Welcome back to Lending Leadership: The Creative Brief.

In today's episode, we're talking about our sales rally--a tool we use here at HMA Mortgage for fostering collaboration and innovation within our team. While we're likely bustling around at our own sales rally as you listen to this, we're excited to share insights on why showing up, leaning in, and sharing ideas can significantly transform your business landscape.

As we navigate through this episode, we explore the immense potential of events like sales rallies in bringing together loan officers, partners, and leadership teams from different regions and sectors. We'll discuss the collaborative energy these gatherings ignite and their essential role in nurturing both personal and organizational growth.

Key Takeaways:

1. Power of In-Person Collaboration: We emphasize the irreplaceable value of face-to-face interactions at sales rallies. The synergy generated by belly-to-belly conversations can propel your business forward in ways virtual platforms cannot replicate.
2. Open-Minded Participation at Events: Approaching rallies and conferences with an open mind allows us to glean new, invaluable insights, even from familiar topics. Structuring informal gatherings, like dinners and meet-and-greets, enhances these learning experiences.
3. Emergence of AI in the Sales Industry: We discuss the relevance of AI and tech in contemporary sales strategies. Exploring these areas can broaden our professional horizons, opening new avenues for automation and strategic planning.
4. Importance of Mindset Checkups: Regularly evaluating and nurturing our mindset is critical, especially in high-stress industries like mortgage lending. Maintaining a positive internal dialogue can significantly influence our success and productivity.
5. Post-Event Implementation and Accountability: The real value of these events lies in implementing the knowledge gained. We share creative ways to ensure accountability, like using reminder postcards and scheduling follow-up meetings to track goal progress.

As we gear up for our own sales rally, we're excited to bring these ideas to life and explore their impact on our team's growth. We're eager to share our experiences and learnings with you in future episodes. Remember, it's not just about the event hype; it's about using it as a launchpad for growth and collaboration.

Thanks for tuning in to Lending Leadership. We'll catch you next time with more insights and updates!

Rach & Rinn

So as you're listening to this or watching this, we are probably running around right now at our sales rally, high fiving our loan officers, brainstorming new ideas, soaking up all the energy. But before the magic happens, we wanted to give you a behind the scenes look at what it is to put an event like the sales rally together and how collaborating with your peers can be super beneficial for for your business actually change your business. So today's episode is all about the power of showing up, leaning in, and sharing ideas. Hi, Rinn. How are you?

I'm doing good. How are you doing, Rach? I think this is gonna be a very timely topic for us today.

I think so too. And I know a lot of companies may do sell sales rallies. Maybe they don't, but I really feel like kinda leaning in and and showing people the value of this collaboration that can happen is so important and, and why sales rally matters. So so talk to me. I mean, we are in the thick of it right now. We are a couple weeks out from our sales rally. We always record these ahead of time so that we don't get crazy busy when we're at sales rally. But, talk to me a little bit about, you know, the importance of an event like this.

I think it's it's an opportunity for loan officers and loan partners, leadership team members to all come together, different areas of the country, working in different regions, traditionally focused, you know, behind your computers and on the phones and and and at regional events and just take a moment to be in one space together, in a room together, sharing ideas and learning from each other. So, you know, we always get outside expert speakers to come in but then we also have internal speakers so that, you know, if there's a situation or scenario where one team is really kicking butt in in the Midwest with a certain process, they can share it with the team, or branch on the East Coast that maybe doesn't have it dialed in yet and learn something from each other. And that's really where a lot of the value of the sales rally, I believe, comes from.

Yeah. And I would think that I mean, I always love to go to events and see people in person. A lot of us are working from home now. And maybe there's some people who are always on the fence about doing any any kind of event that or any kind of conference. I just think it's such a valuable experience to to see what people are doing on another level. There's nothing like those belly to belly conversations with people. You know, a lot of people are working on Teams. Microsoft Teams are doing Zoom, but there is nothing like that in person collaboration that I think when when you get to to hear firsthand, ask questions face to face, there's nothing like it, and that energy is is so important to propel your business to the next level.

