Reverse Mortgage Success

ARE YOU WEARING HEADPHONES?

Wow- the noise in our industry is getting louder. We typically like to write articles that give you marketing strategies and ideas you can use immediately to generate new business.
BUT THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING!!!!

Aside from the barrage of information coming at us from our own industry publications about the upcoming compensation changes, we are now seeing it in the local newspapers and other media. In fact that’s all everyone seems to be talking about. That’s what we addressed in last weeks article.  But the noise is louder now! If you are a manager or owner give your group a copy.

BUT IT’S MORE THAN JUST TALK ABOUT COMPENSATION!

This morning when I woke up – I believe I was still in America. Where free enterprise and capitalism is still king although based on what I am seeing, it doesn’t really feel that way anymore. Does it?

No doubt there were bad practices and bad people just like every other industry. Don’t even get Sue started on this one!!

THIS ARTICLE IS NOT ABOUT THAT THOUGH!!!! IT IS ABOUT YOU.

Over the last 60 days some of the MAJOR PLAYERS in the Reverse Mortgage market have exited. Couple that with the barrage of information (or speculation) about the other big changes and no wonder everyone is in the dumps mentally.

So let’s go back in a time machine for a minute. This is now my 4^th decade in this industry. I started back in 1985 (Sue started in 1981) just so you can see the math here. During that time there have been MAJOR changes. Some positive, Some Negative. But always change. Remember, “way back when” brokers only controlled a small fraction of the business, maybe less than 15% and most loans were done by Banks and mortgage bankers.

NOW WE HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE.

We also saw the collapse of our country’s banks and the creation and then dissolution of the Resolution Trust Corporation. They were the Government created entity charged with closing down the bad banks that made risky loans, and disposing of their assets. Sounds like Déjà vu doesn’t it?

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN TO YOU AND WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?

The one certain thing about our business is that it’s always changing. Always has and always will. You have survived tough times. You have survived the near extinction of certain business models and programs.

We have shrunk by 2/3 from some of the numbers I have seen. This is actually good since the strong are surviving and there is much less competition.

I WANT YOU TO GO TO BEST BUY OR RADIO SHACK RIGHT NOW!

These changes are coming whether we like them or not. You could and should get involved with NAMB AND MBAA and make your voices heard. But you also need to go out and get yourself a great set of sound proof headphones! 

I think BOSE makes those noiseless ones that are great for planes. See if you listen to all of this “NOISE” you won’t be out producing new business. YES THERE IS NEW BUSINESS OUT THERE!!!!!

You become down in the dumps. You become depressed. You stop originating. You become mentally paralyzed.

BUT THE BOTTOM LINE YOU ARE NOT BRINGING IN NEW BUSINESS! That means you will NOT have income 90-120 days from now. You will NOT have changed what is going to happen anyway and you will not have any business.

BOTTOM LINE: PRINT THIS OUT AND KEEP IT NEXT TO YOU:
1. Make your voice heard through professional organizations where you are a member. Get involved.

2. Get those headphones and tune out all the noise right now. Heck we have now heard 5-6 different versions of what “might” happen.

3. GO out and start originating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. This may sound harsh—it’s meant to be— Make the decision to be an originator or if it’s really getting to you and you believe you will never recover start finding your next career. You don’t want to be here 3-6 months from now still worried and upset and with no money coming in!

Take a look a this article Brian just wrote and see if it makes you think:

ARE YOU MENTALLY PARALYZED?

Our industry is going thru some major changes. Just when you thought you had seen it all we are now faced with some additional changes related to Loan Officer Compensation. To me it feels as if we have been kicked, beaten up and are now being spit on while we are lying on the ground.

But this article is NOT about all of that. See we are still here trying to earn a living. We are honest and hard working originators who simply want to do the best for our clients and be compensated for our expertise. Right?

I recently spoke with some originators and if I hadn’t known better I would have thought I was at a funeral. They were so depressed. One was simply unable to function.

DON’T MAKE THAT SAME MISTAKE!

You must never allow yourself to become so upset that you become Mentally Paralyzed. Think about this for a second. What you do right now will determine your income 3-6 months from now. Do nothing and you will earn ZERO 3-6 months from now.

