October 1, 2025 • 39 mins
Consistency might be the most underrated superpower in the mortgage industry. While many professionals chase the next big strategy or market shift, Rebecca Lorenz, CEO and founder of Infinite Success Strategies, reveals a profound truth: your daily habits determine your ultimate success.
During this illuminating conversation with host Peter Benjamin, Rebecca unpacks how small, consistent actions compound over time to create extraordinary results for mortgage professionals. She challenges the disconnect between what originators say versus what they actually do, with most claiming to be relationship-focused while fewer than 10% maintain regular contact with their database.
The episode introduces practical frameworks anyone can implement immediately, including the powerful FROG method (Family, Recreation, Occupation, Goals) for transforming transactional interactions into meaningful relationships. This simple approach helps originators overcome call reluctance and connect authentically with clients, revealing the 80% likelihood that significant life changes will impact someone's real estate decisions.
For credit union mortgage professionals specifically, Rebecca addresses the unique challenges of balancing relationship-building with transactional responsibilities. She shares strategies like scheduling dedicated weekly client calls and intentionally structuring your time to ensure consistent follow-through. She powerfully states, "People do not decide their futures; they decide their habits, and their habits decide their futures."
Whether you're struggling to reach your production goals or looking to take your already successful mortgage business to new heights, this episode delivers actionable insights on building the daily habits that create long-term success. Connect with Rebecca at infinitesuccessstrategies.com or on LinkedIn to continue the conversation about transforming your mortgage business through the power of consistency.
Sponsored by Xactus
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast do not necessarilyreflect the views or positions
of ACUMA, its board of directors, its management staff or its
members.
The podcast discussionpresented is conversational in
nature and for generalinformation only.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Acuma's On Point podcast.
On today's episode we'll diveinto the power of consistency
and how small actions create bigresults.
But before we get to ourepisode, just a quick word from
our sponsor.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
This episode is sponsored by Exactus.
Exactus is an exclusive Acumaservice provider for credit
reporting, verification servicesand flood determinations.
They are advancing the modernmortgage as the leading
verification innovator in theindustry.
Serving over 6,500 clients,including hundreds of credit
(01:08):
union mortgage lenders, exactusdelivers a spectrum of solutions
ranging from pre-application topost-close.
These solutions can beseamlessly bundled to improve
cost controls, enhanceefficiencies and consolidate
vendor management.
Committed to excellence,exactus supports Acuma members
(01:29):
with its best-in-class service,including a dedicated account
manager.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hello and
welcome to Acuma's On Pointpodcast, a series focused on
sharing the stories of peoplewho are making a positive impact
in the credit union mortgageindustry.
I'm your host, Peter Benjamin.
Today, I am joined by RebeccaLorenz, CEO and founder of
Infinite Success Strategies.
Rebecca, how are you doingtoday?
Speaker 4 (01:59):
I'm doing awesome.
Thanks for having me here.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Of course.
Now, Rebecca, looking forwardto the conversation, as I
mentioned, we're going to talkabout the power of consistency
and how small actions can createbig results.
Really looking forward to thisone it's.
You know, this is somethingthat, when you propose this as
the conversation, I immediatelysaid yes, absolutely Nail on the
(02:28):
head.
You really called this one asthe right topic for us to talk
about.
You know, it's because littlethings do add up to big results,
but they also can also havenegative results as well, so
looking forward to this one, butas always, before we get to it,
justin the Hawk, welcome.
(02:50):
How you doing, buddy, what isthe latest and greatest
happening over at Acuma and howyou doing.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
I'm good man.
How are you?
You tired still.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Tired, tired, tired, trying to muster up all the
energy I possibly can.
But I'm doing good living thedream, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
I mean, we just had what was it national coffee day
not too long ago, so hopefullyyou got your coffee and all that
kind of jazz.
But yeah, so over here at Acmewe just got back from annual,
which explains why Peter and Iare just a little exhausted, but
we were in Denver.
It was amazing.
(03:29):
If you didn't come out and joinus, you missed an incredible
event and we are sad to not haveseen you.
But if you were there, youalready know it was awesome.
It was.
How about that?
After party.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The pre that after party the, the, the, the, the,
the pre-show after party thepre-show after party the day one
, Sunday night after party.
That's not really an afterparty, but what should I call it
?
I have parties.
I have nothing else to call it.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
You know what, At this point it's gotta be a
running joke.
Like we were just so bad wecame up with the after party
before the party was evenstarted.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I mean, the good news is next year.
We already figured outsomething else to call it.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
So oh, yeah, I know you have to wait and see what
that is I know seriously, no, nosecrets when I'm counting one,
two, three.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I guess at this point in time that the wait what?
Five months?
Speaker 5 (04:21):
yeah, they gotta wait a little bit.
All right, right there you go.
All right, and then coming downthe backstretch at the end of
the year we sadly don't have anymore in-person events, but next
year's events are on Acuma sitenow.
So if you're curious and youwant to book those dates on your
calendar, please head over tothe Acuma site.
And in the meantime there'sstill plenty of opportunities to
take advantage of.
We have our network meetings,uh, so this month we have our
(04:43):
marketing network and ourservicing network have, uh,
their q4 meeting.
So stay on the lookout for moreinformation coming on those.
We also have some inside trackwebinars and our favorite on
point podcast episodes awesome,bud.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Thank you very much.
Stick around.
All right, rebecca.
So turning our sights on to you, love the conversation today,
but before we get to it, let'sfocus on.
You know, I one will lead tothe main conversation.
(05:28):
The second one is more of aclosing question, so I'll save
that for the end.
But the questions I always askeveryone at the very beginning
is you know who is Rebecca?
You know, and I think that'sthe most important thing,
because you know there's a lotof things that make us up right.
Important thing, because youknow there's a lot of things
that that make us up right.
You know, this podcast wasoriginally started as the idea
(05:49):
that there are these amazingpeople across our industry that,
especially on the credit unionside, that that are doing these
amazing, wonderful, specialthings that we need to highlight
, to show that, hey, hey, creditunions are doing fantastic
things.
And it's really evolved intohighlighting people from across
(06:10):
the industry, people who not arejust in the credit union
industry, but people who alsosupport the credit union
industry.
But there might be people outthere who may not know who you
are.
So that's really the firstquestion.
So, first question is who isRebecca?
So, if you could, let's diveinto that.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Ah, thank you.
That's a great question Becausewhen I think about that it's
you know, who am I today?
Who is Infinite SuccessStrategies?
And I think for all of us,which is kind of leading to that
topic is who are we becomingand what does that look like?
And so, from a personalperspective those that do or
don't know me I'm a 26 yearmortgage industry veteran, if
(06:52):
you will, married, I have threekids and founder of a company
that offers impactful salestraining.
We do keynotes, we doone-on-one coaching and if I
left any kind of mission in life, it's to leave those human
(07:13):
interactions better than I foundthem right.
Any person that I meet, I'mhoping I leave that conversation
, that relationship, thatkeynote, in a way that some
small way I'm touching eachperson, that they have a
takeaway and their life isbetter for it.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
No, that's great, that's awesome, all right, and I
think that kind of spells outwhy you're such.
You know the perfect person tohave this conversation with.
You know the power ofconsistency, you know how small
actions create big results and Iknow I kind of keep saying that
long winded.
You know subject, because I wastrying to be consistent, because
(07:56):
, in order for you to get tothat point where you are
consistent, it really does takeyou to do a hundred different
small things in order for you toget to that point where you are
able to be consistent with thathabit.
