I don't treat my clients as a transaction. Even if the transaction or the loan is over, I try to be in constant touch with them. I don' t want to sound pushy, but still, you know, I have a timeline where I keep calling with my clients, you know after regular intervals. Welcome back to Good Better Broker as we bring in Ritu Mittal. She is a senior mortgage advisor with Veeam Mortgage and she is based in Arizona. Ritu, great to have you here. Thanks, Justin. Glad to be here. So a bit about you for our audience, Ritu. You have been with VEEMA since early 2025 and you got into the mortgage business in late 2018. So before we talk about what's going so well for you, tell me about your experience at VEEMA Mortgage thus far. What's it been like? Yes, I joined in VEMA in Jan 2025. So my experience with VEEAMA Mortgage has been so rewarding and inspiring i have believed if you love what you do surround yourself with good people good things happen to you right um it highly depends you know uh on the company of the people you choose to grow with this is exactly i have experienced working with vima right so the people here are be it a higher management my teammates everyone here is so wonderful supportive driven and eager to help each other it's great to hear you know and we feel the same way about being here at UWM. A lot of it is about the people that you work with and how they make you feel about what it is you do. So it's really cool to hear that. Interesting story about you and your background. You have some experience in computers and technology. Prior to that, though, you were a stay-at-home mom. Tell me about going from that experience to now being a mortgage loan originator. Yes. For most part of my early life, I was a stay at home mom. So I chose to stay at home, you know, prioritize my family. I had a background in computers and technology that helped me to connect with the people, solve complex problems and help people learn and grow. So around the same time, one of our pretty close friend introduced me to the mortgage world. And what really attracted me to The Mortgage World is the people side of the business because that friend of mine was used to tell me stories you know about his experience you know working with his client how he helped his clients how he held his client you know navigate the whole process and how happy his clients were at the end of the process that that feeling really stayed with me then I thought like okay this is the field where I really wanted to get into because I can really make a difference in people's life. Tell me, how did the experience you had working in computers and technology help you with the transition to working in an industry that is so now heavily reliant on technology? Yeah. So back in India, I was a professor in the college. So it really helped me to connect with the people. So it helped me to solve complex problems into simpler ones right so i already had an experience interacting with the people so once i jumped into the mortgage industry you know that prior experience you know working in education industry in computers and technology really helped me to grow into this so i always like asking people this who came into the business without previous mortgage experience how did you learn the business yes I started learning the business from the ground up so I started processing file for my local broker so that experience really gave me a strong foundation like what happens behind the scenes what is a real thing that processor do at the back ends you know if you have a clear knowledge of your clients a scenario you know how to structure a file how to look into the guidelines you can provide a seamless experience to your clients that's what I learned by processing the files you know at local broker at what point did you think to yourself I think this could be a good fit for me as you started processing those files and learning what was involved was there a certain point where you kind of said to yourself I feel like this is something that I could really enjoy doing yes you know yeah so i it's i uh processed file for the local broker i think for a couple of years so where i used to interact with the clients right and listen to their scenarios what exactly their requirements are and then based off of their requirements i used to provide them a solution like hey heloc is going to be the best solution for you or 15 years is going gonna be the best strategy to go ahead with at this point of time versus going ahead with a 30 year fix and And then at the same time, I used to process the same files, right? I used interact with the underwriter. I used react with the clients like, hey, this is going to be the documents requirements. You know, after, you know, going through this whole cycle for a couple of years, I then I realized like, okay, I am now feeling confident enough, you know, to jump into this fully. Yeah, it's interesting hearing you talk about that. All that practice you got or you don't want maybe not practice, but like processing files for that broker really set you up, it seems, for success once you started doing it on your own. That's cool to hear. You told me when we were talking prior to the interview that being an LO is about more than getting leads. What is it about, Ritu? So as an LO, what sets a good LO apart from the crowd is his or her ability to look at the files the way underwriters look at it, right? So if you have that eagle's eye to look into your client scenario, provide them a solution, look into the guidelines and structure the file in a way the underwriters, you know, is going to do that. You are going to provide a, you Know, seamless experience to your client because you would be able to communicate in advance to your clients like, hey, this is going to be the document requirements going forward because underwriter may ask or may put this condition. So it gives your client a sufficient time to grasp the information and sufficient time to work to collect the documents. And in your experience, why is that a big deal for the client? Because