If you didn't know, Sr. Business Development Partner is a fancy title for Recruiter.
I have recruited for several industries over the last 17-ish years and have been recruiting Loan Originators for the Mortgage Industry for the past 7.
During that time I have partnered with many Sales, Branch, Area, and Regional Managers and VPs to open new branches, grow existing branches and occasionally add Operations staff when needed.
I will never say that I have been great at my job, but I've done well enough, and along the way, I have found a system that I feel helps me stay focused and avoid "Ambulance Chasing" (rumor based recruiting).
Not rocket science here, just a few words that help me stay the course and recruit in a way that builds partnerships, that allows me to sleep well at night, and that is sustainable in a market and avoids "churn and burn."
- Permission - The most important step is the first one, and if you are in a role where Recruiting is not your sole focus, but one of many jobs that you do, then you need to give yourself Permission to do it. That means setting aside INTENTIONAL TIME where give yourself Permission to eliminate all distractions and focus on Prospecting Recruits. My recommendation is 30 minutes - 1 hour a day if you want to a few LOs to your team in a year. 1 - 2 hours a day if you want to add a lot of LOs to your team in a year.
- Prepare - Now that you have given yourself Permission to Recruit and the time is blocked off, don't waste it by dialing blindly and winging it. Instead, do your research first. Think of it this way, if your goal is to contact 10 people in a week, then use your first two time blocks of the week to research their business (are they focused on a particular product?), ask around about them (which agents are they working with, does anyone on your team know them?), look them up on social to see what kind of marketing they are doing (are they highlighting products, involved in the community, do they even have a social presence).
- Plan - Now that you are Prepared, have a Plan in place for when you get each individual on the phone. A Plan that hits on something that stood out to you from your Prep work and that you are genuinely curious to know more about and/or where you could add value. For example, let's say you see that that the LO does a fair amount of FHA loans, does educational marketing, and their average loan amount is on the lower side for the market. Odds are, they are working with First Time Homebuyers. With that in mind, you can craft an entire Plan based on that observation and ask questions, build value, and discuss FTHB strategies.
- Progress - The goal from here should be to set up the next step and make Progress. Having been in the staffing industry before Mortgage, it took some time for me to understand just how long the recruiting cycle is for the industry. So setting up a next step is crucial. It does NOT have to be an in-person meeting right away. A next step could be as simple as mentioning an article that you read that you wanted to share and then following up on that in the future to discuss. It could be sending a book that you read to them. It could be telling them about an event that is coming up and seeing if they plan on attending and following up on that closer to the date. There are many variations of Progress, but the goal should always be to create a next step and a reason to connect again in the future. Otherwise you fall into the "Follow Up/Checking In" trap and that gets you nowhere.
- Provide - Finally, the recruiting process is long more often than not. Many of the LO's we have hired have talked with us for over 6 months. Keeping someone engaged for that long can be difficult. To make it easier on you, focus on Providing Value along the way. Frequent contact with content that is worth knowing and can be useful to the LO. LinkedIn posts, articles, a challenge that came up in your branch and how it was solved, an upcoming event, etc. I would like to add that spreading rumors and/or creating fear and division does not Provide Value. That is the opposite. We are working with someone on helping them improve their livelihood. There is no place for manipulation in that. Provide Value and become a Partner with them in their business. There is no better feeling than getting a call or text from someone that says "I'm ready." That's when you know you have done it right.
And that's it, my Five P's for Recruiting. I hope you found it helpful and if you would like to talk more about this subject, or if you are looking for a Sr. Business Development Partner to partner with that can help you grow your team, feel free to drop me a line. I'm happy to connect and talk more. until then, Happy Hunting!