And so I'd love to get yourviewpoint on this, because now
(08:17):
more than ever in today's modernmortgage industry and you can
frame this up in, you know, fromthe market standpoint, you can
frame it up from a regulatorystandpoint, you can really frame
this up however you so choosebut the mortgage professional
(08:45):
today is not the mortgageprofessional that was five years
ago, right, and that themortgage professional that was
five years ago is not the samemortgage professional that was
10 years ago, so that we'll say2015, right.
And so how do we, when wecontinue to evolve as an
(09:05):
industry where we canconsistently see results in an
ever-changing industry, becauseyou know we have to form those
habits right that make ussuccessful.
So, in your viewpoint, what arethose things Like?
What are what, what's, what isthat, and and and you know how
(09:27):
does it create such a meaningful, long lasting positive impact
for everyone?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Well, and I'd love that you use the example of you
know, we're not the industryisn't what it was five years ago
as originators, and we're notwhere we were five years ago.
Because that's a great segue orkind of a bridge, I like to say
think about who you were fiveyears ago.
Those small consistent habitsthat you did is why you are
(09:55):
where you are today theproduction you're doing, the
habits that you have, probablyeven the health, the
relationships, the prosperity,the health, the relationships,
the prosperity everything thatyou are today is because five
years ago, maybe even one yearago, you started doing some
consistent habits.
And so sometimes I'll havecoaching clients, pause and say,
(10:15):
well, where do you want to bein five years?
Right, where do you want yourproduction to be?
Where do you want yourrelationships to be, your health
to be?
Because I think goal planningis really important and we get
caught up on that.
We're going into businessplanning time of the year.
I love business planning.
I think it's a time to dream.
You've got to have those goalsout there.
(10:36):
It's like you're a ship, right,you're the captain of that ship
and you've got to stay oncourse to reach those goals.
However, if someone tells mewhat their goals are like.
Oh, I want to do 50 million, Iwant to do 10 million, high five
way to go.
But the real indicator is whenthey tell me what their daily
and weekly habits are, thosethings they're doing
(10:58):
consistently over and over again.
That really tell me how they'regoing to show up and where
they're going to be, maybe amonth, a year, five years from
today, and realizing it isn'tthose big goals that you've got.
It's saying what do I commit totoday, that those consistent
(11:20):
habits that are going to impact.
You know, if you've read thecompound effect by Jeff Olson,
what is that ROI that I'mgetting on?
Everything I decide incomponent of who I'm becoming?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I was looking at my bookshelf.
I have it somewhere between oneof my two bookshelves.
I have it somewhere, um, nowthat I was just quickly glancing
over see if I could pull it, um, and so I mean I love that you
said that, because and I'm, ifit's okay, I'm gonna ask you to
to kind of dive in, right, andlet's use this as an example.
(11:58):
So let's say you have anoriginator that you're talking
to and they say okay, I want tobe a 50 million dollar producer,
right?
I wake up at seven o'clock inthe morning and I go to bed nine
o'clock at night, and you knowit's, I don't really have a
schedule, but I'm just I'm gonnawhen it comes to my daily
(12:19):
routines.
But you know, that's what I do,right.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
That right there in my mind, I would already pick it
apart.
Right, absolutely.
But yeah, and so just knowingthat, like, what are some of the
key points, or key things orpoints of advice, that you would
say these are the little thingsyou can do to tweak your day,
(12:49):
to kind of get you to.
It may not be 50 million yearone, but it could get you to 20,
maybe 30.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Heck, let's just get you to 10.
Right, right, heck, let's justget you to 10.
Right, so what?
What are some of the like, thesmall things that that
originators, or, or it canreally be anyone, it can be a
process or it can be anunderwriter, just the small
habits that someone can do toreally get to that point where
they are seeing that success.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Well, and just seeing , you know, looking from a sales
perspective, that seems to bewhat I love to dive into is they
show up, right, an originatorshows up and says, hey, I have a
goal, it's tied to my why.
50 million is the number andI'm at, let's say.
They say I'm at five today, orwe have newer originators coming
into the industry, right, whatdo I need to do to go from my
(13:41):
current reality to the life Idream about, the production I
dream about, and I'm getting upat seven?
It really starts by saying whatare those consistent habits?
And so if I had to select, likethe top few or the low hanging
fruit, if you will, it'sconnection with your database.
And one of my favorite things Ilike to say at any keynote is
(14:04):
talking to the audience andsaying hey, how many of you if I
asked you?
We went to lunch and I askedyou are you a relationship-based
originator or are youtransactional?
How many of you would raiseyour hand and say I'm
relationship-based?
And, as you can imagine, peter,every hand in the room goes up.
And then I'll say how many ofyou are transactional?
(14:25):
And rarely does a hand go upbecause nobody wants to admit
that.
But then I ask the follow-upquestion and I say how many of
you are talking to those in yourdatabase at least a couple
times a year?
And less than 10% of the handsgo up.
And so then I kind of lead intothe consistency and building
(14:46):
relationships.
If we want to talk consistency,just focusing on relationships,
how could you be arelationship-based originator if
you don't talk?
Talking communication is part ofa relationship, and so one of
the biggest things is talkingwith those in your database.
Okay, I'm going to call onbirthdays, I'm going to call on
(15:07):
loan anniversaries and I'm goingto do a mortgage review.
Three touch points for threelive conversations every year.
For me, that's running anintentional business.
There's a lot in our industryall industries, real estate,
financial advising that runtheir businesses on accident.
They're winging it.
(15:27):
They show up at the office atnine, they hope their phone
rings, they busy themselves.
But being intentional, I meanjust that we talked low-hanging
fruit.
Being intentional on talking toyour database, building the
relationship, offering value, iswhere I see a 20% increase in
(15:48):
production at a minimum byhonoring that consistency.
And that's just one right.
There's a lot of branches offthis tree.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
No, and I think you're spot on with many things.
But if we focus on just thatregular touch point, right, and
it's not like we're saying thatit's a hard thing for us to do
there's technologies that cansupport that, right.
You know the modern CR crm willsay is the easiest.
(16:24):
You know that can createtrigger leads for that or
triggers to remind you.
But if you have to go a littlebit more basic, I mean just
utilize your outlook calendar,right, that's half the battle.
I schedule something throughoutyour outlook.
But you know, for me, you know,it also goes back to, let's say
(16:47):
, you do have that loan officerwho wakes up at seven, gets the
office at nine.
How's that even enough time inthe day to do the things that
you have to do to be successful?
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Well, if you asked any top producer, they would say
that's impossible, because atwhat time of the day in general
do we start losing some control?
And most would say and I keepdoing polls on this- 9.30.
9.30, 10.
Right you got it.
So if you're getting in at nine, you've got a problem.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah that's exactly it.
But also in today's industry,it's just not about maintaining
what you currently do or therelationships.
You also have to be able tostay on top of things too, like
you have to know what'shappening in that market.
You have to know what'shappening in your local area.
I mean, there's so much stuffyou have to just do that the
(17:47):
loan officer 10 years ago reallyprobably could have gotten away
with.
Right, maybe right Granted, youknow there was a lot more you
know $100 million producers 10years ago than there are now.
Right, but there were also alot more $50 million producers
(18:11):
back then as well.
So I'd like to think that thethings that you have to do today
to stay ahead, that list is 10times longer.
And so how are you going to dothat if you're not diligent
every single day with your usualroutines, right?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Well, in leveraging technology, I mean sales skills
and the skill sets we'redeveloping are impactful and
they're important.
But if you're not leveragingtechnology, I mean one thing I
say a lot to those that we'reworking with is it's not
unreasonable for 50% of yourreferrals to start coming from
your database.