we all know that in this business, there is a lot of back and forth, right? And sometimes additional documents will be asked for or somewhere along the lines, there might be something that doesn't get communicated with the way you approach your client relationships why is what you just talked about such a big deal and how has it benefited your business yeah because you know in today's world everyone is busy right so people barely get time to go back and forth multiple times on the same condition on the some document requirement like if you are capable enough to communicate well and have a clear communication with your client like hey this is this is the condition, I believe these four documents may be required going forward. So I request you to, you know, keep these documents ready beforehand, right? So then your clients will get sufficient time to work on the documentation part rather than be reactive, immediately calling the client like, hey, I mean, we are closing in a week or we have this strict stringent timeline to meet, right? I don't want to rush my clients. Makes sense. It's a really good point. Speaking of your clients, how do you describe your approach to your client relationships? Yeah, what I'm trying to do, I try to be consistent following up with my clients, you know, because, you know, I don't treat my clients as a transaction. Even if the transaction or the loan is over, I tried to be in constant touch with them. I don't want to sound pushy, but still, you know, I have a timeline where I keep following with my clients, you know, after regular intervals, you know, even if I don�t have a reason, still I give them a normal call like, hey, what�s going on in your life or whether it�s a normal market update, right? I just want to make my clients feel that I am there for them, not only when they need a loan, but throughout their homeownership journey. another way that you you described it when we were talking previously is that you like to hold their hand from start to finish and this this is something that a lot of people need retune and you know this because you know we're sitting here talking mortgages we're in the industry but there are so many people out there that just have no clue why is it so important from your perspective to to be that person that's going to walk them through from start yes yeah definitely that's a very good point that you brought it up so finalizing a mortgage is biggest financial commitment in anyone's life it's not only about finalize finalizing uh product loan product it's about buying a home raising your family and creating a i mean celebrating a milestones right so there are so many emotional things attached with this whole process and my job as a mortgage loan advisor is to guide them throughout the process. I want my clients to handhold them throughout so that they have this feeling at the back of their mind, like she was a trusted advisor who guided us throughout the progress. And she was the one who was looking out in best of our interests. You seem to have a very cool and calm demeanor about you. Has that helped you in situations like you just described where there can be some emotional parts of somebody going through a mortgage? Yeah, so see, when you get into this field, the very first thing that you learn is to stay calm, communicate well to your client, you know, and break that barrier of, I mean, your client should be feeling comfortable talking to you, you know whether it's something about their family, their kids or their financial needs, The more clear the communication would be, the more you will be able to understand their situation, their scenario, and will beable to provide a better or tailored mortgage solution to them. UWM's SuccessTrack training program gives mortgage professionals the exclusive opportunity to sharpen their skills and grow their business. From AI and social media to proven origination strategies, SuccessTrack offers in-person and virtual courses designed to help you compete at a higher level. Invest in yourself, invest in your future, and talk to your account executive to enroll in SuccessTracks today. Okay, so there's walking them through the process and making sure they have a good experience. I now want to ask you about your strategy when it comes to keeping tabs on those clients and making sure that those clients who are in your database are going to remember you for future opportunities? How do you go about keeping in touch with them? Yeah. So my strategy is pretty simple. I don't use any hi-fi strategies to be in touch mit my clients. So I have a whole database with my past clients. I keep texting them after regular intervals, keep calling them, be it a rate change be it a market update or be it anything that could help them in their future plans so my whole idea is to stay proactive keep finding opportunities and one other thing you do and i really like this i think it's super smart is that when you text them you do it on the weekends a lot of times and you'll send them like you were just talking about some market information to me that makes a lot of sense because during the week people are busy with their jobs with their families and maybe things slow down on the weekend. So for you, is that an intentional move to send them that information over the weekend? Yeah. So obviously, I mean, five days for anyone, it's like super crazy busy, right? So if I will be sending them a text like, hey, this is happening in the bond market. I mean most of the people will be having time to look into that stuff like what's happening, what's 10-year treasury yields are doing, right, even if they are not interested in refinance or purchase. If I will be dropping in the same text over the weekend, you know, with the little simpler information, I think that will make more impact. Yeah, no, I agree. I think it's a really great move on your part. Let's talk about social media strategy a little bit because this is another great way that LOs can get out there and market themselves and market their brand. How do you approach social