The bank's retail channel controlled 13.3 percent of the market for loans to buy a house in the first quarter, according to data compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. The rally didn't focus on other types of originations, including refinancings completed by Wells Fargo salespeople, or correspondent and wholesale channels, where the bank buys loans from other lenders, Gwizdz said.

"We are almost backing into this," Gwizdz said. "If we had some crazy high market share number, in order to get that number a lot of people came here to get their mortgage and they came here to get their mortgage because we're doing something right."

Skits, Discussions

The event gathered salespeople for a day of motivational speeches, skits and discussions about ways to gain a greater slice of the market, the people said.

Senior mortgage executives attended the rally. Drew Collins, billed on the invitation as a "special guest," is a division sales manager and senior vice president based in the Sacramento area, according to Vickee Adams, a spokeswoman. Arlene Allert, a retail regional sales manager and vice president based in the Bay Area, also attended, according to the people. Continental breakfast was served and the coffee ran dry, one person said.

Adams declined to make Collins and Allert available for interviews.

Salespeople elsewhere are receiving a similar message. In New York, loan officers are encouraged to reach for 40 percent or more, according to a person familiar with the strategy. In Atlanta, they're induced with prize drawings to file more applications and meet more real-estate agents, according to another person, who described the efforts as aggressive.

Customers' Needs

Stumpf has repeatedly said he doesn't care about Wells Fargo's market share, and is more concerned with serving the needs of customers. When pressed by analysts to comment on the lender's growing investment bank, and its high growth rate and steady progress up the league tables, Stumpf said in January he couldn't "care less." He reiterated that view May 31, when asked by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst John E. McDonald about the company's growing command of the mortgage market.

"I don't care if we're 20 percent of the market or 10 percent or 30 percent," Stumpf said.

The bank didn't set out to become No. 1, Wells Fargo's Chief Financial Officer Timothy Sloan said today at an investor conference sponsored by Morgan Stanley.

Refinancings have bolstered market share, he said. These will account for about 68 percent of the market, or $870 billion this year, according to projections from the Mortgage Bankers Association.