Last December, I posted the three words I chose to describe a successful 2015. http://wp.me/p1c2Zk-3A 

Since we are at the half-way mark I thought it would be good to check in on how my year is coming with respect to these three words.

Innovation

One of the most inspirational philosophies I choose to lead my Aspire Mortgage Group team by is this:

“Play at a level other mortgage companies don’t even know exists!”

To do this, I commit a lot of my time to innovating new ideas and strategies that change the game for my mortgage advisors, support team, homeowners we help, and the business partners who refer clients to us. Probably the biggest innovation I created and implemented this year has been The Process Simplifier™.   This has really changed the game for our team, our clients, and our Realtor® partners. It is a custom timeline tracking system we initiate once we receive a purchase contract or start a new refinance. The feedback has been tremendous, and the level of communication and teamwork I have seen as a result, between our mortgage team, the clients, the agents, and the title company, is something I am extremely proud of.

If I am being totally honest with myself (and you!), I feel like I haven’t innovated as much as I had hoped by this time of the year. I have plenty of excuses why (most of it in the growth section below), but I had hoped to have written a new book by now along with a unique process designed exclusively for move-up buyers. I’m committed to innovating more going forward, and have added team members that will free me up to do this on a more consistent level. Innovation will continue to attract top mortgage advisors and support team members to our team, as well as make our clients happy and our referral partners look even better.

Relationships

The second key word to describe 2015 for me is relationships. I have made some amazing new relationships this year, and am very happy with my progress in this area. The loan officers at my company and the new staff members we’ve added have been a true joy to build relationships with. At the same time, I have made the difficult decisions to invest less time on relationships that didn’t enhance or add to what I am trying to accomplish. The result is this opens me up to spending more time on those that do!

And more than anything, I have focused more time than ever I feel like to investing in the relationships I have with my wife and children. I have remained committed to not working on the weekends so my kids don’t remember a dad who was “always working” or “always on the phone”. Sometimes I complain that we never have a “free” weekend, but on second thought…that is because we are proactive and committed to developing strong relationships with those we care about.

Growth

Wow, where do I start?! If I had to choose just one of these words to describe 2015 so far, it is this one.

• 232% increase in funded mortgage volume compared to the first half of 2014!
• Doubled the number of people in our branch with great loan officers and support team members!
• Personal production records for many of our Mortgage Advisors!
• Personally, I built up the courage to finally let go of my emails and scheduling to someone on my team who is even more skilled at managing both. This has now freed me up to focus on my highest productive activities (my unique abilities), which will play a huge role in making the rest of 2015 even better.

And the best part of this tremendous growth is the high quality of professionals we have throughout our office. I am extremely proud of the unique culture we’ve built together. It is so fulfilling for me to watch my Mortgage Advisors learn to think about their business in ways they never have before, and see them rekindle their passion for helping others. Everyone shares and truly wants to help each other succeed. I call this an “abundant mindset”. I am finding that we have built an abundant culture throughout our entire team, with everyone sharing ideas, providing much needed accountability, and covering for one another so we can all have more free time away from the business when needed!

So far, I am extremely happy with 2015! As one who is prone to never be satisfied, it takes a lot of effort for me to acknowledge just how far my team and my business has come, and all of the good things that are in place now. That being said, I can’t wait to be able to report on the second half of 2015…many more great things coming!