AI Won’t Replace Relationships - But It Will Expose Who’s Been Faking Them | Fintech Hunting Podcast

Speaker A: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a new episode of the FinTech Hunting podcast. We've got an incredible guest for you today. She needs no introduction, but I'm gonna give her one anyway. Yes, she is a taco aficionado. She is an industry thought leader. She is a recruiting guru. She's a media partner and dear friend. I couldn't be more excited to welcome back to the show Delilah Ramos. Delilah, welcome.

Speaker B: Glad to be here. And you know what? I'm sorry, I have. There's a bag in the background. It is so bothering me. So I'm going to move it. Boom, we're done. There we go.

Speaker A: There we go. Well, it was great seeing you. I got to see you last week in California. We had a great time at the Incelerate Summit.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: You moderated a panel that I had the pleasure of being on with Alec Hansen from Loan Depot. Yeah. There was a ton of engagement and a ton of positive feedback about that session. So congratulations.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker A: Talk to me about the topic and what were some of your key takeaways?

Speaker B: Well, it was the industry buzzword AI. Right. Which everyone knows you're a subject matter expert. I, I know. Everything I know about AI, honestly, is because of you, because I'm around, because I listen to you and I'm around you. And birds, uh, of a feather flock together. Right. So. But it really was a great session because people were wanting visibility, they want to be found, and they want to know how to be found, whether it's market themselves, grow their organization, whatever it is. The need. People are now needing to be found, um, on I social media, but also on a AI chat. Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, like, you name it, right? People, the borrower or the average consumer is now going to AI to ask. We need to, like, know what questions to ask so we can be found. Invisible.

Speaker A: Well, and it's so critical and we talk about this a lot, but people have stopped Googling, or at least dramatically slowed down. Last year dropped 25%. This year it's going to drop another 25%. And to your point, they're now going into AI search, the clods, the, uh, perplexities, the Geminis, the chats. And if we don't understand that change, instead of being on the first page of Google, we don't show up at all. People get an answer from AI Search and they go right to that individual or right to that company and they're done.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And so it has a dramatic impact on everyone's business, whether you're a loan officer trying to get More borrowers. Whether you are a service provider selling into banks and credit unions and IMBs, if you don't adapt to this change, you're just going to be invisible and people are just going to move on to your competitor.

Speaker B: Exactly. I learned beforehand or just in my day to day research before it used to be when you Google, right, you would get like the first five, ten links and you would click. You try your best to be on the first page. Like nobody ever went to the second or even third page. You were obsolete, but. But now, right. That is not even a thing like them going on links. They just want the answer and they want it now. So our session really taught and focused on how. What questions to ask. How to ask it. Right. Because I felt like it was. The questions are like Jeopardy. You know, how you would answer that

Speaker A: is a really good analogy and it's the first time I've heard it, so I'll have to remember that one. I may, I may steal that one, Delilah. But uh, to your point, how we have to structure content is different than what we were always taught.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Write a cool intro paragraph or two. Have a real catchy tagline. And what AI search is looking for is a question.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: A very specific answer to just that question. Not the hundred of other things that you could do. And then basically a call to action and they're done. So I always tell people, reverse engineer AI instead of guessing. If you're a loan officer and let's say you're doing physician loans in Atlanta, Georgia, then go into AI and say, what are people who are searching for a physician loan in Atlanta, Georgia in June of 2026, asking AI and searching and you'll get a big long list. And that's how we have to start answering one question at a time.

Speaker B: Yeah, you got to go back to your jeopardy, Your mindset. You know, what is a loan officer? You know, just ask the question first. But it's really good. Um, it's good information for those that are either dipping their toes for the first time using AI for certain things, whether it's to research, um, home homeownership during homeownership month because June is national homeownership month, or how to find a loan officer, how to find a re. Find a realtor, or even such as simple as how to become a homeowner. I mean people are really asking these questions and that's.

Speaker A: People forget that they have to. People all want to correct the questions. I want to polish it. I think it should be a little bit more in Depth. I want to show how smart I am. No, just ask If I make 90 grand a year in Charlotte, North Carolina, how much home can I buy? That's what they're asking and that's what we've got to answer. And if we don't answer it, we don't show up in search. We're invisible. But there was a lot more in the discussion, not just how we do it and the AEO and GEO and all of that stuff, but Alec also talked about the people who win will not only know that, but they'll be able to execute. So I kind of wanted to get your opinion on that. And then the second point he brought up was with all of the AI, we can't lose focus on having that human connection. So he did up for you because I know that is near and dear to your heart as well.

