Branch Manager/Mortgage Master

Posted on: 2008-04-16

164 Seacliff Drive, Aptos, CA 95003 ♦ (831) 212-4713 ♦ [email protected]

Director / Manager – Branch Operations & Business Development

Growth Strategies / Startups / Turnarounds / CPI / Best Practices / Cost Control / Multi-Sites / TQM

Market Analysis / Niche Development / Risk Management / Compliance / Customer & Vendor Relations / Training

Managed successful service business operations, including startups and turnarounds, initiating innovative growth strategies to consistently improve revenue production/profitability. Built lean operations, administrative and sales/support teams to ensure solid, long-term performance. Managed up to 75 employees and budgets in excess of $1M.

·         Enhanced ComUnity’s business development strategy, tripling branch loan production to $120M per year.

·         Initiated Best Practices at ComUnity, boosting service quality to increase client retention from 25% to 95%.

·         Introduced process improvements to American First, cross training branch teams to quadruple productivity.

·         Devised training strategy, improving ComUnity partner’s internal processes to double new business production.

Key Skills:  Making sound business decisions. Facilitating work-in-progress to maximize overall quality and customer satisfaction. Willing to try new approaches. Effectively managing change. Driving “out-of-the-box” thinking to generate solutions that work. Instilling employees with a “win-win” attitude and an absolute commitment to customer service.

Continuing education includes studies in strategic planning, consultative selling, business/IT systems, customer relations, Best Practices and continuous process improvement.

Enhanced ComUnity’s business development strategy, tripling branch loan production to $120M per year. Company was missing out on a potentially lucrative market niche by focusing the majority of its business development activity on the retail sector. Initiated new strategy, personally soliciting wholesale prospects without the assistance or cost of an Account Executive. Increased production from $3M to $10M per month while saving $120K per year in commission expense. Became first to service both sectors, increasing branch profitability from $18K to $60K per month.

Initiated Best Practices at ComUnity branch, boosting service quality to increase client retention from 25% to 95%. In a robust market, few branch managers saw a need to cultivate customer relationships. Employed “total quality” approach to customer service, teaming with bank loan officers to achieve a more rapid turnaround of new loans and generally optimize overall services. Increased client retention almost four-fold, adding up to $600K per year to branch profits.

Introduced process improvements to American First, cross training branch teams to quadruple productivity. Company had combined retail and wholesale operations, not realizing the numerous inefficiencies that the system produced. Reorganized groups into two separate departments, enhancing customer focus to boost CSI. Introduced “Lean” concepts, reducing overall staffing costs by training sales/support teams to work effectively with both retail and wholesale clients. Also reduced employee turnover through improved professional development and building a “team” environment.

Devised new training strategy, improving ComUnity partner’s internal processes to double new business production. Errors in loan development process were significantly delaying business partner’s loan approval rates while driving up administrative costs on new loans. Teamed with affiliate branch, sponsoring in-house training course to quickly fix the problem. Significantly increased number of approved loans per month, with zero administrative expense for training.

Branch Manager, ComUnity Lending, 1995 to 2007. Recruited by $1B financial services firm to start new branch in Monterey/Santa Cruz region. Cross-trained lean, customer-committed team, driving business to $120M per year in new loan funding. Instilled strict adherence to regulatory and service quality measures, passing all compliance audits.

AVP Operations, American First Mortgage, 1991 to 1995. Initially hired as Underwriter by $300M financial services company. Promoted to Assistant Vice President in 1994, leading 75-person cross-functional team in management of multiple branches throughout western US. Initiated new organizational concept to dramatically reduce annual branch operating costs while increasing overall customer satisfaction and boosting loan productivity four-fold. 

Partner, Wilshire Mortgage, 1989 to 1991. Key member of startup team with responsibility for day-to-day business operations. Managed 15-person cross-functional team. (Partnership dissolved in 1991.)

Earlier experience as Underwriter with Life Savings Bank, 1987 to 1989.