Ep 53: How to Achieve a Breakthrough With Todd Duncan

Todd Duncan joins Geoff to unpack how trust-based relationships — not volume or price — drive sustainable mortgage businesses. They cover narrowing your agent focus, scripted questions that deepen relationships, story-selling to neutralize price objections, and the weekly follow-up questions that actually generate referrals. LOs who feel stuck in transactional mode or constantly losing on rate should listen closely.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Cut your agent list to 20 or fewer and target 7-10 as true business partners. For each one, schedule a 45-90 minute 'high trust interview' where you ask: 'What are your dreams and goals for the next 2-3 years?', 'Do you have a plan?', and 'What are the greatest pressures you're feeling in business today — and how can I help?'
• Use this exact two-question weekly follow-up call with every agent partner: (1) 'Who have you met in the last seven days that you want to sell real estate to but aren't sure they'll use you?' (2) 'Who are you showing property to this week that I haven't had a consultation with — so I can help optimize their purchase power before you show them homes?'
• Deliver this Story Selling script when opening a borrower consultation to kill price resistance before it starts: 'Unlike most lenders, I approach financing differently. Most LOs will quote you a rate. Very few will help you integrate that rate into your long and short term goals. I spend 45 minutes with every client, outline your financial goals, build a customized mortgage strategy, and check in every 90 days after closing so I'm managing your mortgage — not you.'
• When an agent has buyers already pre-approved elsewhere, ask the borrower: 'Has your lender done a total cost analysis on what this mortgage will cost you in the near and long term?' If the answer is no, you have an opening — then loop back to the agent as the hero who sent a better resource.
• Set a specific number for referred buyers per partner per month (e.g., 8), then reverse-engineer which of your current agents have the ecosystem size to hit it. Only invest deep follow-up time in agents whose past client base and annual transaction count can realistically deliver that number.
• Record or rehearse your own 'Story Selling' opening so you can deliver it without thinking: villain = any other lender, hero = you, the buyer wins. Practice until it sounds natural, not scripted — Todd's rule: 'You're already scripted, you're just horrible at it.'

The playbook

1. 1. Identify 20 agents from your current ecosystem; rank by transaction volume and relationship depth.
2. 2. Call your top targets and say: 'I've evaluated my business and I'm serving too many agents. I want to narrow my focus and add more value to a few — you're one of them. I'd love to sit down and talk about your goals and how I might become a more permanent part of your lending solution.'
3. 3. Conduct a 45-90 minute high trust interview: ask about 2-3 year goals, current plan, biggest pressures, and how you can help.
4. 4. Co-create a 90-day action plan together so every weekly follow-up call has a purposeful agenda.
5. 5. Each week, ask the two referral-generating questions (who they met, who they're showing property to) and offer to reach out to unconverted prospects on the agent's behalf.
6. 6. Open every borrower consultation with the Story Selling script; run a 30-45 minute high trust interview with every borrower before handing to your team.
7. 7. Follow up every 90 days post-close with each borrower to review their mortgage strategy and stay top of mind.

Worth quoting

“You can make a living doing loans, but you can make a fortune building relationships.”

“Anytime you get price resistance, the elixir for it is an injection of advice.”

Best for

LOs who are meeting with agents regularly but not converting those meetings into consistent referral flow, or who keep losing deals on rate.