If you're working it and notwinging it, you've got great
(18:51):
follow-up.
You're building relationships,you're talking to them during
their relationship and that oneclosing let's compare it to
fishing right, that one closingis great.
That's one person, maybe two,you're you're fishing.
You close one loan, but isthere more abundance or more
(19:13):
opportunities than we're seeingtoday?
A hundred percent, because thatone you know customer, that one
member that closes, they knowfive to six people every year
doing something in real estate.
I mean that's where abundanceis created and when you're
consistent, you unlock thatabundance.
(19:33):
I mean I get excited about it.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
All right.
So I want to ask you a littlemore of a direct question as it
relates to credit unions, andI'm going to focus on
originators.
So, typically, when it comes tocredit unions, there are three
different schools of thought.
When it comes to originations,you have the traditional loan
officer, which is I'm going tobeat the streets and I'm going
(19:59):
to drum up my business, andlet's say that's probably only
about 10% of credit unions dothat.
Okay, the traditional beatingthe street a hundred percent
commission they're true hunters.
10% do that.
Others, and this is probablythe majority, and I'll probably
say 60% of credit unions aresome form of hybrid of that.
(20:25):
You know, a portion of theirday is spent hunting, but the
vast majority of their day isreally just managing the normal
portfolio and or managingcurrent members, right, right.
But then there's the remainingbalance, the remaining 30%.
That is 100% retention.
(20:47):
I don't want to say a consumerdirect model, because it's not
just refinance.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Because it is also very much purchase focus, but
they're definitely a call centersetup.
It is also very much purchasefocus, but they're definitely a
call center set up.
Obviously, you know, it's adifferent mindset for each right
, but I don't want tonecessarily want to focus on the
true hunters.
I want to focus on the peoplewho are in that hybrid role, or
(21:18):
that that call center role.
In my mind that that almostseems transactional in both
situations.
How do you get someone who istransactional, or or maybe even
forced to be transactional, tohave to take the small steps to
(21:40):
start building thoserelationships, Because there has
to be a way right.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Great question.
This will be fun to brainstorm.
I really might have to take itoffline if it goes too long, but
there is so many opportunities.
And I think number one directlyto your question is, if my job
is to call members, support themon their mortgage needs, repeat
(22:06):
, rinse, repeat, right.
One of the things that I thinkis highly important is, during
their loan journey or their loanprocess, is, once a week, that
dedicated call day.
Now am I talking to them duringthe entire process?
Absolutely.
There's the milestone updates,there's the quick calls about,
you know, paperwork, but one ofthe things I do is say you know,
(22:30):
hey, susie Colleen, I want tolet you know that we're going to
be working together over thenext 30 days.
I'm going to be calling youwith milestone updates, but I'm
also going to call you everyWednesday between 10 and 11 AM,
and I know we're going to betalking other times, but this
time is dedicated for us just totouch base, check in, see if
(22:51):
you have any questions for meand make sure that I'm really
hearing anything that you needfrom me.
Would that be okay?
What's the best number?
I call Susie every week and soSusie now doesn't just see me as
a transactional support.
We have a relationship.
I'm asking hey, how's thefamily, how are you, how are
things at work?
(23:11):
Just wanted to touch in touchbase.
It's three to five minutes andI'm moving on and so you're
building that relationshipduring the loan transaction,
during the loan journey.
I think that's number one toyour question, peter.
I think it's those weekly touchpoints and it's not just to the
member, it's to the agents.
(23:33):
I'm calling the listing agentonce a week.
Hey, wanted to touch in, letyou know I'll be calling you
once a week giving you a quickupdate and behind the scenes you
know what that does.
It shows you can trust me, I'mconsistent and if I'm going to
call every Wednesday between 10and 11, I'm probably going to
have to really leverage theconsistency of my time
(23:54):
management to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
I love that and it's.
And you said something that Iwas always good at, for some
strange reason, and it wasgetting people to open up,
getting people to when I didoriginate, it was, you know,
(24:21):
having personal conversationswith them, getting to know them.
When my first question andJustin's heard me say this, but
the first question I always asksomeone whenever I got on the
phone with them was tell meabout your hopes and dreams,
right, and they would tell meeverything Well, we've got a
family, you know, we're tryingto.
You know, get a larger house,etc.
(24:42):
Etc.
Right?
Um, but a lot of credit unionsand I and I could see this, if
you're in that call center roleand you're really focused on
transactional and it's, it'syeah, you may have those weekly
touch points, but how do you getthem to that point where
they're comfortable withhumanizing the transaction,
(25:06):
because that's not that easy.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Right, I think it's exact and I love that.
That's what you did and that'sa skillset that can be taught
and we have this misconception,for some reason, that you've got
it or you don't.
Well, guess what.
It's just a learned skillset.
I mean, 80% of those in saleshave call reluctance.
Let's just put it out there.
And if 80% of those in saleshave call reluctance, we have to
(25:33):
talk about that, because it'llfeel like a transaction to both
ends of the phone if we don'tPicture the word frog for me
F-R-O-G and picture as anacronym, put a period between
each of those letters.
If you follow that because I saythis a lot and I mean it from
my heart, it's not about you,it's about them.
(25:55):
F.
If you don't know what to say,this is gonna add maybe a minute
or two to the conversation, butit'll transform the
relationship and it transformsthe conversation.
F.
Hey, how's the family doing?
It's such a how are things withthe family, did you guys?
R is recreation, did you haveany?
(26:18):
Did you have a fun time thisweekend, peter?
Or maybe it's Friday, right?
And I'm like hey, peter, do youhave any fun plans for the
weekend?
Or O occupation?
Hey, peter, how are things atwork going Gosh, how long have
you been originating now?
G is goals Gosh, how long haveyou been originating now G is
goals.
You know what I know?
We're talking about thisinvestment property.
(26:39):
Let's just stop here for aminute.
So I really understand yourshort and long-term goals.
If you had a magic wand andyou're picturing retirement down
the road, how many homes forinvestment and for retirement
would you love to own someday?
So I don't have to know what tosay, even if I'm not comfortable
(27:00):
to start.
Guess what?
I have an acronym that I canfollow and, peter, you're great
at this, so you can see this.
What comes out when you'resaying how's the family?
You hear about pain andpleasure in people's lives, like
I'm engaged, I'm married, I'mgetting divorced, we're having a
baby, we're empty nesters, andthere's this old saying that
(27:23):
really kind of stuck with me.
I heard it about 20 years ago.
If someone has a change intheir life, like those things
closest in our life, our family,our friends, our hobbies If
there is a change in someone'slife, there is an 80% likelihood
it will impact their realestate.
So maybe I just need to ask howlife is going in a really
(27:47):
comfortable way and becomfortable doing it.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (27:51):
No, no, no, that was so perfect, that was, that was
fantastic.
Because you're right, I mean,given the opportunity, people
will talk about themselves,right?
You just have to ask yes Ithink.
But getting to the point whereyou are comfortable doing it is.
(28:12):
I hate it sounds stupid.
That's a you problem, right?
So I mean you have to overcomethat if you're going to build
the relationship with a person,because in my opinion that is
the one thing.
That again my opinion, I'llprobably get some backlash from
(28:34):
this, but oh well, I'm due toget backlash at some point.
That's probably the one thingthat kind of sets credit union
originators apart from othernon-bank lenders is that
non-bank lenders are really goodat building relationships.
They're really good, especiallythe ones that are $50 million
(28:56):
producers.