Speaker B: It is. It really is. Because at the end of the day, for the average American, the purchase of a home is, will be their largest purchase, their largest investment. And whether it be Gen Z or Alpha. Right. Um, to Baby Boomer or Gen X like ourselves, we still in that process want someone to help us. We want someone to pick up the phone, we want someone to walk us through, hold our hand. There is data out there when it comes to this. They still want to be able to talk to someone and have their questions answered. Or, or um, just be able to rely on someone during this biggest moment of their life.

Speaker A: And it may be at different stages of the process. And I, I was really glad. One of the, the themes that came up through that is whether it's AI or people, they're both looking for trust signals.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Who can I trust? And when you put yourself out there on video, when you humanize your brand, that is a trust signal that people can relate to. Now how we structure that may have to be a little different. So AI grabs it. But at the end of the day, what I'm most excited about, even though some people are frustrated and AI and I got to redo my content and I got to structure it this way, it's giving value to people that actually share insights that for people who share value and not just people who post

Speaker B: and it creates it, I talk about it often, the consistency part of it.

Speaker A: That's m. Right.

Speaker B: People can definitely add value and educate. The. The loan officer is great at it because it's what they do every single day. And Alex spoke on it. You have to be consistent. Right? That's how you develop trust and build trust is consistently showing up. Even if it's on social media. And also to, um, just be a subject matter expert and don't overthink it. You speak from the heart. It's not rocket science. It's something that we do every single day. It doesn't have to be, you know, edited. It doesn't have to be over process or overthought. Just talk about what you know and just stay consistent and say the course and trust and believe the consumer or your upper. Your target audience will begin to formulate trust with you.

Speaker A: Well, exactly. And one of the things we talked about is when you create that content, people think, oh my gosh, how am I going to create content for my website? And how am I going to do it for my Google business profile? And what am I going to do for YouTube and what am I going to. And I say stop overthinking it. To your point of. Once you have kind of that answer page, right. You know what the question is that you need to answer? What do I need to qualify for a physician loan in Atlanta, Georgia? Once you answer that, and it's short, it's probably four paragraphs at the most, then you can just go into and use your AI tools to say, now use this content and format it for my Google business profile. Once you have that, then all you have to do for your YouTube is read right off of that to obtain a physician loan in Atlanta, Georgia. And I just read right off of the script. There's three pieces of content right there and it's all one topic. It didn't take me, what, five, ten minutes longer to do that. And I think people come up with a lot of excuses.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Now let's talk about one of the negatives with AI um, because I think we all kind of jumped on this when we were talking is people now have gotten very lazy.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: They put something in the AI and they instantly cut and pasted. Talk to me about that in some of the discussion we had.

Speaker B: Yes, so we did touch on that. Because if you noticed when you ask chat something, right. It will give you this wonderful fancy schmancy answer. Right? Well, it's a couple of things. Um, first of all, check it to make sure because let's be honest, some of these AI engines, I don't know

Speaker A: where they get mistakes. They have hallucinations.

Speaker B: They do. They're not always 100% accurate. But also I use it as an outline. I do not copy and paste, by the way. Let me take that back. I might copy and paste it and then I will change some, some verbiage to make it sound like myself. To make it sound like me. I will. And I don't like the dashes that it puts. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Speaker A: Dashes. The green check marks. I know somebody copied it just from chat. They didn't even read it because they got all those green check marks. I'm like, oh, it's driving me crazy.

Speaker B: It is.

Speaker A: And what I do then is it hurts the trust signal because I blow right by it. I don't even waste my time reading it.

Speaker B: Same. And it doesn't sound like me, at least for me. I sound very distinctive. I know how I formulate my sentences and how I speak, whether on paper or, you know. And so make. Just use it as an outline. A, uh, tool to use as an outline. And then you can copy paste, but make it your own flavor.

Speaker A: That's the key. And you have to push back with AI and not accept the first answer, because if you just cut and paste the first answer, you sound like every other loan officer. You sound like every other account executive selling something into these companies, and it doesn't work.

Speaker B: And then you start. That was something we touched on, too. I don't know if you want to go. Well, it was. Then how, uh, do you. All the content starts looking the same.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: We talked about. I mean, I know when I open Facebook and ig, I see the same graphics.

