March 15, 2025

You Are Not Urgent Enough | LoL #3

Shane Pierson, Stephanie Dunn & Brian Congelliere

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You Are Not Urgent Enough: Why SBA Deals Die in Slow Motion | Episode 3

You are not urgent enough. That is not a motivational soundbite — it is a diagnosis. In Episode 3 of Lords of Lending, Shane Pearson, Stephanie Dunn, and Brian Congelliere confront the silent killer of SBA pipeline management: the gap between being busy and being urgent. Deals do not blow up overnight. They bleed out over weeks of unanswered emails, missed deadlines, and teams that confuse motion with progress.

In this episode: Shane opens with a line borrowed from James Clear — you do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. If your system lacks urgency, you will keep pushing important tasks off until tomorrow, and tomorrow will keep winning. Steph brings Parkinson's Law into the conversation: work expands to fill the time you give it, and SBA lending is drowning in expanded timelines. Brian shares the attorney's perspective on deadlines that actually mean something — when a billion-dollar client says a deal closes by Friday, there is no negotiation. The three hosts then build a practical system for injecting real urgency into every deal from day one.

Key Takeaways

1. Busyness Is Not Urgency — And the Difference Is Killing Your Pipeline

Shane draws a hard line between the two. Every SBA professional he knows is busy. Emails, calls, document chasing, internal meetings — the calendar is full. But being busy and being urgent are not the same thing. Urgency means the highest-value task in front of you gets done right now, not after you clear the inbox.

"You are not urgent enough. If you think you've got tomorrow, you'll lose to someone who's actually acting today. Our deals die in slow motion. And if we ignore the power of immediate action, we will inevitably fail and we'll be left out in the dust." — Shane Pearson

Steph takes this and attaches a number to it. She brings up the KPI discipline from early in her career: a hundred phone calls a day, five days a week, ten appointments from those calls. It is a science. It is math. And when you have been doing it long enough that the reps become muscle memory, you no longer need someone babysitting your activity — you just execute.

But here is the problem. After 20 or 25 years in the business, that muscle memory can decay into autopilot. Shane admits it openly — maintaining urgency in his forties has taken real effort. The testosterone-fueled drive of his thirties does not just show up anymore. He has to choose it every morning.

"Urgency tends to be a hell of a lot easier when I was in my thirties. Maintaining it in my forties has taken some real freaking effort. I got to wake up and think that I actually want to engage on a day to day basis, as opposed to it just being something that autopilots out of me." — Shane Pearson

2. Parkinson's Law Is Running Your SBA Pipeline

Steph brings up Parkinson's Law — the principle that work expands to fill whatever time you allow for it — and it hits like a freight train in the context of SBA lending. If you tell a borrower they have 60 days to get their documents in, it will take 60 days. If you tell them they have two weeks, it will take two weeks.

The same applies internally. If a credit team knows the closing deadline is "sometime next month," the file will sit. If the deadline is Friday, the file moves.

Steph's musician analogy lands perfectly. A good musician is not reading the notes they are playing right now — they are reading the next bar. Every action today should be taken with the closing date in mind, working backwards from that deadline and anticipating what could derail the timeline.

"If a close date has to be set for June 30th, it is the team's responsibility. Everyone understands their position, knows how to play that position to the best of their ability, but anticipates what they need to anticipate to perform at their highest level." — Stephanie Dunn

She goes further: there are 3,000 banks in America. What you are offering is a commodity. If you are not moving at the speed the borrower needs, someone else will gladly take the deal. Slowing down is not the answer. Anticipation is the answer.

3. Deadlines Without Consequences Are Just Suggestions

Brian's background in big law gives him a perspective most bankers never get. When a billion-dollar REIT tells their attorneys that a transaction closes on a specific date, there is no "let me get back to you on that." You work until it is done. Period. You go home, put the kids to bed, come back, and work until midnight or one in the morning if that is what the deal requires.

"A billion-dollar REIT said, I need this thing done by this date. There's really no other option. You literally just get it done and you work until it is done." — Brian Congelliere

Brian connects this to Thomas Edison's quote: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." In SBA lending, if you do not get a term sheet out fast enough, there are five other lenders with paper in hand ready to take the deal. The urgency is not manufactured — it is the competitive reality.