They're fantastic at knowingthe families and, you know,
learning that little Susieplayed soccer and said all of a
sudden, you know, at closing,little Susie has a brand new
soccer ball at the closing table, right, like, they're really
good at those little things.
(29:17):
I mean credit unions need tohave those conversations so they
can listen.
One because that simplequestion I used to ask tell me
about your hopes and dreams.
Half the time when they wouldtell me that stuff, they would
just spill their guts.
I would have half theinformation I would need to
(29:39):
complete the application.
So my job was halfway done.
I would just take some quicknotes.
The other half was okay.
Well, now I can start reallythinking about the loan to put
them into the actual, not just a30-year fix, not just an arm.
Are they better for fha, va,who knows right, right, or
(30:04):
should they do an 80, 15?
Who like?
That's the the the mostimportant thing of really
starting to have a trueconversation with somebody.
But again, it's interesting,justin, you came off mute.
Were you going to say something?
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Oh yeah, First off, I've never heard this frog
concept and I absolutely love it, and everybody should just have
a poster in their office thatjust says frog.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Just as like a constant reminder, because like
that, I don't know if you cameup with it on your own, Rebecca,
and if you did, that isbrilliant.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
There's a few acronyms out there, but Well, I
like yours.
Frog is my favorite, and thereason it is, Justin, is because
if those in sales are notreaching the goals they have
because they're not havingconversations, whether it's
limiting beliefs that that's notwhat I do at a call center, or
(31:00):
it's limiting beliefs of I'm notgood at that or I'm not great
at communication those are justlimiting beliefs and instead of
saying I have to get better,guess what you get to get better
at connecting with people.
It will change your businessand you can show up differently.
I mean, that's the great thingabout being a human you can show
up differently tomorrow thanyou did today.
(31:20):
Like that, it's a mindsetchoice.
I mean that's amazing.
Speaker 5 (31:28):
That goes to another conversation we were having
recently, peter, on one of ourother episodes about you to
choose every day who you want tobe, something like that.
There you go.
So right, that's awesome.
I love that thing though.
Justin, you're gonna make someAcuma frog, I know right posters
yeah well, maybe a t-shirt likethe front, you know feeling
(31:51):
froggy or something like that.
Speaker 4 (31:52):
You gotta send me one .
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Well, you, you know one of my favorite quotes really
ties into, you know, feelingfroggy or something like that
you gotta send me one.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Well, you know, one of my favorite quotes really
ties into this and I have toshare it now.
I didn't know I was going to,but it's by FM Alexander and it
says people do not decide theirfutures, they decide their
habits and their habits decidetheir futures.
You don't get to just.
You can just talk about all thetime, about what you're
becoming or what you are, whatyou are, but guess what Decide
(32:22):
the habits you're going to do.
Right, it's like what we dorepeatedly.
That's who you're becoming, andhow do you decide?
Today, I mean, if you'relistening to this podcast, right
, and you're saying, huh, I wantto take one thing away, what's
that?
One thing you want to changeabout your life.
You want to change about yourbusiness, define it and then tie
(32:46):
it to a daily habit.
You will be blown away at theresults.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
That's very similar to the ones of the aristotle
quote we are what we do we arewhat we repeatedly do excellence
, therefore, is not an act, buta habit right and if you've read
, I mean, all these books reallyare telling you whether it's um
, the compound effect, if it'sthe slide edge, if it's atomic
(33:17):
habits.
This is a real gift we get ashuman beings for that one big,
bold, beautiful life.
Decide how you're going to showup, decide how you're going to
build relationships.
Sometimes and I'll say it and Ihope I don't get backlash is
sometimes there is so muchopportunity around us that it
(33:39):
just takes one small decision.
I believe every originator outthere could have more market
share if they just tie theirhabits to their goals more
intentionally.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
I love it.
I love it.
Well, rebecca, it's time for usto start transitioning.
But before we do that, secondquestion.
The second question is and Ithink it ties in perfectly to
this topic so perfect what keepsyou going?
You're just like everyone else.
(34:13):
You wake up and you put onefoot out of bed every single
morning and you have this driveto keep pushing forward.
What keeps you going?
Speaker 4 (34:24):
What I do every day, from how I show up to how I live
the day is tied so closely tomy why in life that I honestly
say it, not from a cheesystandpoint, but I'm living my
why.
When I can work with anoriginator that's thinking of
leaving the business becauseit's so tough, and help them
(34:46):
develop those habits and skillsets, and guess what?
They show up.
They're making more money, theyhave more production, they have
more balance to their day andthey love life again and they're
creating like massivegenerational wealth.
I don't know if there'sanything better than that.
I mean, that's what it's aboutfor me, so that's what keeps me
(35:06):
going.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
That's awesome, awesome, love, love, love that.
Well, rebecca, now it's time totransition to the second
segment of our podcast.
Now.
Sometimes we play Jeopardy,sometimes we do trivia, just
random trivia.
Today we're doing the mostrequested segment of dad jokes.
So I asked you, prior to uh, tocome prepared with two to three
(35:30):
dad jokes.
Now what we're gonna do is wehave, we're going to go around,
you're going to do dad jokes,justin, do two dad jokes.
Now I'll do my two dad jokes.
We see we keep that third onein our back pockets, just in
case one falls completely flat.
But after that, we'll justcompletely wrap up and we'll go
about our day.
(35:50):
Sound good?
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
All right, so you're up first.
Tell us your your two dad jokesall right.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
Um, I had to look up dad jokes because I am a not a
natural dad joke giver, but Iwill be now, thanks to both of
you.
Why can't you give elsa aballoon?
Because she'll let it go oh,you knew it sorry, I had to you
have to sing it, peter, you haveto sing absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Oh, that'd be so bad so good all right go.
What's your second one?
Speaker 4 (36:34):
what do you call fake spaghetti?
Spaghetti?
All right, go.
What's your?
Speaker 2 (36:36):
second one what do you call fake spaghetti?
Spaghetti, what?
An impasta always a good one.
I forgot that one.
All right, justin go all right.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
What kind of shoes do frogs wear?
All right, justin go.
All right.
What kind of shoes do frogswear?
Did?
Speaker 2 (37:01):
you just lift that up no.
Speaker 4 (37:03):
A frog joke.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
No, I didn't.
Yes, you did.
No, I didn't.
It's on my list.
It's on my list.
What kind of shoes do frogswear?
What Open toed sandals.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
That's awesome.
Okay, next one.
Speaker 5 (37:27):
All right.
What did the alien say to thelandscaper?
Wait one more time.
I missed that.
What did the alien say to thelandscaper?
Wait one more time.
I missed that.
What did the alien say to thelandscaper?
What take me to your weederyou're good at being dusted all
(37:47):
right I'll wrap up it's likeyour favorite segment, so you
get really good at the delivery.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, seriously uh, what kind of pants do ghost
hunters wear?
Speaker 5 (38:00):
invisible no, just a pair of normal pants oh there we
go I was literally like yep,okay, that makes sense, that
makes sense my last one's moreof a one-liner, but I'll say it
anyways.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
My teacher told me that I'd never mount them much
because I procrastinate too much.
I told her you just wait andsee.
Speaker 5 (38:29):
That's a good one.
And that wraps up dad jokes.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
That wraps up dad jokes.
That wraps up dad jokes.
And well, rebecca reallyenjoyed the conversation.
Thank you very much for takingtime out of your very busy
schedule to join us on thelatest episode of Actors On
Point podcast.
Truly enjoyed it.
Just out of curiosity.
If people want to, you knowkind of follow you, you know,
stay in touch and learn moreabout you.
Where can they go to do so?
Speaker 4 (38:59):
I'd love that.
