Loan officers play an important role in mortgage generation. Without capable, efficient loan officers working the front end of the mortgage process, your institution won’t be able to maximize its profitability. However, with so many different mortgage lenders vying for the best talent, it can be difficult to maintain effective loan officers on staff. Below are 10 tips to help you attract and retain the best loan officers in the business.
1. Ensure Employees Understand their Responsibilities
In any industry, one of the factors that causes employees to look for another job is confusing expectations. When loan officers don’t understand their specific responsibilities, quotas or other expectations from upper management, they feel uneasy. Providing clear explanations of expectations ensures that your loan officers will be able to set clear goals for themselves and feel more motivated on the job.
Likewise, it is important to make sure your loan officers receive clear communication any time expectations or responsibilities change.
2. Offer Comprehensive Training
New loan officers are more likely to give up on their positions if they don’t receive the proper training. When you take on a new loan officer, spend time training the employee to use all of your institution’s tools. Every loan officer should have a thorough understanding of the origination and approval process before they begin working on their own. If possible, have a seasoned loan officer mentor your new employees temporarily when they join the company. Advanced mortgage education, written by mortgage expert and industry veteran Debra Killian, can be accessed at CLOES.online.
3. Facilitate Open Communication
In many cases, loan officers choose to leave one financial institution in search of better employment because small issues are overlooked until they become bigger problems. Make sure every employee feels comfortable communicating openly with their managers. Encourage employees to share concerns without fear of punishment or unfair treatment. When managers are approached with a concern, they should be willing to listen with patience and compassion so their issue can be addressed appropriately.
4. Consider Your Company Culture
Another way to improve loan officer retention is to make sure you are hiring the right types of employees to fill these roles in the first place. When hiring new employees, consider your company’s current culture and whether each prospective employee will be able to acclimate successfully.
It is also a good idea to consider whether your company culture is facilitating a positive work environment for the loan officers who are already on staff. If you notice issues with the culture of the company, take steps to make improvements so your employees will be less likely to look for other opportunities.
5. Offer Competitive Salary and Benefits Packages
Mortgage bankers can improve retention of loan officers by offering incentives for them to remain on staff. For example, if your credit union or bank offers a competitive salary that meets or exceeds expected industry standards, you will be more likely to attract and retain the top loan officers. For reference, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that loan officers made an average salary of $76,200 as of 2019. When taken specifically from the real estate industry, the average salary for loan officers was $88,120.
Likewise, if your institution offers an attractive benefits package to employees, you won’t see as much turnover among your loan officers. Examples of benefits you may offer include medical and dental insurance, life insurance and retirement savings plans.
6. Listen to Feedback
One of the most effective ways to improve experiences for your loan officers and keeping them from looking for other employers is to listen to their direct feedback. Create opportunities for your loan officers to share their feelings, complaints or suggestions with upper management. For example, you may conduct interviews with current employees at regular intervals to have these discussions. It is also a good idea to have conversations with any loan officers who choose to leave your institution so you can find out the reasons that led to their departure.
Subscribe to BeSmartee 's Digital Mortgage Blog to receive:
- Mortgage Industry Insights
- Security & Compliance Updates
- Q&A's Featuring Mortgage & Technology Experts
7. Provide Opportunities for Advancement
No loan officer wants to feel like their career is stagnant. Give your loan officers opportunities to advance within the company so they have clear goals in mind. If a position opens up within your company, do your best to promote from within. This will not only give your employees incentives to give their best performance on-the-job, but it will also reduce the risk of losing good loan officers to other organizations.
8. Simplify the Job with Technology
When a financial institution does not offer a streamlined process for loan officers to use, they may find themselves spending hours inputting the same information into different documents or platforms. This not only slows down productivity, but it also frustrates loan officers and encourages them to look for other employment opportunities.
Simplify all tasks for your loan officers by investing in high-quality bank technology designed specifically to support the mortgage lending process. Digital mortgage software not only saves your loan officers time, but it also improves accuracy and boosts their confidence. Furthermore, when you use the right technology, your borrowers will enjoy a better, more relaxed experience as well.
9. Invest in a Mortgage POS Platform
A mortgage POS system is a key component in a mortgage technology stack that can dramatically improve your loan officers’ experiences at work. Unfortunately, it is one of the available mortgage technologies that many mortgage companies tend to ignore. Mortgage POS implementation offers tools that borrowers and loan originators can use to communicate with each other digitally throughout the mortgage origination process. This dramatically simplifies the process for loan officers, and it improves your institution’s appeal to digitally-inclined buyers.
10. Be on Top of Digital Mortgage Solutions
Using technology, such as a mortgage POS system, is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your loan officers have every tool they need to be as productive and satisfied with their work as possible. However, using technology to improve the experience of loan officers will only be effective if the technology itself is high quality. Choose your digital mortgage solutions carefully, and make sure that you keep up with all updates and required maintenance to keep your systems in working order.
Roundup
If you are looking for trustworthy, efficient digital mortgage software, BeSmartee can help. We are a fintech firm that creates web-based digital mortgage platforms for financial institutions of all types, including credit unions, banks and non-bank lenders. With BeSmartee mortgage solutions, your institution can offer loan officers and borrowers alike a completely digital mortgage experience.
Our software delivers better conversion rates and faster closings, allowing your institution to maximize both efficiency and profitability. With our software as a service mortgage POS, your borrowers and originators can complete every part of the origination, application and approval process digitally.
Contact BeSmartee today to find out more about how our software can help you not only retain your loan officers, but improve your business’s bottom line.
