Ben Anderson wins his days. Do you?

Ben Anderson, executive loan advisor and branch manager of RPM Mortgage, a division of LendUS, LLC, has closed more than $3 billion in volume over the course of his 15-year mortgage career. At Originators Connect 2018, he revealed some of his success strategies and ways that others can change their business for the better.

The first thing, he said, is for originators to commit to resetting their priorities and getting to the top of the sales funnel.

The traditional sales funnel is when a buyer finds a property online, gets approved for financing, finds a realtor, sees the property, and is then referred to an originator by the real estate agent. In this scenario, the originator is near the end of the process, giving them very little control over the buyers.

Today, however, buyers are changing how they approach the buying process. Anderson stresses that originators now have to structure their business to get the buyer on board first. This is the modern day funnel, and gives the originator much more control.

“You can give the buyer to any real estate agent you choose to and now you run business the other way around. It’s the way the market is changing rapidly. You want more buyers, they’re everywhere. You just have to put your message where the buyers are looking. The buyers are on their cell phones looking for answers, and if you don’t have a modern-day approach, you will be stuck at the bottom of the sales funnel and you won’t grow your business,” Anderson said.

On a long-term basis, growing a business is about formulating a growth plan and executing it. On a daily basis, maximizing productivity is supported by basic time-management strategies. Anderson is admittedly rigid about his time; He time blocks, he sets time limits on tasks, and he finds ways to be productive in his so-called down time.

Anderson created Originator Society, a comprehensive program that mentors originators and guides them through social media, marketing, lead generation, and business development. Part of that is focusing on the core principles in ELEVATE: educate, leadership, efficiency, value, authenticity, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Efficiency is a particular pain point for many originators operating today, and Anderson shared his top 10 strategies for saving time:

1. At the end of the day, make a list of tomorrow’s to-dos. If they get completed, it’s an easy way to determine whether or not you’ve won the day. “[If] you leave the office and you don’t know if you won or if you lost, why are you there? There must be a plan of winning and losing.”

2. Constantly make notes. There are very few people who can remember everything. Anderson notes everything that happens, anything that sticks out, and at the end of the day, reviews these notes to determine points where improvements can be made.

3. Work anywhere you can. Waiting in line? Check emails. Waiting for carpool? Text a borrower, letting them know they’ve been on your mind and asking them to check in. “That stuff goes a long way. Get a text in here, a text in there, you can get a lead out of that,” Anderson said.

4. Cut distractions. Originators need to work on a schedule, Anderson said, and every minute spent off schedule is wasted time. “Spend your time wisely. If there’s someone at the office is with you and they’re a time waster or a distraction, cut them out of your day,” Anderson said.

5. Keep meetings short. All of Anderson’s meetings are coffee meetings. When business has been concluded, it’s much easier to get up than it is with a table full of food in front of you and having to grab the bill.

6. Monitor your phone time. Anderson has a policy of keeping phone calls to 10 minutes—max. “Anything that you need to tell someone related to their loan or their purchase, you can tell them in 10 minutes. If it’s beyond that, it’s not even rapport building, it’s wasting time,” he said. Set a time limit up front and get the business out of the way first, and if there’s time left, spend another few minutes building rapport.

7. Eat at your desk. The workday is traditionally structured with a break in the middle, but if you multitask, Anderson says, there’s no reason to break for lunch every day. Instead, think about how you would like to spend your time. “Get off early, get dinner. Go see your family. Why waste an hour at lunch when you can get home an hour earlier and see your family and kids?”

8. Organize your workspace. Every minute you spend trying to locate something is an unproductive minute. Keeping your desk clean and your workspace organized is an easy way to increase efficiency.

9. Recognize a fire versus a non-fire. Don’t jump into an issue prematurely. The only reason Anderson stops working is for a borrower that’s having difficulty closing or a family emergency. For everything else, he schedules a time to address it.

10. Answer all of your emails at once. Anderson keeps an eye out for urgent emails but otherwise waits until the end of the day to answer them. He groups emails by conversation, then looks at the first email and last email in the chain. If the issue has been resolved, there’s no reason to read the ones in between. “I save an hour right there of my time . . . You have processors for a reason. If they’re on the email, let them handle it.”

The best way for originators to elevate themselves and grow their business is to have a plan. If you don’t have one, Anderson said, you’re going to miss out on the gold rush.

“Two of the most important things are positivity and optimism. If you’re in a negative environment and people in the office don’t have a highlight reel that makes them happy every single day, no matter what I give you, it’s going to be a struggle bus. You must be positive, you must look at the bright side of the business. The glass isn’t half empty, it’s always full. There’s always room for growth.”