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Leadership is a Skill, Not a Trait: 7 Tips for Success

Leadership is a Skill, Not a Trait: 7 Tips for Success

What is the one most potent drive that humans have? Is it physical survival? To a degree, yes. But if we need only to address our basic needs to live, why do we strive for something more?

There is a secondary drive in humans that at times overrides even our physical survival. Some set out to climb Everest. Others leave their mark with literature or art.

Everyone, in their own respect, is looking for their way to be heard.

On the one hand, being heard implies projecting your ideas onto someone else. On another, it indicates that someone will listen. So how does one get the authority and expertise that makes them a leader?

Kamyar Shah, fractional COO/CMO, addressed the question in an interview with Coruzant. He responded above all that knowledge and lifelong learning is the key to leadership.

What is his motivation to learn? It’s not leadership. It’s not even advancing in his career.

His motivation to learn, he answered, is waking up every day “not knowing” and wanting to change that.

The beauty of this is that it shows anyone can become a leader in their field. Don’t get overwhelmed by the mountain ahead. The climb is as easy as taking the first step.

1. Admit you don’t know

As mentioned by Shah, what drives him is the desire to know. Not knowing is the spark that motivated him to take over 100 courses in the last year. It took him from a call center to a fractional COO for seven different companies. Assuming that you don’t know is not the same as an admission of weakness. It’s the first step to gaining knowledge.

There will always be knowledge gaps and misunderstandings. Identifying them can help clear up misconceptions to communicate your message clearer. For example, alternative lenders face many communication gaps with their own clients. As discussed in this article, the responsibility is on them to lead and close these gaps.

2. Use free resources

Traditional education offers in-depth coverage of the topic at hand. But, the cost and time constrictions limit its practicality for some. What’s most important is what you learn, not following the standard means of getting there. Take advantage of other resources if you have time or financial constraints. Some options include webinars, LinkedIn learning, online conferences, and video lectures.

3. Get in-depth coverage

Short videos and blog posts have great introductory value for a topic. However, don’t forget to build on that information. Coupling easily digestible information with in-depth coverage gives invaluable context. Without this, it is harder to make sure that you have the context to apply your knowledge.

Consider listening to a lecture series, reading a book, or taking online courses. Remember that you can always ask someone with more experience than you, bringing us to the next point.

4. Talk to other professionals

Some of the most practical knowledge you can find comes from the people that use it every day.  Talking with other professionals is an underutilized and crucial tool for learning. It adds the value of connecting with a source of direct experience in a given niche. If you have a particular question or want to hear more about why some use a specific process in their work, ask. Find out where the leaders of your industry go. Are they in LinkedIn groups or on forums? Are there conferences or other meetups that they frequent? There’s value in surrounding yourself not with people like you but with people like who you want to be.

5. Always aim to prove yourself wrong

The scientific method sets out to prove a proposed hypothesis wrong. Experiments exist only to see if the belief holds up. Only after every attempt fails to bring another conclusion is it trusted.

Like researchers, only after trying to prove our assumptions wrong will we see what’s right. Even illusions can hide a nugget of truth. When you encounter failure, learn everything you can from it. Change your process, try again, and each time you’ll come closer to success.

6. Use diverse sources of information

Every person puts their perspective and options into their work. Often, even the author is unaware. When you see diverse perspectives on the same information, it’s easier to see what they have in common.

The Chaldean Oracles and ancient wise men would invite people to partake in acts of collective reason. Often, they invited others, saying, “Come now, let us reason together.” Once you have enough perspectives to see what varies from person to person, you begin to pick out the truth. As you practice this, the process gets quicker, and even your own biases will yield to facts.

7. Apply your knowledge through action

Even the knowledge of the most educated individual doesn’t mean a thing until tested. For example, a person can spend their life studying the maintenance of cars. They can spend every day reading, watching videos, and observing. Does this make them a mechanic?

Not until they fix a car.

The best testing ground for your newfound knowledge is applying it every day in real life. It may not feel like progress at first, but even your struggles are a form of movement. Only after practice and application will you look back and see how far you’ve come.

Summary

Industry leaders are created through a lifetime of learning. It’s not about what resources you do or don’t have. All you need is the want to know, the openness to grow, and the willingness to try, fail, and try again. The following growth reaches much further than your career or even your industry. It provides tools you’ll have for life.

Salesforce Consultant or Internal Admin? Here’s What to Consider.

Salesforce Consultant or Internal Admin? Here’s What to Consider.

Three people sit at a wooden table with their laptops

When used as loan management software, Salesforce automates business tasks, organizes processes, and provides data insights you might be missing. As many alternative lenders find themselves at a pivot point between in-person and digital lending, more have decided to bring their operations online. Unfortunately, many teams are ill-equipped to handle implementation, training, and updates in loan management software independently. Now, the shift to digital processes is no longer optional. Cloud lending software is now critical to many lenders’ survival. So what do you do when it’s time to bring your operations online?

