ with the possibility of establishing a Model-Match and an ‘at bat’ for working together. Top producers and sales leaders WILL keep their options open to learn about and understand an organization’s Leadership, Culture, Operations, Technology, Business Model and Geographic expertise.  The reason: to determine if there is a way to tangibly create greater efficiency to produce work-life balance or to grow their business in a new organization verses their current one. Some managers are really good at these meetings and others are not. Read More >

By Brad Finkelstein

As companies like MetLife exit the business, creating new office and personnel recruitment opportunities for mortgage lenders, a survey from Hammerhouse LLC of originators found that 42% are looking for corporate culture and leadership from a possible new employer.

Products was the response from 24%, while better compensation was the choice of 23%, according to the Mission Viejo, Calif.-based recruiting company’s second annual Survey of Originator Opinions.

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Here’s the scenario: You’re having a great production month: referrals are coming in, loans are closing, and life is good. Everything is working the way you promised and the bond is strong between you and your customer and/or client. Then something happens, such as a delay in a funding, an added closing condition or a title mix-up. The delay can put a strain on the relationship. You will have to have a difficult conversation, so here are tips to accomplish your goal of successfully addressing the issue: Read More >

MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA – (February 23, 2012),

Hammerhouse LLC, an expanding national recruiting and strategic growth firm for the financial service industry with mortgage sales and leadership placement at its core, has announced the hiring of Anne Marie Bachmann as VP, Strategic Growth Partner. Anne Marie is being hired to help support Hammerhouse’s client growth and expand the company’s national mortgage recruiting infrastructure. Anne Marie will report directly to Drew Waterhouse, managing director and CEO of Hammerhouse and will be based in our new office in Redmond, WA. Anne Marie’s sales, recruiting and management career spans 20 plus years in the Puget Sound Area of Washington State, and she has been recruiting exclusively within the mortgage industry since 2006. Anne Marie has had the unique experience of being an internal production headhunter for national and regional depositories as well as a regional mortgage banker. Her depth and relationships in the Pacific Northwest span many years and she has impacted many people positively in that time. Read More >