A website is infinite successstrategiescom.
Or find me on LinkedIn.
Let's start a conversation.
I'm just thank you so much forhaving me.
What a great hour this has been.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Of course, of course.
And Justin, as always, thankyou very much, of course.
Thank you, and Justin, asalways, thank you very much, of
course.
Thank you and, to close out,thank you again to Zactus for
sponsoring today's episode andto all of you.
We know your time is valuable.
Thank you for tuning in to thelatest episode of Acuma's On
Point Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time.
Be well, my friends.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time at theAcuma On Point podcast.
If not already, be sure tosubscribe and give us a
five-star rating For more greatepisodes and information.
Be sure to visit us online atacumaorg and to get the latest
updates.
Head over to our LinkedIn page.
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast do not necessarilyreflect the views or positions
of ACUMA, its board of directors, its management staff or its
members.
The podcast discussionpresented is conversational in
nature and for generalinformation only.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Acuma's On Point podcast.
On today's episode we'll diveinto the power of consistency
and how small actions create bigresults.
But before we get to ourepisode, just a quick word from
our sponsor.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
This episode is sponsored by Exactus.
Exactus is an exclusive Acumaservice provider for credit
reporting, verification servicesand flood determinations.
They are advancing the modernmortgage as the leading
verification innovator in theindustry.
Serving over 6,500 clients,including hundreds of credit
(01:08):
union mortgage lenders, exactusdelivers a spectrum of solutions
ranging from pre-application topost-close.
These solutions can beseamlessly bundled to improve
cost controls, enhanceefficiencies and consolidate
vendor management.
Committed to excellence,exactus supports Acuma members
(01:29):
with its best-in-class service,including a dedicated account
manager.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hello and
welcome to Acuma's On Pointpodcast, a series focused on
sharing the stories of peoplewho are making a positive impact
in the credit union mortgageindustry.
I'm your host, Peter Benjamin.
Today, I am joined by RebeccaLorenz, CEO and founder of
Infinite Success Strategies.
Rebecca, how are you doingtoday?
Speaker 4 (01:59):
I'm doing awesome.
Thanks for having me here.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Of course.
Now, Rebecca, looking forwardto the conversation, as I
mentioned, we're going to talkabout the power of consistency
and how small actions can createbig results.
Really looking forward to thisone it's.
You know, this is somethingthat, when you propose this as
the conversation, I immediatelysaid yes, absolutely Nail on the
(02:28):
head.
You really called this one asthe right topic for us to talk
about.
You know, it's because littlethings do add up to big results,
but they also can also havenegative results as well, so
looking forward to this one, butas always, before we get to it,
justin the Hawk, welcome.
(02:50):
How you doing, buddy, what isthe latest and greatest
happening over at Acuma and howyou doing.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
I'm good man.
How are you?
You tired still.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Tired, tired, tired, trying to muster up all the
energy I possibly can.
But I'm doing good living thedream, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
I mean, we just had what was it national coffee day
not too long ago, so hopefullyyou got your coffee and all that
kind of jazz.
But yeah, so over here at Acmewe just got back from annual,
which explains why Peter and Iare just a little exhausted, but
we were in Denver.
It was amazing.
(03:29):
If you didn't come out and joinus, you missed an incredible
event and we are sad to not haveseen you.
But if you were there, youalready know it was awesome.
It was.
How about that?
After party.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The pre that after party the, the, the, the, the,
the pre-show after party thepre-show after party the day one
, Sunday night after party.
That's not really an afterparty, but what should I call it
?
I have parties.
I have nothing else to call it.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
You know what, At this point it's gotta be a
running joke.
Like we were just so bad wecame up with the after party
before the party was evenstarted.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I mean, the good news is next year.
We already figured outsomething else to call it.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
So oh, yeah, I know you have to wait and see what
that is I know seriously, no, nosecrets when I'm counting one,
two, three.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I guess at this point in time that the wait what?
Five months?
Speaker 5 (04:21):
yeah, they gotta wait a little bit.
All right, right there you go.
All right, and then coming downthe backstretch at the end of
the year we sadly don't have anymore in-person events, but next
year's events are on Acuma sitenow.
So if you're curious and youwant to book those dates on your
calendar, please head over tothe Acuma site.
And in the meantime there'sstill plenty of opportunities to
take advantage of.
We have our network meetings,uh, so this month we have our
(04:43):
marketing network and ourservicing network have, uh,
their q4 meeting.
So stay on the lookout for moreinformation coming on those.
We also have some inside trackwebinars and our favorite on
point podcast episodes awesome,bud.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Thank you very much.
Stick around.
All right, rebecca.
So turning our sights on to you, love the conversation today,
but before we get to it, let'sfocus on.
You know, I one will lead tothe main conversation.
(05:28):
The second one is more of aclosing question, so I'll save
that for the end.
But the questions I always askeveryone at the very beginning
is you know who is Rebecca?
You know, and I think that'sthe most important thing,
because you know there's a lotof things that make us up right.
Important thing, because youknow there's a lot of things
that that make us up right.
You know, this podcast wasoriginally started as the idea
(05:49):
that there are these amazingpeople across our industry that,
especially on the credit unionside, that that are doing these
amazing, wonderful, specialthings that we need to highlight
, to show that, hey, hey, creditunions are doing fantastic
things.
And it's really evolved intohighlighting people from across
(06:10):
the industry, people who not arejust in the credit union
industry, but people who alsosupport the credit union
industry.
But there might be people outthere who may not know who you
are.
So that's really the firstquestion.
So, first question is who isRebecca?
So, if you could, let's diveinto that.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Ah, thank you.
That's a great question Becausewhen I think about that it's
you know, who am I today?
Who is Infinite SuccessStrategies?
And I think for all of us,which is kind of leading to that
topic is who are we becomingand what does that look like?
And so, from a personalperspective those that do or
don't know me I'm a 26 yearmortgage industry veteran, if
(06:52):
you will, married, I have threekids and founder of a company
that offers impactful salestraining.
We do keynotes, we doone-on-one coaching and if I
left any kind of mission in life, it's to leave those human
(07:13):
interactions better than I foundthem right.
Any person that I meet, I'mhoping I leave that conversation
, that relationship, thatkeynote, in a way that some
small way I'm touching eachperson, that they have a
takeaway and their life isbetter for it.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
No, that's great, that's awesome, all right, and I
think that kind of spells outwhy you're such.
You know the perfect person tohave this conversation with.
You know the power ofconsistency, you know how small
actions create big results and Iknow I kind of keep saying that
long winded.
You know subject, because I wastrying to be consistent, because
(07:56):
, in order for you to get tothat point where you are
consistent, it really does takeyou to do a hundred different
small things in order for you toget to that point where you are
able to be consistent with thathabit.
And so I'd love to get yourviewpoint on this, because now
(08:17):
more than ever in today's modernmortgage industry and you can
frame this up in, you know, fromthe market standpoint, you can
frame it up from a regulatorystandpoint, you can really frame
this up however you so choosebut the mortgage professional
(08:45):
today is not the mortgageprofessional that was five years
ago, right, and that themortgage professional that was
five years ago is not the samemortgage professional that was
10 years ago, so that we'll say2015, right.
And so how do we, when wecontinue to evolve as an
(09:05):
industry where we canconsistently see results in an
ever-changing industry, becauseyou know we have to form those
habits right that make ussuccessful.
So, in your viewpoint, what arethose things Like?
What are what, what's, what isthat, and and and you know how
(09:27):
does it create such a meaningful, long lasting positive impact
for everyone?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Well, and I'd love that you use the example of you
know, we're not the industryisn't what it was five years ago
as originators, and we're notwhere we were five years ago.