Shane ties the threads together with a data point from Harvard Business Review: responding to a new lead within five minutes makes you 100 times more likely to win the transaction. Five minutes. Not five hours, not next business day. And yet most SBA teams treat new leads like they will still be there next week.

The system Shane proposes is deliberately simple: every customer gets a live conversation — phone call or video — at least every 48 hours from the day the deal hits the table until final funding. No exceptions. Every person who touches the file, from originator to underwriter to closer, is part of the sales organization. That consistent pressure is what keeps deals from rotting on the vine.

What This Means for SBA Professionals

When all is said and done, the distinction is between people who execute and people who administrate. The Lords are not talking about working harder — they are talking about working on the right things with a clock ticking.

Shane admits his own history here. Early in his career, hotheadedness and poor email discipline burned bridges. The urgency was there, but it was undirected — pointed at emergencies instead of prevention. The shift was learning to apply that same intensity from day one of a transaction, setting expectations upfront so the emergencies never materialize.

Steph's closing challenge is personal: if someone has to impose SLAs on you at this point in your career, you need to ask yourself whether you actually want to be here. The hunger should be internal. The discipline should be self-imposed. And if you wake up in the morning without the eagerness to at least try to be good at what you do, it might be time for honest soul-searching about whether you are in the right seat.

"Urgency comes from those who put in the effort. You don't always have to be the best. But you need to show up every day and want to at least try to be good, want to at least try to help that customer, want to at least try to be a good teammate." — Stephanie Dunn

Brian brings it back to Atomic Habits — small, systematized changes that compound over time. Pick one thing you will do differently every day. Tell someone about it. Let them hold you accountable. Do that for a year and the amount of change you have affected in your career is massive.

"Little by little, those habits compound over time. Finding a way to at least at a minimum motivate yourself, accept some of the responsibility for your actions, and then allow that to propel you forward." — Brian Congelliere

The Lie We Bought: Why Time Management Isn't Enough in SBA Lending — A deeper look at why productivity systems fail without urgency
How to Become an SBA Loan Broker — The career path and daily execution required to succeed in SBA origination
The Complete Guide to SBA 7(a) Loans — The full breakdown of the loan product that drives the Lords' pipeline

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between urgency and busyness in SBA lending?

Busyness is filling your calendar with tasks. Urgency is making sure the highest-value task — the one that actually moves a deal forward — gets done right now. Shane's point is that most SBA professionals are drowning in activity but starving for progress. The fix is not more hours; it is ruthless prioritization of what actually closes deals.

How does Parkinson's Law affect loan timelines?

Parkinson's Law says work expands to fill the time available. In SBA lending, this means a deal given 60 days will take 60 days, even if it could close in 30. The Lords' solution is to set aggressive but realistic deadlines from day one and maintain consistent borrower contact — at minimum every 48 hours — so momentum never stalls.

How often should I be in contact with my borrower during the loan process?

Shane's system calls for a live conversation — phone or video, not just email — every 48 hours from origination to funding. This applies to every member of the deal team, not just the salesperson. Consistent contact surfaces problems early, keeps the borrower engaged, and signals that their deal matters.

What if I have been in the industry for years and still struggle with urgency?

Brian recommends the Atomic Habits approach: pick one small behavior change, commit to it daily, and find an accountability partner. Shane is honest that urgency gets harder with age and experience — the early-career fire does not sustain itself automatically. The answer is building systems that force the behavior even when the motivation dips.

How does urgency affect loan approvals?

Directly. Shane cites Harvard Business Review research showing that responding to a new lead within five minutes makes you 100 times more likely to win that business. In a market with 3,000 competing banks, speed on the front end and consistent pressure through closing are what separate originators who hit their numbers from those who watch deals die.

Ready to Build Systems That Actually Close Deals?

The Lords of Lending Training Platform gives you the frameworks, pipeline management strategies, and deal execution playbooks that turn urgency into results. Stop letting deals die in slow motion.

Explore training options at learn.lordsoflending.com/pricing

This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. Consult with a qualified attorney, CPA, and financial advisor before making business or financing decisions. Loan terms, rates, and programs are subject to change and vary by lender.