Ep #92: How to Fire Bad Agents, Rebuild and Become the #1 Purchase Lender in Illinois

Sam Sharp details how he rebuilt his business after the 2008 meltdown by setting a goal to meet 365 agents face-to-face in 12 months (stopped at 248 because he ran out of capacity), how he runs weekly educational events to stay top-of-mind, and how he scripts every borrower conversation to hit a 99% pre-approval completion rate. Best for LOs who want a concrete agent-acquisition and conversion system backed by real production numbers.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Set a face-to-face agent meeting goal of 365 in 12 months (1/day average). Pull every agent from your last batch of closed transactions — listing agent AND buyer's agent — and call the ones you haven't worked with using this script: 'We closed 111 Main Street last week, it went really well. I think we could work well together and I'd like to talk to see if there's an opportunity for our businesses to interact.'
• When an agent says they already have a lender at a competitor, press for the appointment with this reframe: 'I'm not looking to replace that relationship — but let me be your guy at my company. We have resources other companies may not offer that could help you save a deal. Can we grab 20 minutes?'
• Run one educational event per week at real estate offices. Show up early, walk the room before it starts, and manually collect every attendee's name and number. Within 48 hours, send a relevant takeaway resource, then call each attendee and say: 'Thanks for coming in. I wanted to touch base and see if there might be an opportunity for us to talk further about how our businesses might interact.'
• After each event, segment attendees into two lists: those already working with someone at your company (follow up in 6 months) and those at competitor lenders (pursue full-court for a meeting). This prevents wasted effort and keeps the pipeline organized.
• Track every closed loan to its source each week. Identify which activities are costing time but generating zero business and eliminate them. Double down only on what produces. Sam discovered 68% of his business came from past clients — then recognized that well was drying up and pivoted back to agents before revenue dropped.
• Fire agents who disrespect your time or drain your energy. Sam's method: ask your spouse or closest confidant, 'Who do you hear me complain about the most?' — then call those agents and say: 'I don't think our partnership is mutually beneficial right now. I'm going to withdraw from our marketing spend. I'm happy to help if a client wants to work together, but I need to step back.'

The playbook

1. Step 1 — Initial call (8-10 min): Open by listening from 'hello' — if they mention a baby, busy day, etc., briefly mirror it, then redirect. Use this every time: 'Not to state the obvious, but it looks like you're thinking about buying a home in the not-too-distant future?' Let them confirm, then ask: 'Have you ever been through the pre-approval process?'
2. Step 2 — Direct to online application: Sole objective of the first call is to get them to complete your online pre-approval application. Sam runs 99% completion on scheduled calls using this scripted, conversational funnel.
3. Step 3 — Pre-approval review: Go over loan options and create informed trust through the review conversation.
4. Step 4 — Contract follow-up: When the client goes under contract, execute your scripted follow-up to convert to closed loan.
5. Conversion math: To close 50 units/month, have 8 meaningful borrower conversations per day. To hit 100 units/month, target 20 conversations per day, 5 days/week.

Worth quoting

“A good referral source — you'll generally start to see referrals immediately. If it's been 30 days and you haven't got anything, they're not going to be the best use of your time.”

“If you monetize the relationship it's only going to last as long as someone else steps up with a bigger checkbook.”

Best for

LOs doing 10-30 loans/month who rely on a shrinking pool of a few agents and want a proven system to rapidly expand their referral base through structured agent meetings and weekly educational events.