Because that's a great segue orkind of a bridge, I like to say
think about who you were fiveyears ago.
Those small consistent habitsthat you did is why you are
(09:55):
where you are today theproduction you're doing, the
habits that you have, probablyeven the health, the
relationships, the prosperity,the health, the relationships,
the prosperity everything thatyou are today is because five
years ago, maybe even one yearago, you started doing some
consistent habits.
And so sometimes I'll havecoaching clients, pause and say,
(10:15):
well, where do you want to bein five years?
Right, where do you want yourproduction to be?
Where do you want yourrelationships to be, your health
to be?
Because I think goal planningis really important and we get
caught up on that.
We're going into businessplanning time of the year.
I love business planning.
I think it's a time to dream.
You've got to have those goalsout there.
(10:36):
It's like you're a ship, right,you're the captain of that ship
and you've got to stay oncourse to reach those goals.
However, if someone tells mewhat their goals are like.
Oh, I want to do 50 million, Iwant to do 10 million, high five
way to go.
But the real indicator is whenthey tell me what their daily
and weekly habits are, thosethings they're doing
(10:58):
consistently over and over again.
That really tell me how they'regoing to show up and where
they're going to be, maybe amonth, a year, five years from
today, and realizing it isn'tthose big goals that you've got.
It's saying what do I commit totoday, that those consistent
(11:20):
habits that are going to impact.
You know, if you've read thecompound effect by Jeff Olson,
what is that ROI that I'mgetting on?
Everything I decide incomponent of who I'm becoming?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I was looking at my bookshelf.
I have it somewhere between oneof my two bookshelves.
I have it somewhere, um, nowthat I was just quickly glancing
over see if I could pull it, um, and so I mean I love that you
said that, because and I'm, ifit's okay, I'm gonna ask you to
to kind of dive in, right, andlet's use this as an example.
(11:58):
So let's say you have anoriginator that you're talking
to and they say okay, I want tobe a 50 million dollar producer,
right?
I wake up at seven o'clock inthe morning and I go to bed nine
o'clock at night, and you knowit's, I don't really have a
schedule, but I'm just I'm gonnawhen it comes to my daily
(12:19):
routines.
But you know, that's what I do,right.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
That right there in my mind, I would already pick it
apart.
Right, absolutely.
But yeah, and so just knowingthat, like, what are some of the
key points, or key things orpoints of advice, that you would
say these are the little thingsyou can do to tweak your day,
(12:49):
to kind of get you to.
It may not be 50 million yearone, but it could get you to 20,
maybe 30.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Heck, let's just get you to 10.
Right, right, heck, let's justget you to 10.
Right, so what?
What are some of the like, thesmall things that that
originators, or, or it canreally be anyone, it can be a
process or it can be anunderwriter, just the small
habits that someone can do toreally get to that point where
they are seeing that success.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Well, and just seeing , you know, looking from a sales
perspective, that seems to bewhat I love to dive into is they
show up, right, an originatorshows up and says, hey, I have a
goal, it's tied to my why.
50 million is the number andI'm at, let's say.
They say I'm at five today, orwe have newer originators coming
into the industry, right, whatdo I need to do to go from my
(13:41):
current reality to the life Idream about, the production I
dream about, and I'm getting upat seven?
It really starts by saying whatare those consistent habits?
And so if I had to select, likethe top few or the low hanging
fruit, if you will, it'sconnection with your database.
And one of my favorite things Ilike to say at any keynote is
(14:04):
talking to the audience andsaying hey, how many of you if I
asked you?
We went to lunch and I askedyou are you a relationship-based
originator or are youtransactional?
How many of you would raiseyour hand and say I'm
relationship-based?
And, as you can imagine, peter,every hand in the room goes up.
And then I'll say how many ofyou are transactional?
(14:25):
And rarely does a hand go upbecause nobody wants to admit
that.
But then I ask the follow-upquestion and I say how many of
you are talking to those in yourdatabase at least a couple
times a year?
And less than 10% of the handsgo up.
And so then I kind of lead intothe consistency and building
(14:46):
relationships.
If we want to talk consistency,just focusing on relationships,
how could you be arelationship-based originator if
you don't talk?
Talking communication is part ofa relationship, and so one of
the biggest things is talkingwith those in your database.
Okay, I'm going to call onbirthdays, I'm going to call on
(15:07):
loan anniversaries and I'm goingto do a mortgage review.
Three touch points for threelive conversations every year.
For me, that's running anintentional business.
There's a lot in our industryall industries, real estate,
financial advising that runtheir businesses on accident.
They're winging it.
(15:27):
They show up at the office atnine, they hope their phone
rings, they busy themselves.
But being intentional, I meanjust that we talked low-hanging
fruit.
Being intentional on talking toyour database, building the
relationship, offering value, iswhere I see a 20% increase in
(15:48):
production at a minimum byhonoring that consistency.
And that's just one right.
There's a lot of branches offthis tree.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
No, and I think you're spot on with many things.
But if we focus on just thatregular touch point, right, and
it's not like we're saying thatit's a hard thing for us to do
there's technologies that cansupport that, right.
You know the modern CR crm willsay is the easiest.
(16:24):
You know that can createtrigger leads for that or
triggers to remind you.
But if you have to go a littlebit more basic, I mean just
utilize your outlook calendar,right, that's half the battle.
I schedule something throughoutyour outlook.
But you know, for me, you know,it also goes back to, let's say
(16:47):
, you do have that loan officerwho wakes up at seven, gets the
office at nine.
How's that even enough time inthe day to do the things that
you have to do to be successful?
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Well, if you asked any top producer, they would say
that's impossible, because atwhat time of the day in general
do we start losing some control?
And most would say and I keepdoing polls on this- 9.30.
9.30, 10.
Right you got it.
So if you're getting in at nine, you've got a problem.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah that's exactly it.
But also in today's industry,it's just not about maintaining
what you currently do or therelationships.
You also have to be able tostay on top of things too, like
you have to know what'shappening in that market.
You have to know what'shappening in your local area.
I mean, there's so much stuffyou have to just do that the
(17:47):
loan officer 10 years ago reallyprobably could have gotten away
with.
Right, maybe right Granted, youknow there was a lot more you
know $100 million producers 10years ago than there are now.
Right, but there were also alot more $50 million producers
(18:11):
back then as well.
So I'd like to think that thethings that you have to do today
to stay ahead, that list is 10times longer.
And so how are you going to dothat if you're not diligent
every single day with your usualroutines, right?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Well, in leveraging technology, I mean sales skills
and the skill sets we'redeveloping are impactful and
they're important.
But if you're not leveragingtechnology, I mean one thing I
say a lot to those that we'reworking with is it's not
unreasonable for 50% of yourreferrals to start coming from
your database.
If you're working it and notwinging it, you've got great
(18:51):
follow-up.
You're building relationships,you're talking to them during
their relationship and that oneclosing let's compare it to
fishing right, that one closingis great.
That's one person, maybe two,you're you're fishing.
You close one loan, but isthere more abundance or more
(19:13):
opportunities than we're seeingtoday?
A hundred percent, because thatone you know customer, that one
member that closes, they knowfive to six people every year
doing something in real estate.
I mean that's where abundanceis created and when you're
consistent, you unlock thatabundance.
(19:33):
I mean I get excited about it.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
All right.
So I want to ask you a littlemore of a direct question as it
relates to credit unions, andI'm going to focus on
originators.
