LESSON 4 OF 6 · INTERMEDIATE
Coach business development thoughtfully
Help the employee identify controllable relationship-building actions and connect them to their actual business model. A referral plan should define the audience, value, follow-up and learning process. Do not promise that a certain number of calls will produce a certain amount of mortgage volume. Review activity alongside quality and context.
Design a relationship plan with one audience, one useful contribution and one review metric.
About 2 minutes reading + 12 minutes practice. Take longer when needed.
Apply the method
Connect business development to a defined audience and a useful contribution. Choose a partner segment, identify the business question you can help address, and propose an approved activity such as an educational conversation or process review. Define the next action and a reasonable way to learn from the response. Review quality: did the exchange help, did it produce an agreed follow-up and was the service proposition accurate? Do not equate a call count with trust or guarantee a certain volume from a fixed number of meetings. Any referral arrangement, incentive or marketing practice needs the appropriate company review.
A worked application
Fictional worked example: An LO wants to rebuild relationships with purchase-focused agents. The plan offers a short discussion about communicating file milestones, not a promise to approve every borrower or a referral incentive. The LO selects a small relevant group, records agreed follow-ups and asks what information would help their clients. A weekly review examines the usefulness of those conversations and whether the support process can deliver the described communication. The plan changes when partners say they need clearer escalation information rather than more generic market updates.
Common mistake to avoid
Do not confuse partner education with a transaction-dependent reward. Use approved marketing and referral practices and seek qualified guidance for specific arrangements.
Work through the case
FICTIONAL SCENARIO
An originator wants five new referral relationships. A plan based only on mass messages misses whether those partners serve relevant clients and understand the LO’s service.
Make it practical
Design a relationship plan with one audience, one useful contribution and one review metric.
Compare your reasoning with a worked response
Measure a meaningful intermediate outcome, such as agreed follow-up conversations, and use the results to improve relevance rather than equating message counts with success.
Takeaway
Use the method to explain your decision, identify what you still need to verify and choose an accountable next step.
Treat the response as a model for reasoning, not the only possible wording. Adapt it to the role, evidence and appropriate organizational guidance.