These stats remain unchanged…

Nearly half of all new Mortgage Brokers leave the industry inside four years. The numbers are higher where the course is shorter, lower turnover where it is longer, which makes sense.

1 in 3 are gone within the first 2 years on average.

The answers below were crowdsourced 6 years ago, I only slightly edited them to fit today’s environment, as the basics stand the test of time… and pandemics.

What’re the top 3 things you wish you’d been told before entering this business?

1. Stay in touch with everybody.

  • Find a way to stay in contact with everyone. If that way does not work…find another way to stay in contact with everyone. If that doesn’t work…McDonald’s is still hiring.
  • [I wish I had] advised all of my closer contacts that I was shifting careers and asked them to give me a shot at securing their mortgage when due or new.
  • Stay in contact with everyone (not just past clients). I’ve done [this] for the last three years. But for the first 12 years of my career I did not. It’d be insane to know the numbers I’d be running if I stayed in contact with everyone I met in those first 12 years.
  • Never, ever, ever burn your bridges with anyone.
  • CRM: start with one before you think you need it!

2. Prepare for a time of reduced income.

  • [I wish I had known] how long it takes to get off the ground. I underestimated the amount of time that needs to be dedicated (full-time) in the beginning.
  • Plan on making nothing for 6 to 12 months. This was not my reality, but the first year was definitely tighter than I was used to in comparison to my old salary.
  • Something I did know and prep for: line up back-up finances ahead of time just in case; savings and a LOC ready!
  • Have an LOC put in place prior to quitting your job; emergency coverage enough to cover one-half to a year which I have dipped into in slower periods and paid off three times since.
  • This is a sink-or-swim business. I have a spouse with a salary, which provided me (us) the support we needed while I got up and running.
  • Make adjustments and turn extra or unnecessary payments OFF.
  • I’d never claim my first year was a write-off. As far as income goes, it was terrible but I worked really hard, and in terms of planting some great seeds, made great contacts and got myself out there, it was fantastic.

Sell yourself.

  • You need to be able to ask for the business — not easy to learn, if you’re coming from a safe, employed, salaried type of job!
  • All the assurances you get from the big brokerages that they’ve got the marketing all taken care of for you… doesn’t bring in a single deal.
  • First and foremost, this is a sales business. If you want to be successful you will have to develop your sales skills. It is a “Technical Sales Job.” The phone (now Zoom) is the most powerful tool you have to grow your mortgage biz. If you have call reluctance you will need to smash through it in order to achieve big numbers.
  • If you’re going to make this work, it NEEDS to be your FT job! Marketing, calls, database, more calls, get familiar with a few lenders AND bark up referral source trees, etc., are just scratching the surface. You have to get out there; you have to sell yourself.
  • Perhaps the best piece of advice I have ever heard (applicable all your life in any vocation): “Position yourself as an Expert.” Even when new, you will likely know more than the average prospect. Remember that!
  • No one is hungrier than you! Only you can make it happen! DON’T buy into the first-year-is-a-write-off mentality. (editor’s note – I love how this cancels out the weaker answer up above)

Learn from others’ experience.

  • Meet with more seasoned brokers for “real” feedback.
  • [I wish I’d known] how many real deals you need to close before you realize just how many scenarios there are… and then you need to close another 100… and another.
  • The training was not comprehensive enough to prepare me for a “real” file.
  • [I wish I’d known] how important it is to align yourself with a great team.
  • You will learn by doing (rightly or wrongly). There is little in the way of role-playing or client simulations for new Brokers. This is because those who can be helpful are (understandably) too busy working on their own business.
  • This business could benefit from a stronger mentorship/coaching component in the beginning. I had some, but it still felt lacking… I could have used more. Still learning on the job now.
  • [I wish I’d known] the differences between what each franchise offers/offered: training, business planning, helping to establishing processes (marketing and operations).
  • For me, and I’m sure for anyone else at my age (21), book smarts and learning from listening to someone speak is all we are used to. Getting as close to real-life experience and learning life lessons from simulations that cannot just be talked about would help immensely, especially with the current deal I have going!
  • The importance of networking with colleagues and other brokers and attending conferences… I didn’t think it was necessary; boy was I ever wrong.
  • I’m so grateful for the support of fellow Brokers — it’s invaluable!

In response to this last point, this has moved well past its infancy, we are a surly teen at this point. Still a long ways to go, but so much energy and enthusiasm! Brokers and brokerages alike are hitting their stride. The industry training gets better each year. This creates significant opportunity for those that can seek out knowledge on their own, and those who can deliver it.

These observations are evidence of the growing sense of community among Brokers from coast to coast, a community willing to share and help each other. We’re less alone in this field than ever before.

Thank you!

Dustan Woodhouse