CFD 498 – Building A Team That Builds Your Business

December 10th, 2018

Sean Zalmanoff is a respected Speaker, Coach, Loan Officer, Real Estate Investor, and host of Next Level Loan Officers Podcast. Sean entered the mortgage industry in 2002, where he spent the better part of his first year in the business learning all of the tips, habits, and ‘best practices’ that he has since determined to be the underlying reason why the mortgage industry is broken.

He knew there had to be a better way to run a business, so Sean started forging a new path for himself and his team, which lead him to the world of business and mortgage coaching. Sean now manages several mortgage offices throughout the country that produce over $100 Million in production, helping hundreds of people achieve the American Dream. Harnessing his greatest passion, helping loan officers, entrepreneurs, and business owners, Sean became a founding owner in Next Level Loan Officers, a coaching platform that not only helps people in their business but all four pillars of their life; business, relationships, physicality and spirituality.

Sean’s mission through coaching loan officers is to help them achieve a work-life balance in an industry that has lied to them and told them they need to be on call 24/7. By deploying his systems and strategies, he’s helped LO's and branch managers build a better work environment, more support, and better systems while installing the technology to achieve it all.

Podcast Highlights 

  • Who is Sean Zalmanoff?

Sean started in the mortgage business in 2002 and did the same things that everyone else did at the time. He realized that every day he woke up and knew less than he did the day before. Around that time he connected with a guy named Chris who opened his eyes to what he really needed to do, he realized that he who has the most friends wins.

Sean began to seek out specific partnerships and genuine relationships with realtors. Making friends with people is the ground floor for any profession you want to excel in.

  • Making Relationships

Social media friends are not as important as real-life relationships. If you are not meeting your clients and partners where they are at, you’re missing out. It’s about finding the medium where people already are engaging them where they already spend their time.

The number one reason it’s hard to find a good loan officer is you have to find a loan officer that specializes in what you need, and the industry is very wide. Not all loans are the same, it depends heavily on your end goal and the strategy you’re using.

To find the right person to work with, you have to ask them two questions. “What do you specialize in?” and “Tell me about the last 10 deals you have worked on”. If someone says they can do it all, they probably aren’t good at anything. If someone specializes in big money loans, they probably aren’t very skilled at smaller residential deals.

  • Why lending?

Sean graduated in 2000 and wasn’t really ready for the real world. He had actually been making more than his friends as a bartender than they did at their “real” jobs.

Eventually, Sean was convinced to work for a guy who owned a mortgage company that kept asking him to come work for him. He discovered that the job was a miniature version of the movie Boiler Room and learned a lot about what is wrong with the mortgage industry.

He took those lessons and flipped them on their head. After venturing out on his own, Sean realized that coaching other loan officers was something he was really passionate about. Working with people and helping them into their first home or assisting people with the entrepreneur spirit can be extremely rewarding.

Having clarity on what you do and what you are good at is very important.

  • Short Term Rentals

Government programs are not structured for short-term rentals, but the real answer is if you do it right and make your payments on time for your investment property no one is going to be any the wiser.

  • Building A Team

You must have an amazing team. The mortgage market changes at a blistering pace so you need people who can find the answers they need to know. Understanding the highest and best use of your time is the key to building a team that can take the other tasks off your hands.

Depending on the market you are in, a good loan officer will do 20 and 40 million dollars in loans a year. The more business that somebody does, the fewer products they probably offer.

  • Sean’s Takeaway

Get really clear on what you want and what matters to you. If you want to make more money, why do you want to make more money? Your why has to be so powerful that if you had a mountain in front of you and just a shovel to move it with, you’ll do it. If you don’t have that why just stick with what you are doing right now.

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