Don Goettling on thriving in 2026 and why Sales Mastery 2025 is a can’t-miss event

HousingWire

Loan officers today face one of the toughest markets in decades. Higher rates, affordability challenges and shrinking volume have left many wondering how to adapt. In this sponsored episode of Ten Minute Talks, Brena Nath sits down with Don Goettling, CEO of Momentum Builder and Sales Mastery and explores how Sales Mastery 2025 helps industry professionals discover strategies top producers are using to scale faster, even in the face of market uncertainty.   Goettling gives listeners a glimpse into this year’s event, which is built around the theme: Beyond Boundaries. From breaking out of isolation to embracing collaboration, Sales Mastery is designed to re-energize professionals with actionable playbooks, community, and the mindset shift needed to thrive in 2026. With over 1,000 sales professionals gathering in Dallas from October 14 to 17, and a buy-one-get-one offer available now, this is a can’t-miss opportunity to leave outdated strategies behind and confidently step into the next chapter of the housing industry.   #LoanOfficers #MortgageIndustry #SalesMastery #MarketTrends

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Brenna Nath, Vice President of Events and Community here at Housing Wire.

00:12I've had the pleasure of chatting with the Momentum Builder team a couple times this year,

00:19whether that's seeing their content, seeing them in person. So I'm super excited to have

00:23as a guest on 10-Minute Talks today, Don Gatling. He's the founder of Momentum Builder and also

00:28the CEO of Sales Mastery. So welcome, Don. I'm glad to be here and thank you, Brenna. This is

00:35exciting. I love Housing Wire and this is exciting to be on the call. What stood out to me about what

00:43you're doing at Momentum Builder, but especially what you guys are creating with the Sales Mastery

00:46event is the fact that the time is now. You have a great pulse on what's happening in the market.

00:52So I wanted to start off through your vantage point. How would you describe today's market

00:58through the lens of what loan officers, what LOs are thinking about? And specifically,

01:03one of my favorite questions to ask is what's keeping them up at night right now?

01:09That's a great question and relevant right now because I don't know if everybody knows,

01:14but Gina and I are still in the grind. We're in the business. We have a region of

01:18loan officers. I've been in the business almost 40 years. Yep, that's right. I started when I was 10

01:25and we've had teams large enough to where we had 163 employees in our region doing 1.5 billion in

01:35business. Now, of course, that's slowed down like everyone, but we do understand the plight

01:40of the loan officer because we're in the grind every day. We know what their challenges are

01:46and what keeps them up right now. And of course, it's been in my 40 years, it's been one of the

01:51toughest three years that I have seen since being in the industry. And it's been challenging because

01:57everybody's been battling with higher interest rates, very few refinances, affordability issues,

02:05therefore lower volumes. So it's been really challenging because a lot of our LOs feel like

02:11they're just beating their head against the wall and not seeing as much return on their energy.

02:16But the good news is, is that it is adjusting. Rates are finally coming down. It will change. I've

02:21gone through four of these cycles before. The other side of this is amazing. And the other good news is

02:28we've lost a lot of our competition. People say that there was 450,000 now down to 120,000. But I looked

02:36up and what I found is real LOs working was about 182,000 back in 2021. And we're down to 85,000 now.

02:46So a lot of our competition's gone. So it's opening the doors. Now, will the LOs gain the skill sets and

02:54the ability to gain relationships like they should? Because that's, what's going to be important. Those who

02:59do will crush it in the, as things pick up, the others will be left behind.

03:05Those are some interesting stats that you just shared. And to me, paint the truth of what's

03:09actually happening in this market level setting with LOs and saying, this is where the market

03:14currently stands. What are the extra bullet points that you might flag when it comes to, okay, this is

03:20what's happening out there. This is probably what they're thinking about and keeping them up at night

03:24to, okay, here's some truths along with the fact you just, you know, listed out about what it takes

03:30to lead and win and grow in this market, because you still have optimism that they can succeed.

03:35Oh, there's a lot of people that are succeeding, but the main issue is so many loan officers today,

03:45including some of ours, worry too much because it's been so tough. They worry too much about what

03:51the competition's doing, what they don't have, what shiny objects they need. They're looking for

03:58solutions. And right now it's really just going back to some basics and learning what's working

04:04in today's market. I hear a lot, Brenna, that LOs are waiting for the market to go back to normal.

04:10There is no normal. It's changed. Our industry has completely changed and it's time to change with

04:15it. So have you shifted with the market? And what's nice is, you know, being part of sales

04:21mastery and momentum builder is we get to talk to a lot of the top professionals in the industries

04:26and finding out what they're doing to be successful there. We're bringing people to sales mastery that

04:31are doing well over a hundred million dollars in production and no, not with 20 person teams.

04:35We're talking mere mortals, friends of ours that are crushing this market and they've changed their

04:41mindset. They've changed their processes. They changed how they do business and how they build

04:46relationships. Because thank goodness, everybody's worried about AI taking our jobs. But I think

04:52building relationships is more important than ever right now because people have a little lack

04:57of trust because of AI. So now building relationships is more important than ever. But how do you do that?