Speaker A: Yeah. The term being used now is AI slope.

Speaker B: I didn't know. I heard it.

Speaker A: That's the first generic slop, you know? And I think the problem is people are like, well, it sounds a little better than what I was going to post. Stop.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Does it sound like you and does it sound like it's different or does it sound like every. Anything every other loan officer could say or every other sales rep could say? And if every other sales rep could use that exact same post. You missed the mark.

Speaker B: You do. And I manage social media pages for not only individual loan officers, companies, but I'm a big fan. I'm not saying don't use the graphic, but there has to be, like, a formula. You got to mix it up. It could be a graphic or something. An AI generated graphic. It could be a news article. It could be a video of yourself. It could be pictures of you at a closing. But there is a story style to it. You have to. You just can't keep posting graphics. AI generated graphics looks horrible.

Speaker A: I'm so glad you said that, because I think one of the things that people do is they then take it to an Extreme. I, uh, use AI for anything and I just cut and paste and I get really lazy or see those people are using it and I can tell. So I'm never going to use AI and the people who are win are going to do exactly what you did. I'm going to use AI strategically. I'm going to think, I'm going to personalize it. You know, one way I use AI is I'll record a podcast like this. Our genuine interest in thoughts and what we were talking. I'll grab the transcript And I'll let AI help me write the description for YouTube and come up with ideas for the LinkedIn post. It was still my original thought or your original thought or the guest's original thought, but it helped me do it faster and a little bit better. But I still have to think and use the tools that are there.

Speaker B: I, at the end of the day, I want to be human and I want to be approachable. And then the last thing I will say about when you're using AI generated graphics or pictures, I am starting to see them using it as their profile picture or on their business cards or LinkedIn profiles.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: And it doesn't look like,

Speaker A: and we talked about it, one of the worst things you can do is show up at a conference and people don't recognize you and they're like, man, you looked, you know, 20 years younger. You, you know, I mean, if my profile page had a whole head of hair and everything else, it's not believable. And you lose again that trust signal.

Speaker B: Oh, you do that one.

Speaker A: One of the other things that you do a great job of. And I want you to kind of share this a little because you instinctively just do this, okay? But you have a great job of, uh, do a great job of capturing the moment. It may be pictures, it may be a video, it may be a, uh, real. But you walk up, you'll, you'll, you'll take a picture of three guys eating a taco or something, you know, somebody else shooting a basket. Talk to me about how it's important to catch those real life moments and

Speaker B: not try to stage everything, because I like to be in the moment and I, I love taking pictures. Like I really do. I should probably buy myself a camera, like a real old school camera. Um, I do like taking pictures and I like candid, authentic moments. I like capturing, um, I don't know whether it's just some people in the hallway and, and their gestures or when they laugh and they laugh so hard that they like kind of put Their head back. I like catching people, like, in the moment when they're shaking hand or hugging. That's a good one. When. When they're hugging.

Speaker A: Okay. Or when they're talking on the phone.

Speaker B: Right. But I do it for a couple of things. It's always great content, like, in its raw form. No. Edit it. I don't color. Make it a different color. No. Right. But it humanizes you to, like, times 10. Right. And even if I don't look nice or attractive in the picture, but it really humanizes me, because what I don't want. And this is. I'm only speaking for myself. I want you to know that what I do is not always rainbows and sunshine.

Speaker A: That's right.

Speaker B: It is hard. I'm not gonna lie. Like, what I do is challenging at times. Even today, it's been a rough day. And I want you to see that, too. I don't want you to think that Delilah's out here, you know, just living the life and eating tacos. No. I work very hard, and I want you to see the moments when I am talking with the client and coaching them or telling them or whatever, or when I'm tired at the airport. Right. I want you to see myself with, well, no makeup, my hair in a hat.

Speaker A: I struggle with that all the time.

Speaker B: I know, but. Because I want you to know that, um, I want. I'm human. I'm human, and I'm. I love what I do, but it's not always sunshine and Skittles and rainbows.