Yeah. I think I think good good, feedback for these types of events is go in with a laid back open minded approach. There's always gonna be something new that you learn even if you see, you know, topics or speakers ahead of time and maybe it's somebody you saw before, maybe it's something that you either don't have as much interest in or you already feel you have dialed in, there's still new nuggets to take from every speaker and from every conversation. So coming in with an open mind is always a great way to begin. And then, you know, to take it a little further, you know, maybe step two or something else to think about is to have a little light structure and idea of what you wanna do. Maybe there are some colleagues that you really wanna get together and have dinner with and get to know better for for a project that you're working on or for every whatever reason it may be. So, you know, think about those moments too and be strategic if you wanna set up some dinners or some meet and greets that are on the side during the time when everybody's physically there.

Yeah. I love to see that happening, actually. I love when our teams that maybe don't know each other. You see everybody normally, for how how we run things, you know, we have a full day, and then we leave, at least one dinner for everyone to kinda do whatever they they want to do. But I love to see that. I love to see people who don't know each other very well, you know, have that time and connection. And you see people going out to dinner, and then you see them collaborating afterwards. And, I think that's pretty cool.

I love that.

Yeah. I I do too. I mean, to not to shift gears too much, but, good opener here, Rachael. What do you think are some of the primary topics that make a lot of sense at some of these rallies and are hot right now for loan officers and loan partners to be dialed in on?

Well, I mean and this goes for your internal sales rally if your conferences just in general. You know, if you're looking to further your your education, do some continuing ed in a sense, I think AI and tech is something that maybe loan officers can overlook sometimes because, yes, we want to have the product knowledge and, you know, dig in a little bit deeper to what your company offers. But but to broaden your scope on something that maybe you don't know much about, If you haven't dabbled in the AI space at all, that's something that is not going away. It is just getting bigger. And if it's something that you know nothing about, if you don't even know what ChatGPT is, then I think that's a great starting point to play in the AI space, because it really there's so many uses for it. There's so many ways to help help your business, whether it's automation or scripting or coming up with a social media calendar. I mean, there are you can use AI for anything. It's a little bit scary at times.

But I think to to make sure that you're not just focusing on on the typical, you know, like I said, products or the typical things in your business, but to to widen your scope a little bit is really I think you can surprise yourself.

Yeah. I agree. That that topic is one that you can just continue to go deeper and learn more and more no matter what stage of the game you're currently in now. So, obviously, being featured, in the marketing and sales space at a lot of conferences and should be a part of, you know, an annual sales rally if you're participating in one. Something to definitely talk to your leaders about or make sure that it's on the agenda. Another one that I wanted to mention that I think is nothing new but is just as important year after year. It's kind of one of those timeless evergreen moments, Rachael, as you as you would like to quote, is mindset checkup. Oh, yeah.

So it is so important. So, you know, just like we think we work out every day or we have our workout routines because we wanna keep up with our health and keep up with feeling good and being able to move as we continue to age, the mind is is exactly the same as the body. Right? We have to continue to do checkups on how we're talking to ourself, learning new strategies to keep mentally productive throughout the week, how you mentally feel and how you mentally talk to yourself is a big indicator of how your day and how your week is gonna go. So, bringing in coaches, bringing in new spins, new strategies to try, I think that that space even though it's nothing new, is still something that needs to occur at every one of these meetings especially related to sales specifically. Well, isn't it funny that how many times we talk to other people about that very topic, but we neglect ourselves?

Mhmm. We neglect ourselves. We do. It's it's why they tell you in an airplane, put on your air mask before helping others. We always need that reminder to have that self check-in, to have that, how are you doing? I mean, the mindset is is big. Let's face it. The mortgage industry is one of the most stressful industries on the planet. And if you're not having that mindset check-in, I mean, I think you're doing yourself a disservice.

Yeah. I love that you brought that up.

Yeah. I I think it's one of those hot topics that just never it it's always needed every single year. And then, of course, you wanna make sure, you know, when you're at these meetings, you're thinking about timely news and products that are available at your company, making sure you're dialed in in your sales presentations. It is a sales rally. It's about learning new ways to communicate, learning new ways to get in front of your realtor partners and your past customers to talk on some of those specific hot topics and products that are in the industry. I know for us specifically, you know, renovation lending is an ongoing, topic of discussion that our our realtor partners want to learn more and more about as we expand our product suite. It's been very important and timely. We also have and are building out our condo analysis division.

