5 Steps to Make Tech Adoption Actually Happen

Every industry today has been affected by digital disruption. Whether it’s improving service or automating sales and marketing, every sector is currently upgrading their technology platform with the goal of gaining a competitive advantage and increasing profits. But we all know technology adoption is a massive challenge and most are making the digital transition too slow to keep up with the expectations of todays mobile first consumer.

"Digital transformation is here to stay and the digital revolution is picking up speed."

This article was inspired from my recent interview with John Downs. A $100M originator, John went years without adopting Mortgage Coach because he was so busy running his branch, managing his team and helping hundreds of families annually in Annapolis, Maryland, that he couldn’t bring himself to set aside a couple of hours to dedicate to the learning curve, even though he knew this technology would improve his production and bottom line. When John did make the commitment to learn and adopt, it only took him a week to get comfortable and up to speed. Then after just 30 days, he started seeing tangible results. And, of course, now he’s saying, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” Let me say this one more time for impact...it only required a few focused hours to adopt a new technology but John, like tens of thousands of loan officers, go month after month, year after year without adopting important new technology.

Be sure to watch the interview for yourself and share this with anyone you know who’s interested with the digital mortgage transition and tech adoption. John shares step-by-step how he implemented new technology within a few weeks with his team.

Here are the steps that got John from status-quo to Wow results in less than 30 days.

Step 1: Work on your purpose and document your ‘WHY’. Why is it that you are in the business you’re in? If your goal is to make a lot of money and be the best, that’s great, but that’s not really your why. Your why is what causes you get up in the morning and to sleep peacefully at night. For John Downs, the business he is in is selling loans. But his ‘why’ is to help families achieve their dream of buying a home. Write or type your why on a piece of paper, and then read it out loud to yourself and to your team. Once you’ve pinpointed your why, then write down how the new technology you’re adopting will help you achieve your why. CLICK to download a WHY WORKSHEET that has helped thousands of mortgage professionals get clear on their WHY and communicate it to their clients and team.

Step 2: Communicate with your team WHY the technology is important; then set a schedule and commit to it. John achieved step 2 after attending a Building Champions event – a session with 40 people who all talk about their secrets of how they do business. Going around the room, he recalls, Everyone was saying they used Mortgage Coach but me. So when I came back, I said I'm going to do it.

The key thing I want to point out here was that John didn’t say, I’m going to ‘try’ Mortgage Coach again. He said ‘I’m going to implement it into my system.’ He committed to doing it and he crossed the bridge of change.

Step 3: Do a series of repetitions until you get good at the technology you’re learning. After John committed to a schedule, he sat down with his production partner and said, “Here's what we're going to do. We’re going to commit to each other and hold each other accountable that every single fee estimate for a week is going to be a Mortgage Coach.” So for every presentation they gave that first week, they committed 100% to using Mortgage Coach and working through it. And each one got easier as they went along, after creating 10 TCA's (Total Cost Analysis). Most new technology can be learned within one single week, the key to to make the commitment and then do the required repetitions to learn how to use the tech and how to use it in your sales process. With Mortgage Coach adoption we find that creating 10 TCA's within 1-2 weeks is the key to success.

Step 4: Set up an accountability system to ensure follow-through and proper procedure from both yourself and your team. Note in step 3 that John talked about bringing his production partner into the process and said ‘we’re going to commit to each other’ and ‘hold each other accountable’. When you set up an accountability system, you are more likely to complete your goal. He also talked about how he used some of his referral partners as accountability partners.

Step 5: Measure and share your results. It’s important for both your personal success and your team and companies success that you measure and share your results. For example: John shaved 10-15 minutes off of every presentation, basically cutting his time invested in each one in half and he increased his referrals from Realtor partners. And all he invested in the learning curve was 2 to 3 hours. Imagine cutting your initial sales presentation time in half and getting to the end result faster! You would be able to engage twice as many customers in a year. Now it's time to package and promote your results and share your success to everyone on your team and everyone who can benefit from your process improvement. CLICK to watch the video we created with John to inspire and motivate others in his company and in the MC community.

Added Benefits

Whatever the technology you are trying to adopt, there are likely to be additional benefits you are unaware of that, once you hit your stride, you will start to notice.

For John, for instance, there were two: First, there was a consistency in the handoff to his production partner. “Before, my production partner, Louis Berman, would have to do each presentation individually and they would lack consistency; he would forget important things. Now, with Mortgage Coach, I just say, ‘Hey Louis, I want you to do these quotes, these structures, the rent versus own, and speak to the graphs,’ so it actually made the handoff easier from lead originator to junior to then preparing and sending everything out. It eliminates a lot of the noise and a lot of the baton handoff that sometimes doesn't go super smooth. That is a valuable time savings.”

The second benefit John received was having a solution that would help him build relationships with Realtors. Now, John uses Mortgage Coach to build Open House opportunities. “And some originators on our team will get their real estate agents to hold them accountable by saying, ‘Hey, I'd like to show you this new presentation tool. I think it's really cool.’ And then once the agent would say, ‘That's awesome, I want my clients to have it,’ this the ultimate accountability partner when your referral partners are actually pushing you to upgrade your digital customer experience. The originators had to use Mortgage Coach now because the agent was so impressed and wanted it.”

Success Story videos are valuable tools to celebrate success and motivate others to get through the pain of change. In this interview, John talks in detail about how he's getting more referrals from Realtors in this interview just 45 days after he started using Mortgage Coach.

Digital transformation is here to stay and the digital revolution is picking up speed. So, whatever technology you and your company are currently adopting, there are clear benefits of how it will take your business into the future and help give you a competitive advantage. The key to success is to follow these 5 steps and you are sure to achieve your technology adoption and business goals.

At Mortgage Coach we do live interactive training every day of the week and create several success stories videos weekly to make change happen faster.

CLICK to see our online calendar that is updated daily.

CLICK to go to our YouTube Channel