Speaker A: One other thing I want to talk about, because there's a phrase that's used. I think it's overused in the industry, and with that.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Lose the meaning of it. Right. Um, and it's. Let's build relationships. And it's about. It's about the relationships, and I think sometimes it's overused, so people just kind of tune it out.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Talk to me about the importance of being at these live events. Not just to gain all the information on AI and how they're used, but I think some of the most powerful, uh, experiences. I was driving a bunch of you guys back from the Duffy Boats, and we laugh, and you start laughing right off the bat. We laughed and we joked and we needled one another. That fosters genuine relationships. I can laugh with all those people that were in the car, and if I had to, I could cry with every one of them, too.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Talk to me about genuine relationships and all of those moments that you. Even though we both believe in video and digital and I can never replicate that human connection.

Speaker B: And you and I have so many. And I know for me it's in those, like, moments, um, when you do connect with someone. And laughter is real powerful. Laughter, music, food, are like the three things that universally connect us. All right? So I always try to do something.

Speaker A: We had a little bit of all three of those.

Speaker B: But I do. Like, there are moments that I've had that are epic. Um, whether it's like you said when we were going on the Duffy Boats during the Incelerate conference and we were driving with Kathy, what was it? Lauren? Paul from Lender Price. Right. And. And we're laughing, we're talking about previous conferences and, or just the experience on the Duffy boat. Right. Um, how Paul was the, the captain and he was slow and we couldn't catch up. There was no camera. There was, we didn't really record. Um, it's those moments that really resonate. Stay with us. And it keeps us connected to the next conference. Because I know that when I see Paul, I'm gonna laugh. Or when I see you, we're gonna laugh. Like Eric over at ice, he.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: There are people in our, in my life and in this industry that I look at them, I look at and I instantly laugh and smile because there's something. Yes, right. Um, and it's. Honestly, it's not even business. It's. It's personal. It could be some. That I shared. Ah, you know, a cab. Right. With or that I prayed for.

Speaker A: Right. Or something about our faith or their kids or whatever it may be. So when we say relationships matter, I wanted to give some concrete examples because I think too many times people are like, oh, yeah, relationships, and they kind of blow that off. They're really important and they do matter and they make a huge difference. I mean, as soon as I brought that up, you had a smile on your face. And we're, we're laughing and I'm laughing too. And we, we won't share everything that was shared in that car. But my stomach hurt when I was done and my face had, you know, stretch marks from laughing so much.

Speaker B: It is, I mean, I can tell you some of the most priceless and funny moments have been just with folks in our industry because I'm always with them. Um, and it's also too. Let's. It's not something that could be taught. It's God given talent and you got to want it. Uh, it's, it's the one piece of, of our industry where I feel sometimes can't be taught that Authentic ability to connect and resonate. It's either you got it or you don't.

Speaker A: Well, and I think part of having you got it is you genuinely care about other people.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, you don't have to always be the most outgoing. You don't have to have a silver tongue. But if you genuinely care for other people, you can always find a way to connect.

Speaker B: Yeah. And it could be anything from, you know, grandkids, because now our, a lot of us are having grandkids. Right.

Speaker A: Right. Grandpa Paul.

Speaker B: Yeah. Grandpa Paw. It could be like, I don't know, so many. Like, Josh and I love swords and we like stuff like that. Right. So we talk about things like that. It could be other things other than business that really keeps us resonated and, and, and laugh and connected. And I encourage folks like sometimes my, my partners and my clients. It never came because I was hard selling. It came because of something else. It was, it was, it was never about business. I'm sorry, but with me, it's not about business. We talk about other things. We have fun, we have tacos. And then eventually the relationship in the business comes. But in the beginning, I never focus on work. I'm not really hard to sell. It's like, hey, you want to work with me? Great. And if you don't, like, I'm here for you.

Speaker A: Delilah, you and I could talk about this subject forever. We're already hitting the limits.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: You're going to be at, uh, which conference this week?

Speaker B: Um, I am heading out. I don't know if this is recorded afterwards, but Daytona Mortgage Bankers Association, Florida, um, Secondary Eastern Conference. That's a Daytona Beach. And then after that. Oh, I have my Father's Day event here in Orlando honoring the dads. So we're doing tacos and cigars. And that's June 17th.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. I'll be at this Sunday. I'll be at the Ohio Mortgage bankers talking about AI visibility, LinkedIn. You know how that goes. Delilah, it was great seeing you. I can't wait to see you again, my friend. We will be out on the circuit. For those of you that are planning and getting ready for mba, hit us up. We've got a lot of cool programs and things that you could take advantage of. But Delilah, thank you, my friend, for being a guest on this episode fintech Hunting Podcast.

Speaker B: Bye.