Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Teaser:Beau Hodson has been in the mortgage industry and has seen many ups and downs and has been able to whether the storm.  He started Transparent Mortgage and has implemented strategies designed to increase his reputation online.  He’s been able to get customers to give him positive reviews on Yelp, TrustLink, Google Places, Facebook and various other review sites to show that he was a well-respected mortgage professional who can help you achieve your dream of financing a home or helping you during the re-financing process.

Recap:

Beau Hodson has been the mortgage profession for more than 10 years and is the founder and Senior Mortgage Adviser at Transparent Mortgage.  He has earned degrees in finanec and business and has a diverse background as a financial adviser and mortgage professional.  He has worked for Luxury Mortgage, Bank of America and Impac Funding.

Beau fell into the mortgage industry when he graduated college.  At the time he graduated college it was a perfect time in the mortgage industry and things were booming.  It’s a completely different experience today in the mortgage industry than it was pre-housing market crash.  Beau spent his first two years auditing closed loans and became a mortgage broker after a couple of years.  Nowadays it’s about being a professional.

In this case, Beau thinks of the client to see what’s best for them and providing them the information to make the right decision and then there is a lot of execution involved and at at the start it’s about getting to know a client and doing what is best for them.  Beau is self employed and runs his own business so he has a lot more flexibility to work for the customer.

Beau had to make a lot of changes to make him more successful.  It was hard for Beau to learn how to do things in the current economic environment.  Sometimes Beau questioned his commitment to change, but he eventually decided that he wanted to adapt, stay in the industry and thrive.

In the fall of 2011, Beau had had a tough year and he had to decide whether he was going to give it up or do it his own way.  And now, he’s happy he decided to start Transparent Mortgage and stay in the mortgage industry.

The mortgage loan process is complicated, but Beau really helps to educate his customers about the process.  He then works to get loans for the customer and do what’s best for the customer.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 Beau had a lot of time to think about what was missing and what was needed in the mortgage process.  Beau thinks what people wants the most in the mortgage industry is transparency.  Beau likes to give real straight information to his customers.  He also felt the need to give his customers the opportunity to be updated on the process of the transaction.  Beau makes sure that he communicates properly with his clients to make sure they know what is going on with their loan.

When Beau started Transparent Mortgage he realized that there weren’t a lot of reviews online and Beau wanted to lead the industry in online recommendations as an independent mortgage broker.  He doesn’t know any customers that operate based on reviews and he wanted people to go online and see what people are saying about him for themselves.

Beau said it’s been a process getting online recommendations.  Beau learned early on that when he began asking for people to give him reviews online it helped make him a better business owner for his customers.  He then began thinking of ways he could improve his business to make his customers happier.

A lot of problems arise in any business and clients understand that, but it’s the way you communicate those problems to your customers that will determine whether they leave you happy or not.

Beau has learned a lot as a business owner.  One of Beau’s biggest problems was spending too much time setting up his website, his logo and he spent too much time working on the website and the logo and the more you do, it doesn’t really improve your business.  He thinks he would have spent a lot less time making his website perfect and would have just made it good so that he could have focused on his business.

Beau advises anyone looking to buy a home to do your due diligence and to get pre-qualified.  Buying homes is very competitive in today’s climate.  There’s an inventory shortage and more and more people are buying homes.  It’s still very difficult to qualify for a mortgage.  The only way you can get into a home is to get pre-approved for a loan.

Beau says the forecast is good in the mortgage industry and more people appear to be putting their houses for sale.  He is nervous about the economy, but he thinks houses are good right now and he feels housing prices will be stable and doesn’t see the mortgage process getting easier anytime soon.  People can buy houses now, but they have to do the work to get them done.

Engaging Discussions:

• Do you plan on buying or selling a home?
• How important do you think online reviews are?

Links to Great Stuff:

• Transparent Mortgage – “Transparent Mortgage is a new vision of a mortgage company built upon a commitment to raise the industry standards for client care, open access to information, and social and ethical responsibility. It is our belief that the best way to achieve this is through transparency. A true and real commitment to transparency in the mortgage industry today is both a bold and unprecedented course of action.”

Success Quotes:

• “Success is effort and being engaged in your work on a day-to-day basis . . . and you have to enjoy it.”
• “If you’re not prepared and pre-approved you might miss out on getting your house.”
• “When we work with people we like and people who like us we’re happier for it.”
• “You learn that the client understands that there are things that are beyond your control.”
• “I think a lot of people are afraid to ask for reviews.”
• “When you make the commitment to a customer and you’re expecting a review you start thinking about the transaction differently.”
• “If the client calls me and asks me what’s going on, it’s too late.”

Special Requests:

• Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
• Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.