05:03And I have a lot of people on stage for the three and a half days that are going to share those

05:08strategies. Something that sounds like it's coming across the entire house industry, whether that's

05:13talent to the home shoppers and home buyers is everyone's anchoring to this market that's not

05:21coming back. And like you said, I'm just waiting for things to get back to normal. No, like you need

05:25to anchor the current market to where we are right now, which I think is a great call out. Something

05:32that really stood out to me about the sales mastery event is your call out on the power of coming

05:40together. And you shouldn't be isolated. And when you come together, you have the opportunity that comes

05:47with collaboration. And what you just said, you have a lot of people on stage who are talking about how

05:53they've shifted their mindset to make it work in this market. Can you dive into that some more?

06:00Yeah. And I appreciate you bringing that up because the LOs have been challenged. COVID kind of hurt our

06:06industry in a way. Yes. Was it two of the best years that a lot of us have had, but it also hurt

06:11our industry because it made us isolated. It made us a little lazy now. And you don't have to do it

06:18alone. I mean, you really don't. One of the things that changed my career is I was doing alone and

06:23trying to make it on my own. And thankfully, somebody introduced me to sales mastery and Todd Duncan,

06:27and it changed my career because I was surrounded by people that were successful, people that are

06:32excited about the industry. And I was finding about the people that I need to know, the tools I need

06:39to use, and how to use them. And then getting re-energized. It re-energized me every single year

06:45and usually told me, oh, shoot, there was two more things that I said I was going to do last year. I'll

06:49do this year. But we're going to hand these playbooks to everybody. I mean, imagine just being in a room

06:54with like-minded people that are excited about the industry and pumped to go to the next level.

07:00And we're going to hand those playbooks from the speakers. And we have in the industry speakers

07:06and outside the industry speakers, bringing perspectives that we probably didn't know about

07:11and should know about. And it's going to be exciting. It's not just going to be tactics,

07:15but it's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. That energy you feel in the room at a conference,

07:22I wish I could ball that up and put it in a shot in the days where you are working that you don't feel

07:27the motivation. Just remember and go back. And you probably could do it through video these days

07:31by just watching a video of the event. But there is something so powerful about being in a room with

07:36people who are optimistic about the potential that they have in this industry. So I'm with you on how

07:41contagious that feels. I noticed the theme for the event is beyond boundaries. It's kind of this theme

07:48for growth. And what are some of the outdated strategies that you think professionals should

07:52abandon to embrace this theme? And maybe use that to also just explain more of how that theme is

07:59coming into fruition throughout the days of the event. All right. And I love your questions,

08:06Brenna. They're really good because they're relevant to today's market. It's been a challenging

08:10market. And we brought Sales Mastering Todd Duncan back for a reason. It's what our industry needs more

08:15than ever. I know a lot of people were talking to like, I know I want to be at the event,

08:20but I can't afford it. It's not a cost. It's an investment in your business. And when you're

08:25surrounded by like-minded individuals, it does elevate your game. It does get you excited. It

08:31gives you renewed energy. And that's why we have networking events. We're even having a cornhole

08:36tournament just for fun. And all our speakers hang out. They're part of our community. Imagine being

08:43part of a community that's all helping each other succeed. Those who aren't part of this community and

08:48trying to do it on their own are really going to be left behind because doing it on your own

08:53is a long road. It's very challenging and no guarantee for success. So we're excited to be

08:59bringing Sales Mastering and all these great professionals together to get to the other side

09:06of this challenging market. And we couldn't be more excited than ever. Our lineup is sick. It's going to

09:11be really fun. And we brought it to Dallas because we want it centered in the country. Everybody can get

09:16to. Flights are cheap. We have a room block. We now have a BOGO special. Buy one, get one free

09:23to help you bring a friend, a teammate, because we know that collaboration makes it that much more

09:28exciting and that much more fun. Yeah. I want to emphasize that. I think a BOGO deal is great.

09:33Everything we talked about comes... Because not only is it a great deal, I think that's amazing.

09:38But to me, it's also... It's bringing someone into the room that I think is great to highlight.

09:43It's building on that community of like, hey, you surely know someone who also can benefit from

09:48being in here. And then you're just building upon the energy that's palatable when you come together.

09:54So emphasize that. Any other details before we wrap that you'd want to highlight?

09:58Just that the BOGO offers really, plus you can use our discount code SM25. So you get a discount

10:04on the ticket. And once you buy the ticket, you'll receive a link to invite somebody else. So you don't

10:11have to buy ticket. Buy one. And you'll get a link and say, I'm bringing my friend, my teammate,

10:16my coworker, my manager, my referral partner, maybe share the cost with them. We're making it easy

10:22because our goal is to positively impact as many sales professionals as possible and get them all in

10:27one room so that we can get to the other side of this and have fun doing it.

10:31To your point, the industry needs this. So thank you for putting this together. Thank you for coming

10:36on 10 Minute Talks to discuss it with us. Appreciate it, Don.

10:42Yeah, thank you. And thank you for Housing Wire being our title sponsor. I'm very excited to be

10:47aligned with you guys. It's going to be an amazing event. And thank you, Brenna.

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