Good competition?

In the marketing environment competition is good, healthy and encouraged.
But, I am not referring to competition in the marketing environment. I am referring to competition between teams within an organisation.

I had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues, who was convinced that the current competition between the various teams in the organisation is a good thing.

The general perception by management is that competing teams drive targets and get the work done. This is true in a sense, but it holds no long term incentive.
My intention is not to offend anyone, but there is no such thing as good and healthy competition between teams within the same organisation.

Competition has two outcomes. You have winners and you have losers. If both teams are working towards the same goal, for the same organisation it makes no sense to me to have losers. You are not suppose to have losers to begin with.

No one likes to lose. By creating competition you create an environment where resources and knowledge gets hidden or under-utilised in an attempt to keep it out of the competitors' reach.

The general trend is to set a specific target per week or per month. The team that exceeds the target, or achieves the highest outcome wins. This is great, but it can be compared to an award winning mathematical equation that has no answer.

If you encourage competition make sure that there is a common goal. No race or competition can carry on forever. There must be some goal to accomplish. Something you can use as reference as to where you are in the race. If management don't provide some kind of reference (vision) the competing teams will be running a race and make good progress, but they won't know where they are in the race.

Competition inside your organisation should be carefully planned. There should be measurable objectives, reference points and an end. Through careful planning of competition you will unlock more resources and create access to knowledge that would otherwise have been lost due to tyranny and "mobbery" between the various teams (competitors).

Create an environment where teams collaborate with each other. Where they can link resources and knowledge in order to achieve the outcomes of the organisation.
Competition between teams within an organisation is toxic, a waste of energy and resources. It wastes the efforts and goodwill of the teams that come in second.

Take a good look around. Is your team devouring itself? Perhaps its time to ring the bell before the team suffers from melt-down and stew in their own troubled juices.

Starting with bond originating

Even though the demand for bond originators took a serious plunge over the course of the last twelve months, it is very interesting, rewarding, and encouraging to know that there are quite a few individuals who remained passionate about the industry. It is even more encouraging to know that there are new consultants entering the market, and I hope that I am not the only person who feels obligated to assist these new entrants during the early days of their new found passion.

Every mortgage consultant has some unique wisdom and experience to share with others that might have a tremendous impact on the success of someone else. We all know about the old saying: "Learn from other people's mistakes".

At some stage in our lives you and me were the "other people" who made the mistakes. Someone must make the mistakes others can learn from, right?

Something I have learned early on in my career as a mortgage broker is that you have to avoid making promises and create unrealistic expectations. Every potential client has a "drawer" filled with pain staking, unrealistic and demoralising applications.

When you approach your prospect (lead provider) for the first time you should be prepared for a challenge. Expect the unexpected and accept that you are most probably not the first mortgage broker who approached this client standing in front of you. it is very likely that your new prospect will present you with "the file". Yes, "the file" that no other bond originator managed to conquer.

The only key factor that differentiates one bond originator from the next is the QUALITY OF SERVICE. Do not allow your client to judge you on your ability to do something that cannot be done. Ask for a good quality application and show your new client how good your service is.

If you decide to take on "the file" there is a strong possibility that you will fail just like all the other good ones before you also failed.

Remember this: You need to show the client the QUALITY OF YOUR SERVICE. Your ability to do the work is part of the QUALITY CIRCLE. So, if you take on "the file" you will have to qualify the applicant and identify possible reasons for the application to be declined with the banks. Don't just submit it to the banks.

Give your feedback and professional opinion on the same day you received the "the file", and why IT WILL BE UNSUCCESSFUL. By doing that you have proven that your service is good and you know what you are doing. Even the best and largest mortgage brokers receive applications that will not succeed.