In a recent interview, the new CEO of Walmart was asked about how he plans to deal with the competition from Amazon.com in the retail space. Walmart has long been the chief of brick-and-mortar retail, but it is far behind when it comes to e-commerce. What has the new executive done to make his team more competitive? Well, one of the first things he did was have his entire executive team read a biography on Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com. Walmart's new CEO started his strategy for becoming more competitive by learning from the competition.
On my Lykken on Lending radio show, I often interview people from various companies in the mortgage industry who are doing innovative work in the field. My intention is not promote any particular company; rather, my purpose is to make all other companies in the industry aware of what's going on. If the company being featured is a direct competitor, you should be delighted by the opportunity to learn from them. Knowing what your competitors are doing is the first step in understanding how you might do it better.
Innovation is happening in the mortgage industry. Your competitors are doing interesting things with technology that you need to hear about. Burying your head in the sand isn't going to make the competition go away. Why ignore what your competitors are doing when you can learn about it, refine it, and do it yourself in a better way? Your best competitors are watching you do see what you're doing. If you want to succeed, you've got to return the favor and learn from them as well.
David Lykken is 40-year mortgage industry veteran who has been an owner operator in three mortgage banking companies and a software company. As a former business owner/operator, today David loves helping C-Level executives and business owners achieve extraordinary results via consulting, coaching and communications, with the objective of eliminating corporate dysfunction, establishing and communicating a clear corporate strategy while focusing on process improvement and operational efficiencies resulting in increased profitability. David has been a regular contributor on CNBC and Fox Business News and currently hosts a successful weekly radio program, “Lykken on Lending,” that is heard each Monday at noon (Central Standard Time) by thousands of mortgage professionals. He produces a daily one-minute video called “Today’s Mortgage Minute” that appears on hundreds of television, radio and newspaper Web sites across America. He may be reached by phone at (512) 501-2810 or by e-mail at [email protected].
