Recruiting top-producing loan officers is the highest-leverage activity for any branch manager. Here is the complete playbook Kevin Parsells used to recruit and develop 100+ mortgage professionals.
The average branch manager spends 80% of their time on operations and 20% on recruiting. Top-performing branch managers flip that ratio — and their branches grow 3–5x faster as a result.
Recruiting is not just about finding warm bodies. It is about identifying, attracting, and developing the right talent — producers who will thrive in your culture and on your platform.
Before you can recruit effectively, you need to know exactly who you're looking for. Kevin's recruiting framework starts with building a specific ideal candidate profile: production history, market focus, personality type, and career goals.
Top producers are not on job boards. They are at industry events, on LinkedIn, in Facebook groups, and in your competitors' branches. The CCI System includes a specific multi-channel sourcing strategy for finding and approaching top producers.
Most branch managers lead with compensation. Top recruiters lead with value. The first conversation should be about the candidate's goals, challenges, and vision — not your comp plan.
Once a candidate is interested, you need to demonstrate your platform's superiority. This means showing specific data: average pull-through rates, processing times, technology stack, and marketing support.
The first 90 days determine whether a new hire succeeds or fails. Kevin's onboarding system includes a specific 30-60-90 day production plan that gets new hires to full production faster than industry average.
Kevin Parsells serves as Director of Strategic Growth at Cornerstone First Mortgage, where he has implemented this recruiting framework to build high-producing branches nationally. Contact Kevin to learn how this framework can work for your branch.
Kevin Parsells
Director of Strategic Growth, Cornerstone First Mortgage | Founder, Next Level Forum
Nearly 30 years of mortgage and real estate experience. Creator of the CCI System. Has helped 100+ professionals scale to elite production levels. $2.5B+ funded nationwide.