So, typically, when it comes tocredit unions, there are three
different schools of thought.
When it comes to originations,you have the traditional loan
officer, which is I'm going tobeat the streets and I'm going
(19:59):
to drum up my business, andlet's say that's probably only
about 10% of credit unions dothat.
Okay, the traditional beatingthe street a hundred percent
commission they're true hunters.
10% do that.
Others, and this is probablythe majority, and I'll probably
say 60% of credit unions aresome form of hybrid of that.
(20:25):
You know, a portion of theirday is spent hunting, but the
vast majority of their day isreally just managing the normal
portfolio and or managingcurrent members, right, right.
But then there's the remainingbalance, the remaining 30%.
That is 100% retention.
(20:47):
I don't want to say a consumerdirect model, because it's not
just refinance.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Because it is also very much purchase focus, but
they're definitely a call centersetup.
It is also very much purchasefocus, but they're definitely a
call center set up.
Obviously, you know, it's adifferent mindset for each right
, but I don't want tonecessarily want to focus on the
true hunters.
I want to focus on the peoplewho are in that hybrid role, or
(21:18):
that that call center role.
In my mind that that almostseems transactional in both
situations.
How do you get someone who istransactional, or or maybe even
forced to be transactional, tohave to take the small steps to
(21:40):
start building thoserelationships, Because there has
to be a way right.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Great question.
This will be fun to brainstorm.
I really might have to take itoffline if it goes too long, but
there is so many opportunities.
And I think number one directlyto your question is, if my job
is to call members, support themon their mortgage needs, repeat
(22:06):
, rinse, repeat, right.
One of the things that I thinkis highly important is, during
their loan journey or their loanprocess, is, once a week, that
dedicated call day.
Now am I talking to them duringthe entire process?
Absolutely.
There's the milestone updates,there's the quick calls about,
you know, paperwork, but one ofthe things I do is say you know,
(22:30):
hey, susie Colleen, I want tolet you know that we're going to
be working together over thenext 30 days.
I'm going to be calling youwith milestone updates, but I'm
also going to call you everyWednesday between 10 and 11 AM,
and I know we're going to betalking other times, but this
time is dedicated for us just totouch base, check in, see if
(22:51):
you have any questions for meand make sure that I'm really
hearing anything that you needfrom me.
Would that be okay?
What's the best number?
I call Susie every week and soSusie now doesn't just see me as
a transactional support.
We have a relationship.
I'm asking hey, how's thefamily, how are you, how are
things at work?
(23:11):
Just wanted to touch in touchbase.
It's three to five minutes andI'm moving on and so you're
building that relationshipduring the loan transaction,
during the loan journey.
I think that's number one toyour question, peter.
I think it's those weekly touchpoints and it's not just to the
member, it's to the agents.
(23:33):
I'm calling the listing agentonce a week.
Hey, wanted to touch in, letyou know I'll be calling you
once a week giving you a quickupdate and behind the scenes you
know what that does.
It shows you can trust me, I'mconsistent and if I'm going to
call every Wednesday between 10and 11, I'm probably going to
have to really leverage theconsistency of my time
(23:54):
management to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
I love that and it's.
And you said something that Iwas always good at, for some
strange reason, and it wasgetting people to open up,
getting people to when I didoriginate, it was, you know,
(24:21):
having personal conversationswith them, getting to know them.
When my first question andJustin's heard me say this, but
the first question I always asksomeone whenever I got on the
phone with them was tell meabout your hopes and dreams,
right, and they would tell meeverything Well, we've got a
family, you know, we're tryingto.
You know, get a larger house,etc.
(24:42):
Etc.
Right?
Um, but a lot of credit unionsand I and I could see this, if
you're in that call center roleand you're really focused on
transactional and it's, it'syeah, you may have those weekly
touch points, but how do you getthem to that point where
they're comfortable withhumanizing the transaction,
(25:06):
because that's not that easy.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Right, I think it's exact and I love that.
That's what you did and that'sa skillset that can be taught
and we have this misconception,for some reason, that you've got
it or you don't.
Well, guess what.
It's just a learned skillset.
I mean, 80% of those in saleshave call reluctance.
Let's just put it out there.
And if 80% of those in saleshave call reluctance, we have to
(25:33):
talk about that, because it'llfeel like a transaction to both
ends of the phone if we don'tPicture the word frog for me
F-R-O-G and picture as anacronym, put a period between
each of those letters.
If you follow that because I saythis a lot and I mean it from
my heart, it's not about you,it's about them.
(25:55):
F.
If you don't know what to say,this is gonna add maybe a minute
or two to the conversation, butit'll transform the
relationship and it transformsthe conversation.
F.
Hey, how's the family doing?
It's such a how are things withthe family, did you guys?
R is recreation, did you haveany?
(26:18):
Did you have a fun time thisweekend, peter?
Or maybe it's Friday, right?
And I'm like hey, peter, do youhave any fun plans for the
weekend?
Or O occupation?
Hey, peter, how are things atwork going Gosh, how long have
you been originating now?
G is goals Gosh, how long haveyou been originating now G is
goals.
You know what I know?
We're talking about thisinvestment property.
(26:39):
Let's just stop here for aminute.
So I really understand yourshort and long-term goals.
If you had a magic wand andyou're picturing retirement down
the road, how many homes forinvestment and for retirement
would you love to own someday?
So I don't have to know what tosay, even if I'm not comfortable
(27:00):
to start.
Guess what?
I have an acronym that I canfollow and, peter, you're great
at this, so you can see this.
What comes out when you'resaying how's the family?
You hear about pain andpleasure in people's lives, like
I'm engaged, I'm married, I'mgetting divorced, we're having a
baby, we're empty nesters, andthere's this old saying that
(27:23):
really kind of stuck with me.
I heard it about 20 years ago.
If someone has a change intheir life, like those things
closest in our life, our family,our friends, our hobbies If
there is a change in someone'slife, there is an 80% likelihood
it will impact their realestate.
So maybe I just need to ask howlife is going in a really
(27:47):
comfortable way and becomfortable doing it.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (27:51):
No, no, no, that was so perfect, that was, that was
fantastic.
Because you're right, I mean,given the opportunity, people
will talk about themselves,right?
You just have to ask yes Ithink.
But getting to the point whereyou are comfortable doing it is.
(28:12):
I hate it sounds stupid.
That's a you problem, right?
So I mean you have to overcomethat if you're going to build
the relationship with a person,because in my opinion that is
the one thing.
That again my opinion, I'llprobably get some backlash from
(28:34):
this, but oh well, I'm due toget backlash at some point.
That's probably the one thingthat kind of sets credit union
originators apart from othernon-bank lenders is that
non-bank lenders are really goodat building relationships.
They're really good, especiallythe ones that are $50 million
(28:56):
producers.
They're fantastic at knowingthe families and, you know,
learning that little Susieplayed soccer and said all of a
sudden, you know, at closing,little Susie has a brand new
soccer ball at the closing table, right, like, they're really
good at those little things.
(29:17):
I mean credit unions need tohave those conversations so they
can listen.
One because that simplequestion I used to ask tell me
about your hopes and dreams.
Half the time when they wouldtell me that stuff, they would
just spill their guts.
I would have half theinformation I would need to
(29:39):
complete the application.
So my job was halfway done.
I would just take some quicknotes.
The other half was okay.
Well, now I can start reallythinking about the loan to put
them into the actual, not just a30-year fix, not just an arm.
Are they better for fha, va,who knows right, right, or
(30:04):
should they do an 80, 15?
Who like?
That's the the the mostimportant thing of really
starting to have a trueconversation with somebody.
