Virtual Sales Coach

Many sale articles, including the hundreds I’ve written for publications such as this one, as well as e-mail newsletters about the subject are available.

But the issue of personal coaching has been set aside for many years. It is just too time consuming for a high-level coach to spend one to four hours each month on the phone with a loan officer. My personal capacity would be 10-20 clients.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that many loan officers have no where to go to obtain day-to-day supervision, mentoring and coaching. In this industry, we have grown to have an “independent contractor” mentality much like real estate agents. It seems that many loan officers are on their own.

And, believe it or not, most managers have little origination training and even less management training or direction. So even if a manager wants to provide better support — they have no where to go.

But now technology is helping us solve this problem for loan officers and managers.

Through the Internet, we can provide first-class information, seminars, answer questions, marketing materials and strategies and more. From Blogs to Bulletin Boards, the Internet is paving the way to bring valuable information right into the homes and offices of all mortgage employees.

Want to listen to a seminar? You don’t have to wait for one to be scheduled. It can be downloaded and you can listen instantly. Want to ask a question — post it on a bulletin board. You can work at your own pace and in accordance with your own schedule. You don’t have to sit and listen to information which is not on target.

Of course, with such a free-for-all, you will not likely know if the information you receive is of a high quality or even accurate. That is the one danger of virtual coaching. You must know the source of the information. You must know who are listening to and taking directions from.

Some Web sites offer regularly updated expertise — through articles, audio seminars, by answering questions and by providing marketing materials and strategies and much more. Some forums expose originators to the viewpoints of a variety of experts on a variety of topics.

Using the bulletin boards, members can share ideas with others who share the same concerns and challenges. This is why the term “community” is utilized.

I can think of no better way of delivering what has come to be known as virtual coaching. And the best news of all? Virtual coaching can be obtained for a fraction of the cost of a personal coach.