Full Transcript is below:
– Welcome in to NFM TV, I’m your host, Greg Sher. We are kicking off a new series of ours. It’s the top producer series.
Throughout the year we’re gonna bring you top producers, both as originators, branch managers, and also real estate agents that are just at the top of their game. Who better to start with than Ryan Sandell. He’s one of our very own at NFM Lending. He’s the Vice President of the Western Division for NFM, and he was responsible for driving in close to 900 units and over $210,000,000 in business in 2018. The sky’s the limit for this guy. He’s the best. Ryan, how are ya?
– Doing well, thanks for having me.
– I’m so glad to have you, man. Congratulations on your success in 2018. What an opportunity to sit in front of you and to talk to you about what led to that success. 40% builder business, let’s just start there. How have you been able to amass such momentum in the builder space?
– Well I think there’s a few things. Number one, having the tools that NFM provides has been huge resource for us to help, not only maintain our business, but then grow. As far as keeping track of the pipelines, updates, everything like that. But I will say the number one thing that we bring to the table from these builders is just helping them market their products. Thinking outside the box for them so they don’t have to.
– Yeah, and a lot of people, a lot of originators don’t even know where to begin. How hard is it to break into the builder business.
– It’s difficult. You have to differentiate yourself and, as you know, and I’m sure many originators do, it’s not easy to do it. We all have the same products, the same tools. We’re all playing in the same sandbox so we have to figure out how we can maneuver through that and think a little bit differently than others that we would compete against.
– And so the love language, as you mentioned in the beginning, is it all about marketing, for the most part? Obviously you have to have good tools and follow up, but is marketing kind of at the core of that?
– Yeah, well I think it’s a big piece. I think managing a pipeline, it’s one thing when you get a deal in 30 days and it’s on the top of mind and you’re ready to go. It’s another thing having a deal for six, seven months and having to manage that process. Not only through the builders eyes, as far as updates, but also the buyer’s. A lot of things that could happen in a buyer’s life in the next six, seven months that we have to keep track of. So, having 100 plus loans that aren’t closing for six, seven months, that’s all order though to manage.
– So if you’re a successful loan originator, Ryan, and you want to break into the builder business, obviously it’s a daunting task. There’s so much to manage the day to day anyway, through your real estate partners and your referral partners. What are some of the simple tasks that an originator can do to try and just wiggle their foot in that door?
– Well the first thing and what helped me is just figuring out what business most lenders don’t want to do. So I started out doing turn down business. Most builders have their own lenders; they want the cream of the crop. You have to see what business they’re shedding that you can somehow get and capture and then close, and do what you say you’re gonna do. And I think the biggest piece to that is not dealing necessarily with the deal itself but dealing with the people and their emotions and getting them back on that horse after they’ve just been turned down trying to perform. So there’s a lot to that, but if you can manage those characteristics I think you can definitely make your way into, I mean, listen, all sales people want closings. They don’t want to see people go. So the best way to their heart is by closing the deals that they’ve signed up for. So that’s the best way to do it.
– That’s a great nuts and bolt look. Appreciate that. What about what relationship to go after to even be able to get that foot in the door? Is it the model home sales representative? Is it the top chief of the builder itself? What’s your piece of advice there?
– I always work my way up. So I start out with the sales people, see if they have any deals that’ve been turned down. And then if they do let’s work through that and try to get that deal in the door. And if you have to prove it, you have that first deal of yours, you gotta prove it to ’em. And then you work your way up from there. So they can be your best ally going up the chain. If they’re closing deals that they shouldn’t. That their other lenders should’ve closed.
– Well, I know you’re really excited about building out the West Coast, from Arizona out. And there may very well be some people who are great originators, great branch managers, that want to team up. That want to be a part of this incredible momentum you have. Are you willing and able, given the amount of loans that you’re closing, to put the time into those people to help develop these new corridors of their business and show them how to win builder business, for instance?
– Absolutely, I think that’s the big objective I have for 2019 and beyond is growing this, and not only here in Arizona but, obviously, on the western region. This model can be done elsewhere and it should be done elsewhere. And I do think I have a lot to offer from those originators that want to start into this type of business. And I think they will really like it because it insulates. We had out best month in December in Arizona Everyone had their worst month because we had contracts from March and April from builder business that just closed that month. So it insulates you from realtor business slowing down, builder business slowing down. You’re getting it from both angles and it’s a great way to operate your business.
– Well we really appreciate your time. Congratulations on your immense success at NFM and the builder space, and otherwise just being a fantastic leader. Obviously you don’t get to the kind of numbers you’re putting up without having amazing attributes. So anybody that wants to take a look and maybe join the Sandell team of NFM Lending, we’ve got Ryan’s contact information below. Feel free to reach out to Ryan. He’ll be happy to take the call and have a conversation with you. Ryan Sandell, VP of the Western Division of NFM Lending. Thanks so much for your time and for kicking off the top producers series in 2019.
– Thank you, Greg.
– Appreciate it. We’ll talk to you soon.