But again, it's interesting,justin, you came off mute.
Were you going to say something?
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Oh yeah, First off, I've never heard this frog
concept and I absolutely love it, and everybody should just have
a poster in their office thatjust says frog.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Just as like a constant reminder, because like
that, I don't know if you cameup with it on your own, Rebecca,
and if you did, that isbrilliant.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
There's a few acronyms out there, but Well, I
like yours.
Frog is my favorite, and thereason it is, Justin, is because
if those in sales are notreaching the goals they have
because they're not havingconversations, whether it's
limiting beliefs that that's notwhat I do at a call center, or
(31:00):
it's limiting beliefs of I'm notgood at that or I'm not great
at communication those are justlimiting beliefs and instead of
saying I have to get better,guess what you get to get better
at connecting with people.
It will change your businessand you can show up differently.
I mean, that's the great thingabout being a human you can show
up differently tomorrow thanyou did today.
(31:20):
Like that, it's a mindsetchoice.
I mean that's amazing.
Speaker 5 (31:28):
That goes to another conversation we were having
recently, peter, on one of ourother episodes about you to
choose every day who you want tobe, something like that.
There you go.
So right, that's awesome.
I love that thing though.
Justin, you're gonna make someAcuma frog, I know right posters
yeah well, maybe a t-shirt likethe front, you know feeling
(31:51):
froggy or something like that.
Speaker 4 (31:52):
You gotta send me one .
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Well, you, you know one of my favorite quotes really
ties into, you know, feelingfroggy or something like that
you gotta send me one.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Well, you know, one of my favorite quotes really
ties into this and I have toshare it now.
I didn't know I was going to,but it's by FM Alexander and it
says people do not decide theirfutures, they decide their
habits and their habits decidetheir futures.
You don't get to just.
You can just talk about all thetime, about what you're
becoming or what you are, whatyou are, but guess what Decide
(32:22):
the habits you're going to do.
Right, it's like what we dorepeatedly.
That's who you're becoming, andhow do you decide?
Today, I mean, if you'relistening to this podcast, right
, and you're saying, huh, I wantto take one thing away, what's
that?
One thing you want to changeabout your life.
You want to change about yourbusiness, define it and then tie
(32:46):
it to a daily habit.
You will be blown away at theresults.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
That's very similar to the ones of the aristotle
quote we are what we do we arewhat we repeatedly do excellence
, therefore, is not an act, buta habit right and if you've read
, I mean, all these books reallyare telling you whether it's um
, the compound effect, if it'sthe slide edge, if it's atomic
(33:17):
habits.
This is a real gift we get ashuman beings for that one big,
bold, beautiful life.
Decide how you're going to showup, decide how you're going to
build relationships.
Sometimes and I'll say it and Ihope I don't get backlash is
sometimes there is so muchopportunity around us that it
(33:39):
just takes one small decision.
I believe every originator outthere could have more market
share if they just tie theirhabits to their goals more
intentionally.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
I love it.
I love it.
Well, rebecca, it's time for usto start transitioning.
But before we do that, secondquestion.
The second question is and Ithink it ties in perfectly to
this topic so perfect what keepsyou going?
You're just like everyone else.
(34:13):
You wake up and you put onefoot out of bed every single
morning and you have this driveto keep pushing forward.
What keeps you going?
Speaker 4 (34:24):
What I do every day, from how I show up to how I live
the day is tied so closely tomy why in life that I honestly
say it, not from a cheesystandpoint, but I'm living my
why.
When I can work with anoriginator that's thinking of
leaving the business becauseit's so tough, and help them
(34:46):
develop those habits and skillsets, and guess what?
They show up.
They're making more money, theyhave more production, they have
more balance to their day andthey love life again and they're
creating like massivegenerational wealth.
I don't know if there'sanything better than that.
I mean, that's what it's aboutfor me, so that's what keeps me
(35:06):
going.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
That's awesome, awesome, love, love, love that.
Well, rebecca, now it's time totransition to the second
segment of our podcast.
Now.
Sometimes we play Jeopardy,sometimes we do trivia, just
random trivia.
Today we're doing the mostrequested segment of dad jokes.
So I asked you, prior to uh, tocome prepared with two to three
(35:30):
dad jokes.
Now what we're gonna do is wehave, we're going to go around,
you're going to do dad jokes,justin, do two dad jokes.
Now I'll do my two dad jokes.
We see we keep that third onein our back pockets, just in
case one falls completely flat.
But after that, we'll justcompletely wrap up and we'll go
about our day.
(35:50):
Sound good?
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
All right, so you're up first.
Tell us your your two dad jokesall right.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
Um, I had to look up dad jokes because I am a not a
natural dad joke giver, but Iwill be now, thanks to both of
you.
Why can't you give elsa aballoon?
Because she'll let it go oh,you knew it sorry, I had to you
have to sing it, peter, you haveto sing absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Oh, that'd be so bad so good all right go.
What's your second one?
Speaker 4 (36:34):
what do you call fake spaghetti?
Spaghetti?
All right, go.
What's your?
Speaker 2 (36:36):
second one what do you call fake spaghetti?
Spaghetti, what?
An impasta always a good one.
I forgot that one.
All right, justin go all right.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
What kind of shoes do frogs wear?
All right, justin go.
All right.
What kind of shoes do frogswear?
Did?
Speaker 2 (37:01):
you just lift that up no.
Speaker 4 (37:03):
A frog joke.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
No, I didn't.
Yes, you did.
No, I didn't.
It's on my list.
It's on my list.
What kind of shoes do frogswear?
What Open toed sandals.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
That's awesome.
Okay, next one.
Speaker 5 (37:27):
All right.
What did the alien say to thelandscaper?
Wait one more time.
I missed that.
What did the alien say to thelandscaper?
Wait one more time.
I missed that.
What did the alien say to thelandscaper?
What take me to your weederyou're good at being dusted all
(37:47):
right I'll wrap up it's likeyour favorite segment, so you
get really good at the delivery.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, seriously uh, what kind of pants do ghost
hunters wear?
Speaker 5 (38:00):
invisible no, just a pair of normal pants oh there we
go I was literally like yep,okay, that makes sense, that
makes sense my last one's moreof a one-liner, but I'll say it
anyways.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
My teacher told me that I'd never mount them much
because I procrastinate too much.
I told her you just wait andsee.
Speaker 5 (38:29):
That's a good one.
And that wraps up dad jokes.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
That wraps up dad jokes.
That wraps up dad jokes.
And well, rebecca reallyenjoyed the conversation.
Thank you very much for takingtime out of your very busy
schedule to join us on thelatest episode of Actors On
Point podcast.
Truly enjoyed it.
Just out of curiosity.
If people want to, you knowkind of follow you, you know,
stay in touch and learn moreabout you.
Where can they go to do so?
Speaker 4 (38:59):
I'd love that.
A website is infinite successstrategiescom.
Or find me on LinkedIn.
Let's start a conversation.
I'm just thank you so much forhaving me.
What a great hour this has been.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Of course, of course.
And Justin, as always, thankyou very much, of course.
Thank you, and Justin, asalways, thank you very much, of
course.
Thank you and, to close out,thank you again to Zactus for
sponsoring today's episode andto all of you.
We know your time is valuable.
Thank you for tuning in to thelatest episode of Acuma's On
Point Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time.
Be well, my friends.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time at theAcuma On Point podcast.
If not already, be sure tosubscribe and give us a
five-star rating For more greatepisodes and information.
Be sure to visit us online atacumaorg and to get the latest
updates.
Head over to our LinkedIn page.
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