So that's something to think about if you're in an area or zone where you're selling a lot of condos or closing a lot of loans that are condo related. And then, you know, we've got a lot more. We have a new cash buyer edge program to to be able to operate in the market like a cash buyer and how powerful that is when going against other offers. So all of this is a part of of our rally and, you know, a variation of it could be a part of what you're doing or or events that you're going to, but dialing in on those sales presentations and being, you know, tuned up on all the products and services, always something that's important.

And to that point, you know, hearing how other people present on a product. I'm all about borrowing, stealing, call it whatever you want. But being able to hear the talking points that other salespeople give, you can take those and adopt them and use them as your own. And I think in doing that, we only help each other get stronger. So seeing how somebody else phrases something might be very beneficial to your borrowers because you might have not have thought of using a certain analogy. But making sure that you're you're kinda changing it up every now and then. Because how many times do we get in, I don't wanna say a rut, but maybe a rut of a way that we say something, and it's just the way we say it, and then it just we spew it out and it becomes routine. And and then we're not really telling the stories or having the fun or or remembering that on a borrower end or if you're talking about any of the programs that you just mentioned to a realtor, that that might be the first time they're hearing it.

So to keep things fresh for yourself.

Yeah. And I I'm glad you brought that up, Rachael, because it reminds me of another point of something that we've been doing more recently in our sales department that could help other loan officers at their rallies, at their trainings, is not just is also hearing how somebody else presents on a product or service and how they phrase, but taking it a step further and it might sound a little hokey or silly, but doing some role playing behind it. So having somebody, you know, in your company, maybe it's a sales manager, maybe it's a a loan officer who feels comfortable, you know, presenting all those objections and being the the real estate partner or the customer who might have some objections to a conversation about a specific topic that you've been trying to break through on. So go through those objections and practice and watch each other. It's only gonna help, help you get stronger, help your team get stronger, and then ultimately, you know, close more loans, which is the goal for for each of us. Right?

Yeah. Absolutely. And you know how I feel about the role play. It's the acting side. It's fun. It's silly. And maybe people might think it's a little juvenile, but you know what? That's where it's that's where you remember things when it's hokey and funny. And, I I learn a lot in that way.

I'm I'm a big believer in doing. Don't just sit there and take notes. Be an active participant if if you have these kind hey. If you're on a marketing team and and you're listening in, I think that is a great takeaway. You should really, really put that into your into your business because or even if you're a sales manager. Practice this stuff with your team. It is just fun, and people really do, gain so much from it. But, you know, events are great.

But the point of going to these events is not just to rub elbows and take a bunch of notes that you're never going to look at. It's about implementation. So also be thinking about when you are at these events, what are the key things that you're gonna implement? Because if you're like me actually, Corinne, are you a note taker when you're at an event? I mean, I I take note a billion notes.

I'm a huge note taker, Rachael, because it's how I process information. So, you know, it's totally fine to take those notes, but it's really important to have some type of an actual tangible list or something of what you actually wanna apply. You might read through those notes later because you wanna remember some specific detail or a bit that was mentioned. But, again, it's what are the goals, what are the action items, what are you actually gonna start trying to implement and apply when you get back to the desk after the meeting is is over?

And are we allowed to give a little sneak peek of something you're gonna do, or should we

I think I think you can go for it. I think we can give them a little something. Okay.

Because I think it's such a great idea. And, Karim, why don't

why don't you tell them what a little a little fun moment that you're going to do? So we have it's there there's a very simplistic idea that any of you can apply leaders if you're listening and you're you're getting ideas for your own rallies or just, you know, thinking out one that's coming up in the future. Very simplistic idea. So we really have a postcard. It's a six by nine postcard. Simple design on the front, just has our sales rally logo and and and lines. It's there there's nothing regarding structure about it. And then the back of it has a space, of course, for the recipient to fill out their address so the postcard can be mailed. And we're going to ask our our loan officers while they're at sales rally to take some of the larger, more tangible goals and moments that they would like to apply back in their business and write them down on the postcard and then, of course, include their address on the backhand side.

We're gonna collect all of those postcards from our LOs at the end of the meeting. The plan is to then mail the postcards out to them to their addresses, which we'll have, maybe four to six months after the event and have a check-in training call so everybody can bring, their postcards with them to the call and talk and be accountable for some of those processes that they wrote down at SalesFroly that they wanted to put in place and say, hey, where are we at? Are you actively working on this? Is this in progress? Are you struggling? Are you stuck? And allow everybody to have kind of one of those sharing, group moments after the event where we can take a look at accountability together and see how we can help each other with what we really wanted to accomplish this year.