The First Steps

The first decision lenders will have to make is who is going to help. The choice will ultimately depend on the needs of their business. Each of the two options has its pros and cons. Ultimately, you will need to know what you need from your loan management system to decide confidently. Some factors that many businesses weigh are experience, availability, and cost. When looking for someone to teach your team how to use Salesforce for loan management, be sure to ask how they plan to address your concerns in the areas that are important to you.

The first step is to outline where you foresee your struggles. When looking for an automated loan processing system, you may want to consider questions like:

  • Is your staff tech-savvy, or will they need a helping hand learning the loan automation program?
  • Do they have the time to investigate the program on their own?
  • What are your strategies to improve sales productivity?
  • Will they need a hand to adapt while they manage their current operations?
  • Does your lending involve similar programs or an assortment of physical documents and spreadsheets?

What Do I Need From My Financial Lending Solution?

For the countless lenders that still use mainly physical paper documentation, extra training assistance is a must. You’ll want someone with the knowledge to understand why your team is struggling and how to help. Remember, a proper Salesforce implementation should not disrupt your operations, but compliment them.

Your reasons for choosing Salesforce business consulting services will guide your process from here. Are you changing because you’re short on time? Is it to get more data to improve your lending? Your priorities will help you choose an admin that has the same preferences in mind.

Do I Need a Salesforce Admin or In-House Administrator?

Now, consider some differences between Salesforce Admins and in-house administrators. In-house administrators will have greater availability to train your staff. Still, Salesforce admins have far more experience with training and implementing their clients in the software. Even extended availability doesn’t compare with practice. A Salesforce admin may spend less time training your staff, but their extensive knowledge allows them to train more efficiently.

When you find an administrator who has experienced helping other alternative lenders with consulting services, you’re banking on their experience helping businesses like yours. Any candidate your company considers should specialize in alternative lenders. Since alternative lending has specific challenges that no other industry faces, your administrator needs to be familiar with them.

What Questions Do I Ask?

When you begin to interview, ask about their previous work with businesses like yours. Relevant education or experience can also make for a good fit. While neither one is necessarily more important, the choice will ultimately depend on the candidate.

Now that you’ve verified your admins’ familiarity with alternative lending, consider what your skills are. What is YOUR current level of experience working in Salesforce? Do you know what features you need? Do your candidates? And how much assistance do you need to understand what your needs are?

To confirm your candidate has everything they need to help, take a look at their training. Hands-on experience is excellent, but with software that updates so frequently, it is not enough. That said, your admin should have the right mix of both. How can you verify that your admin has the skills to make the most of Salesforce?

What Are The Skills That Matter?

Your applicants will undoubtedly have different areas of knowledge and experience. How can you weigh them fairly?

When you see your candidate’s qualifications, don’t only take them at face value. Spend a moment researching their certifications and verify their quality. Your candidates should all have a valid certificate that confirms their skills from a body that requires continuing skills tests.

Salesforce admins must go through an intensive training process to demonstrate that they are ready to help their clients at the level that Salesforce expects. While Salesforce only offers the certification exam, online courses are the most popular form of preparation that Salesforce admins use.

Why Are Salesforce Admins Different from In-House Admins?

While an internal admin may know the program, working in Salesforce is a Salesforce administrator’s entire job.

The fluidity that Salesforce admins have when working with the platform comes from extensive training. They must pass a rigorous exam that guarantees that they have the knowledge to configure, run, and modify the platform for their clients. Additionally, they have to pass three release exams every year on its new features.

Because a Salesforce admin works with many different clients, they understand what to expect when helping onboard your team. They know what aspects may be challenging for you and how to guide your team in Salesforce optimization. A Salesforce admin has the generalized knowledge to predict your needs with the program based on their experience with other clients.

Final Notes

While it may seem convenient to have a full-time Salesforce admin, it may not be necessary. Quality admins can train your existing team to run day-to-day operations. A Salesforce admin can come in when needed to help your staff make adjustments and troubleshoot. Spend some time to think if you genuinely need availability or if you need the expertise.

By bringing in a consultant instead of a full-time staff member, your company also conserves time and resources. A Salesforce consultant will give you a good idea of how much their clients typically need. Both of the candidates should outline their plan to onboard your lending and how long it will take.

Though it may be tempting to have an internal administrator handle your Salesforce operations, one thing is sure. A Salesforce administrator is guaranteed to have the skills to help your team, no matter what your needs. If you’re ready to start looking, take a look at our step-by-step guide on choosing the right Salesforce consultant.

Dominion Financial

Dominion Financial

Optimizing With an Eye on the Future

Dominion Financial Services is a nationally recognized private lender in 49 states that originated over $180 million in loans in calendar year 2019 to experienced real estate investors through four lending products:  Fix and Flip loans, 30 year Rental loans, Ground Up Construction loans, and Small Multi-Family loans.

