Your best producer just told you they're leaving, and the other company's offer has a number on it you can't match. In the mortgage industry, 15 to 20% of all loan officers transition every single year.
Most leaders read that as a comp problem and start a bidding war they were never going to win. When people leave, money falls fourth or fifth, almost always and has since like the 1950s. We have been saying this for decades, people leave companies because of bad managers.
Here's what I've learned about why producers leave, and the four things that keep them.
1. Stop buying loyalty with a check
Sign-on bonuses establish an environment for mercenaries. It's like how you bring someone in a lot of times is how they exit. They come in on a sign-on bonus, they'll exit on a sign-on bonus. The check also costs the producer more than they think, and I walk recruits through the math every time. It's not 400,000. It's 400,000 minus your federal taxes and your state tax, so it becomes about 240,000 fast. And in the clawback, if you ever decide to leave, you have to pay the full amount back, not the 240. So it's basically a 400,000 loan until you stay for that window of time.
If someone gives you a big sign on bonus upfront, they're buying you and they're buying your business. You no longer own it, they own it. I once lost a recruit at the finish line because another company offered $5,000 more, and the reason was that I'd never connected with that person emotionally.
2. Build a value stack they can't get anywhere else
If someone comes to you for a sign-on bonus, they could leave for a sign-on bonus. But if someone comes to you for your unicorn value stack, they can't get that anywhere else. Most leaders never write that value down, so the producer never sees it. I encourage every leader to have an additional document, which is the value they bring as a leader, because a lot of times we take it for granted, the things that we do, how we support our team, the way we coach, the one-on-ones, the accountability. There's a massive value stack there that other companies aren't delivering. And we're going to quantify what are those things worth in terms of dollars and cents. We unnormalize the things that we normalize. Put a dollar value next to every item, and the bonus conversation changes because the producer finally has something real to compare. So the question becomes, can I show them $8,000 a month in additional value or not?
3. Close the gap between how you recruit and how you lead
If we're awesome external, and then we're average internal, then we can expect to lose our people. Whatever is external has to be internal. You can't just pursue people through this lavish gifting and value system externally and then when they get there, it doesn't exist. That disconnect makes it feel like a bait and switch. Your current team watches how hard you court recruits, and they notice when that energy stops the day someone signs. As leaders, when we stop dreaming with our people, we leave them available for anybody else to recruit. It's not their job to stay. It's my job to keep them. If you're a recruiting leader, you're also a retention leader.
4. Win the first 90 days
The first 90 days is where most moves are won or lost, and the numbers show it. The data shows that 29% of loan officers that transition, transition again within 90 days. 68% of them surveyed said that one year in, they weren't even sure they made the right move. Week one is corporate training, by week two everyone's gone and you're on your own, 45 days in you've got your first closing, that's about the time you're at your most pain. The fix doesn't cost much, and it's the habit I'd start with. One of the most simple things I've ever done that immediately improves onboarding is this, that at the beginning of every day, I invest five to 15 minutes with every new hire for the first 90 days. Most people, even leaders, will say onboarding's hard, transitions are hard. I would never use that language with the recruit. My goal was always that at the end of 90 days you would say, I felt like I was on a vacation.
When the culture is that strong, taking a recruiter's call starts to feel like a betrayal to the producer. So where team identity, team culture is strong recruiting pressure is weak. It's like they have to feel like they're cheating on their best friend taking the call. That's the team I want you to build, and it starts with one value conversation with your best producer this month. You retain better when you recruit better.
Quick answers on keeping loan officers
Comp is rarely the main reason, and the leader usually is. When people leave, money falls fourth or fifth, almost always and has since like the 1950s.
Rarely, because a producer who joins for a bonus tends to leave for one. If you’re only leaning on money up front, people will leave for money.
It’s a written list of everything a producer gets from you as a leader, with a dollar value next to each item. There’s a massive value stack there that other companies aren’t delivering.
Spend five to 15 minutes with each new hire every morning for their first 90 days. The first 90 days is a springboard either direction.