Ep #10: Chris Lamm Getting Serious About Your Career

Chris Lamm shares how he rebuilt his mortgage business from zero after a cancer diagnosis, scaled to 34 units in one month with a 13-person branch, and developed a 3-question needs assessment that converts agents into referral partners at an 80% rate. Best for LOs stuck at a volume ceiling who need a framework for systematizing prospecting, tracking, and agent conversations.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Run this exact 3-question agent needs assessment in every first meeting: (1) Where do you want to be / what are your goals? (2) What is your plan to accomplish that goal? (3) Can I help you — and if so, will you make me your business partner?
• Use the two-step close: never diagnose AND solve in the same meeting. Meeting 1 = listen and identify the pain. Meeting 2 = return with specific solutions tailored to what you heard.
• Before pitching any marketing program, ask the agent one diagnostic question: 'Do you have a CRM and are your leads categorized?' If not, that's the value-add to offer first — not a new lead source.
• Track these four numbers weekly and monthly: calls made, people reached, leads generated, leads converted — and note the source of each. Review quarterly to know your actual pipeline math.
• Hire your first support person before you feel you need one. Delegation is a learned skill — budget the overlap cost, expect two steps back initially, and treat it as an investment in freeing yourself to prospect and close the deals that would otherwise go to a competitor.
• Identify your market's top producers: find the 50-60 agents who do 80% of the volume in your county and focus all prospecting calls on that list rather than the full agent roster.

The playbook

1. Step 1 — Prospect consistently: block daily phone time to call agents, CPAs, HR managers, and financial planners. This is non-negotiable regardless of current pipeline.
2. Step 2 — First agent meeting: ask the three questions (goals, plan, can I help?). Listen more than you talk. Do not pitch.
3. Step 3 — Between meetings: identify a specific, simple solution to the exact pain they named (e.g., email inbox management, CRM setup, lead categorization).
4. Step 4 — Follow-up meeting: present the tailored solution and ask for the partnership commitment.
5. Step 5 — Execute flawlessly on every referred transaction. No late CDs, no excuses. Reputation is the retention tool.
6. Step 6 — Track results and repeat: log every call, appointment, and conversion weekly so you know your numbers and can adjust.

Worth quoting

“If you don't know your numbers, you don't know your business.”

“I believe you can have your cake and eat it too — I know people that do and I'm one of those people.”

Best for

LOs stuck at 4-8 loans per month who are prospecting inconsistently, have no tracking system, and haven't yet hired their first support person.