media, Ritu? My social media tragedy is staying visible and keep posting stuff to educate people. so what i do is i keep posting mortgage tip market marketing updates and real life scenarios so i so the motive here is to keep everyone updated and make this home ownership process as simple as possible especially for the first time home buyers i don't want my social media handles is just to get the leads. I want people to see me as a mortgage advisor who they can reach out to whenever they have any question in their home ownership journey. You have this mindset which you like to call a progressive mindset and you and I talked about this as well but I want you to explain to our audience what does that progressive mindset mean? For me the progressive mindset is I don't wait for opportunity to happen. If I'm not getting calls from my clients, I don'T wait for my phone to ring. You know, I keep finding reasons to call my clients. You Know, I keep asking them, asking them like, Hey, what's going on in your life? You know? Is your daughter has gone to college? What's going On at the personal stuff? I mean, if they have bought any new house, it's a journal stuff, right? So I just want to say consistent in following up, letting them know like this is the current market situation, mortgage situation. And this is, I mean, if they ask me a question like, hey, I mean this is I have this scenario. So do you think do you have any solution for this scenario? So I just want to consolidate all their information and provide them a solution which is best for them. Such a great point. You have to be proactive. You can't just sit back and wait for people to reach out to you. Can you recall any scenarios or examples where you did check in on somebody just to see what was going on and and they said to you yeah i actually would like to talk to you about a refinancer or something like that have there been situations like that yeah recently um i closed a he loan and uh i that was a casual follow-up with my past client he refinanced with me a couple of times before and i dropped him a text like like hey the rates are like still pretty high I mean I believe our rate is still good I just want to say a general hello to you and that's where he dropped me a text like hey Ritu good you texted me I was thinking about you because I have this scenario my daughter is going to college and I have these whole credit card debt which is going on you know I want to consolidate all the debts and I want to need some additional funds for my daughter's tuition fee. So do you have any product which may suit to my needs? Then I was like, hey, I mean, give me a call. We have a whole slew of products, you know, which I can match up to your needs. He called me, you know, and he told me like, Hey, I need X, X, Y, Z amount. And I, boom, I provided a helon solution. And we are closing today. How about that? Yeah, it's amazing. And it, again, it just proves the point you really don't know what people are dealing with financially unless you ask unless you reach out so i just i really like the fact that you're so proactive and to me um and you tell me if i'm wrong but it seems like that's just who you are you seem like you're not the kind of person who's gonna sit back and wait for it to come to you you seem Like you're gonna go out there and get it yeah so i keep finding reason it's not only about dropping a text i keep fine i mean i keep um finding reasons like you know whether it's a falling out with the client or a real estate agent or building a new relationship with the new realtor partners. So my mind is always going on, what should I be doing to scale up my business? Okay. One other thing we haven't talked about yet is ensuring that those clients who you give a good experience to are leaving your reviews because we know that when someone's looking for a loan advisor or a loan originator, they're going to check into your reviews. How do you make sure that you're getting those good reviews see what I focus on as a loan originator to provide the seamless experience to my clients once the loan is closed and the process was seamless my clients are happy I politely drop them a text or call them like hey I mean would you be comfortable you know dropping a few lines regarding your experience working with me and this is what I believe you know if you focus or or if you care genuinely for your clients or their needs, the good reviews or the five-star reviews will flow in naturally. Well said. As we wrap things up, I just want to ask you, because you do so many things and you do a lot of them really well. And again, going back to the fact that you didn't have any previous mortgage experience, you took a chance on this. When you think back about that, about getting into this business and now doing all these things so well, what comes to mind for you? Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I feel so proud about myself because I have come a long way. Because looking at my background back in India, I was into education industry. Then I was a stay-at-home mom. Then, I did volunteer in library where I used to, you know, teach elderly people how to download the digital book from the library's account to their e-readers and then you know i studied for quite a some time to pass this mlo test and then i processed a file with the local broker so i feel you know I have come a long way and I feel so proud about myself but this journey is like still on and still finding ways to you know progress yeah scale up the business yeah you you should be proud of yourself and you know I love that little detail about helping elderly people with their with their ebooks that's so cute. But yeah, great to sit down and chat with you. It's awesome to just hear about all the things that you're doing and keep up the great work. Ritu Mittal from Vima Mortgage. Thank you for being here. Thanks, Justin. Thanks for having me. Thankyou for watching Good Better Broker and helping us support independent mortgage brokers everywhere. 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