I think that is such a fun idea. And it's almost like one of those things you did in elementary school. You know, you write yourself the kids did this. We we got them, a couple years ago. You write a letter in the beginning of first grade, and then at the end of the year or maybe at the end of elementary school, the teacher mails them back and you have this heartwarming moment. It's the same idea. It's reminding yourself of what you said you were gonna do, and that accountability is huge. And and another thing that we're also doing is we are having so so what Corinne just mentioned is your maybe more long term goals and and ideas that you wanna implement.

Right after the rally, we are having, a meeting. We call it our talk about it Tuesdays. Every other Tuesday, we do these great events, where we all get together. But we're gonna have an immediate accountability meeting. So we're gonna talk about what did you learn a week ago, what have you implemented right away, how can we how can we keep the excitement, and and people can share some of the things that they said they were going to do? I think there is real power in saying something out loud rather than just writing it down, saying it out loud to your peers because other people will ask you about that. Hey. How did that go? And if you say, oh, you know, I never got it started. Kinda feels a little bit crummy to to admit that, and we're all guilty of it.

So having that immediate immediate accountability meeting and then the longer four to six months out, I think, is gonna be a really interesting project. I'm I'm curious how that's gonna go, and I'm excited to report back in a couple months. We can share how that went.

Oh, I think that's a great idea, Rach. We can actually say full circle. This is what was presented. Here were some ideas that we had, and then this is what the tangible results were. Yeah. And and I think there's even studies and stats, I don't have them available but we can find them and post them with this with this podcast. That if you write something down, if you journal, if you have intention that goes beyond just saying something you're gonna do, that you have a higher percentage chance of actually fulfilling and doing the action. So, that's a part of this too.

It's just the basic psychology psychology if I'm signing up for something, I'm committing to it.

I love when people write things down and some people, you know, are very artistic, so they'll write something down and put it beautifully on, like, a nice, I don't know, nice colorful piece of paper or, you know, just color something in and has their goals, and they put them in their office all over. Or if it's just a sticky note and you put it on on your wall and it's it's right in front of you and you read it every day, I do think there is real, real power in that.

I agree. Yeah. It'll be interesting to say. It's gonna be a fun event. I mean, we've got all different types of speakers. We do have some expert coaches and, just really incredible topics and people coming in to join us for our rally. I'd love to hear more about what everybody else is doing, Rachael. This would be a nice interactive moment.

You know, share and and comment and tell us a little bit about your meetings and your rallies and what you've experienced. Yeah. Because it's not just hype. It's about

your launchpad for growth. It's about that collaboration and and even collaboration across companies. Yeah. We would love to hear the kinds of things that you're doing and things that have worked. I would love to hear things that have not worked as well. If something has not worked for you, hey. Maybe that could help somebody else out to, to maybe not try that. One thing I do wanna end on since we were mentioning mentioning it earlier, Corinne, I love these little things.

We've got these if you're watching, we're holding up our, our company magnetized name tags, and these are great especially for internal events because sometimes you feel awkward asking someone's name because you should know their name. So don't make people guess. If you have a name tag or even if you don't, you can get these made on Amazon, Etsy. Maybe your company does them for you, but, I just always have it in my in my, my bag and keep it with me for every event. And it is a really nice way just to have people not forget your name and not that they would forget Rach and Wren, but

Yeah. No. But it's a good point. It's one of those there's those simple little details that sometimes you forget or you miss, and you're like, oh, I wish I had that. And, you know, hopefully your team there has, you know, right on sticky name tags available, but don't forget them. It's important, depending on how large your event is. There's so many people you're gonna be meeting and it's hard to remember everybody by name. Even as salespeople, we forget names.

So, put on those name tags. Make sure you bring them along with your awesome attitude. And, you know, we've got ours next week, Raech. We're we're excited. We're pumped up. All the final stuff is going on right now, and I'm looking for we'll have to do a follow-up episode and and chat in a little bit on how ours went and any takeaways and anything we have to add in in follow-up of this episode.

Absolutely. Alright, guys. Well, don't forget to like and subscribe. We'll come back with you soon and give you some stats and, some great ideas from the rally. But thanks for tuning in to Lending Leadership. We'll catch you next time. Thanks, guys. Take care.