The Challenge

Dominion’s legacy system had been cobbled together over a number of years to power their interest based loan business. Relying on systems like Excel, One-Drive, Office and other platforms, they built a system that suited their needs at the time, however, as they grew, the system was getting stretched and they foresaw the need to upgrade early. to enable a digital transformation and get ahead of the competition and set themselves up for continued long term success

The Solution

Dominion began the search to find a partner who could to help them transition to a fully digital, streamlined and integrated Loan Management System (LMS). The FUNDINGO LMS platform had one significant advantage over the competitors: FUNDINGO could be configured to Dominion’s specific lending process while the competition’s software would have required Dominion to change their process and potentially lose that special sauce they had already developed over years of hard work.

The Result

CloudMyBiz/FUNDINGO evaluated Dominion’s process, and prepared a solution that would meet their needs and deliver immediately improved functionality and tools. The new system created a transparent feedback loop between origination and servicing, letting Dominion have better control of their data and easily find the lifetime history of a borrower. With FUNDINGO, Dominion kept their current process, and via the integrative power of Salesforce, are now set up to take advantage of the cutting edge of technology whenever it hits the market.

 

“The FUNDINGO team was a pleasure to work with throughout the design & build out. To ensure buy-in from our team, we had to coordinate with 6+ stakeholders on our side. FUNDINGO’s project management approach kept us organized and ensured that each of those stakeholders had input and feedback into the design. This helped tremendously with the adoption process.“

  • Jack BeVier – Partner – The Dominion Group

 

Interested in learning more?

Have specific questions or want to talk to a FUNDINGO consulting expert?

Contact us at info@cloudmybiz.com

Quick Tips on Using Salesforce for Lenders

Quick Tips on Using Salesforce for Lenders

A man types at his computer at a shared wooden desk in front of a sunny window

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

By this point, you know your business should be propelled by the need to get ahead, not just the need to keep up. For many lenders, this means integrating technology into your business’s operations. Using a CRM to unify your processes and data can help you achieve just that.

While the benefits of better data are clear, it is not uncommon for apprehension to sneak into the conversation. Especially when migrating from paper and spreadsheets, the task seems overwhelming to some lenders. If you fall into this group, fear not. There are steps that can make setting up Salesforce for lenders a smooth and easy process.

If you have used Salesforce before, you may have noticed that they avoid using jargon. This coupled with their quick search tool makes it simple to find what you need without the learning curve. Once you can find the options you need, customizing the platform around your business becomes easier.

Even if you think you can hit the ground running, spending a few minutes to go through the tutorial is well worth the time. It provides surprisingly detailed insights on how to configure Salesforce to manage your deals and pipeline.

Another feature worth noting is Salesforce’s customizable alerts. You can choose alerts to notify your team when it’s time to take an action, like following up on a lead or sending out information. You can also toggle them on or off to determine who sees them or what information you want displayed.

There are also a plethora of apps that you can install to manage specific functions in Salesforce. Some organize and track deals for syndication and others provide detailed information to decide on applicant risk. Others integrate Salesforce with other programs your organization already uses.

While you can set up Salesforce to manage your lending, it never hurts to consult a professional to find out where you can benefit the most from using a CRM. If you want to find out who can best help your business, take these steps when finding a Salesforce consultant.

CloudMyBiz Named in the Inc. 5000 List for Third Year

CloudMyBiz Named in the Inc. 5000 List for Third Year

In times of change, those who stand out are those who adapt. This statement is what guides CloudMyBiz’s vision. We are proud to announce that Inc. magazine has named CloudMyBiz on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.Cloud My Biz's logo with the name written out and a blue cloud outline in the background

The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. Specializing in Alternative Lending solutions with its Fundingo Loan Management Software, CloudMyBiz helps businesses grow through Salesforce implementation, development and consulting.

“We are honored to once again appear on this list,” said Henry Abenaim, CEO of CloudMyBiz. “Our team has continued to excel at bringing the cutting edge CRM features and functionality of Salesforce to clients, helping them grow and navigate obstacles. We are proud to provide exceptional cloud-based consulting services and software, especially as digital and remote work becomes more and more essential to doing business.”

Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000’s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

“The companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business,” says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. “From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism.”

About CloudMyBiz

The CloudMyBiz team empowers business through the Cloud and encourages streamlined collaboration between departments, clients, customers and partners. CloudMyBiz specializes in Salesforce Implementation, Migration, Integration and Development, in addition to working with Third Party Applications and Custom App Development.

About the FUNDINGO Loan Management Solution

FUNDINGO is a loan management solution designed specifically for alternative lenders.  It streamlines the entire process of originating, underwriting, and servicing loans.

Unlike a hodge-podge of outdated and unconnected systems, each handling only a single element in the lending process, the FUNDINGO solution helps alternative lenders attract and close more deals, accelerate the underwriting process, generate more pricing options, reduce errors, and ensure greater consistency.  These lenders also earn a more professional reputation among borrowers, brokers, and syndication partners.

The FUNDINGO solution is built on the Salesforce.com platform and can be closely integrated with a company’s CRM, finance, document management and other systems.  The solution is supported by experts in alternative lending loan management and has been successfully implemented in leading firms across the U.S.