Here’s what I suggest:

1. FOCUS- Keep originating. Keep cultivating new business. Nothing you do will change what is going to happen in our industry.
2. MAKE A DECISION. This may sound harsh but you must make a firm decision to stay or not. But once you have made that decision stick to it and act on it!
3. Kick Up Your Marketing Efforts- There will be some casualties. There is no getting away from it. This may truly be a case of the survival of the fittest. But what that also means is that many will stop marketing so you now have a rare chance to gain in your market share…. And keep it! 

       4.     Stay Positive-Sure I realize that is easier to say than do. Read Think and Grow Rich, read Psycho-Cybernetics and any other book or program that will keep you focused on your goals. 

       5.      Stay Away- from bad news and bad news people. You DON”T have to listen to others around you whining and complaining! 

 Now get back to the task at hand and start originating! 

I was working on our e-newsletter this evening (we do a hard copy newsletter to our prospects and clients and an “e-version” for the professionals and referral sources) and did a short article on the new HECM Saver and thought it would be an appropriate topic for today’s Tuesday Tip.

 With the arrival of the HECM Saver last fall, many of us looked around and wondered where this new program would fit in. How would the consumer view it? Sure it greatly reduced the UFMIP, but along with it came reduced proceeds. Who will really consider this program as an option? I did some research and here is what I found: Financial Planners really do like the HECM Saver. Of those I spoke with, all felt more comfortable suggesting this option to their senior clients. Brian and I will be sure to include some tips and strategies for approaching financial planners in future articles. Another group I think will be attracted to this option is those seniors who don’t view their current home as the “forever home”. Maybe they are only planning to be there for 5 or 6 years. Or they only have a small mortgage to pay off and do not need or want access to the larger proceeds offered by the HECM Standard.

More options for our senior borrowers allow them to tailor the reverse mortgage to fit their needs and goals. How will you or are you marketing the HECM Saver? Have you written any loans where the borrower opted for the Saver? Share your ideas and suggestions. If you have hesitated to market this product, share those thoughts too.

We received a call from a borrower who heard us on the radio show a couple of weeks ago. In our usual fashion, we put this gentleman into the “funnel”. He received our free special report and a few days later, a call from our assistant, Jennifer. She reminded him of our upcoming seminar series and that he would be receiving our monthly newsletter in the next couple of weeks.  

He indicated that he wanted more information so we prepared a scenario which I shared with him. He then said he’d like to mull over the numbers for a few days and I promised a follow up call by the end of the week. I knew (gut instinct) that this client was speaking with reverse mortgage consultants other than myself. He was quite informed on the process and had already located reverse mortgage counseling agencies via the internet.

As promised, Jennifer called him at the end of the week (our CRM is a big part of this process) and this gentleman said he had received his counseling, was awaiting his certificate in the mail, and was ready to proceed with application.

When I arrived at his home for the application he said, “Do you want to know why I picked you to handle this reverse mortgage for me?” Of course I did! He explained that we were the only ones who returned his calls! And that I was the only representative that even offered to come to his home for the application. Every other company he spoke with took over a week to return a phone call (seriously?) and wanted to send the application in the mail. Not the level of service he was looking for. He expressed the thought that the other companies were obviously wasting a lot of money on their advertising if they could not even return a call. I couldn’t agree more.

Yes, we have a system. And it’s a system that works. What blew me away was that simply by providing basic customer follow up we got the deal! He made an accurate statement when he said the other companies were wasting a lot of advertising dollars. Make sure you have a system for follow up when leads come in, or don’t bother to market. It’s that simple. Whether you are doing seminars, direct mail, networking, etc, follow up is crucial.

Post a comment to this article and let me know what you are doing to keep in touch with those clients who have raised their hands. And if your system needs tweaking, let us know that too.

ACCOUNTANT LETTER STRATEGY

 This piece is something of a departure for me and your Tuesday Tip…Sue’s Clues. But it’s so exciting and actually pretty fun so I wanted to share it with you.

We are always looking for another way to reach out to our loyal Reverse Mortgage Success Members so we have started posting some UNIQUE NEW CONTENT on our Facebook page.

Check us out: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Reverse-Mortgage-Success/187992877893453

Brian has gone “DEEP” on a very important topic

Look under the discussions tab you will find
THE ONE SENTENCE THAT WILL GENERATE MORE CLIENTS
Part 1 of 6

Go check it out—“LIKE US” (sounds kinda weird but we do hope you like it)
and leave your thoughts!  You are part of our “family” and we look forward to your feedback.

We’ll be talking more about this in the coming weeks.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Reverse-Mortgage-Success/187992877893453