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With the year’s end quickly approaching we have compiled a few short clips of the top industry-changing stories presented in the Industry Leader Update in 2015. Enjoy and have a safe and happy holiday season!
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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Thank you to each of you for joining us throughout 2015. Here’s to all the best in the coming year!
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If you ever consider who some of the greatest communicators of our time were they have one trait in common; they were great story tellers. Too often reverse mortgage professionals fall into the trap of selling first or over-educating and over-complicating the product to the homeowner. Welcome to the Industry Leader Update I’m Shannon Hicks.
With the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage becoming increasingly complex education has become essential to both inform the consumer and close loans. A recent panel of industry sales leaders at the NRMLA conference in San Francisco last month highlighted the distinction between educating and selling. “There is education to the sale, but along with it comes a close,” said Kevin Blakeney, senior vice present of national field sales for AAG. “Going into the consumer’s home and giving them as much information as possible, but not showing them how this product is going to relate to that person and help them over the finish line to take advantage of the product and sell them- that’s where fundamentally I think we’re missing the boat here”…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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The holidays being at the end of the calendar year give each of us the unique and limited opportunity for both retrospective insight and strategic planning. The question is will you take time this month to lay the foundation for the coming year? Welcome to Friday’s Food for Thought brought to you by Reverse Focus.
Unfortunately none of us have a Delorean time machine that allows us to go back in time to fix the world’s woes and ensure our future success. What we do have though is the opportunity to reflect on the past year and apply the lessons learned to the coming year.
Here are just a few ideas to help you plan for success in 2016.
1. Review your calendar. If you kept a good record of your time go back and review just where you spent your time in 2015. Look for meetings that yielded business referrals, conferences attended, marketing efforts and more. Write down what activities you wish to continue, enhance or discard in 2016. You may be surprised just how you actually spent your time.
2. Track your 2015 sales. Go back and look at your sales metrics by month. For example, the number of…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
The songs tell us this is “the most wonderful time of the year”. Holiday shopping, relatives visiting from afar, friends dropping by to exchange presents and share the latest news over eggnog or mulled wine…
Perhaps.
The reality is, many people don’t enjoy the holidays. For seniors with health challenges — and for the caregiver, often a family member, who lives with Mom or Dad or Grandma or Auntie, rather than dropping by in late December to spread holiday cheer — the holidays can be extra challenging.
Help is at hand, and not just during the holiday season. The key is to know what resources are available — and for caregivers to reach out and request assistance.
The following information can help your reverse mortgage clients, prospects, family members and other seniors or caregivers in your sphere to feel more supported, especially during the holiday season:
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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While the phrase ‘old school’ has been popularized in recent years by hipsters it has been with us for quite some time. Webster recorded its first use in 1803. The meaning is rooted in one returning to core principles, conservative or established beliefs and principles. A recent article reveals that many smaller reverse mortgage broker shops and lenders are returning to old school marketing methodologies..
Our industry has come a long way since its early days of marketing with television ads and call centers becoming the new defacto standard. However for smaller originating entities with smaller budgets traditional marketing not only is appealing but effective. In the early 2000’s direct mail was the rage but as with any overused medium it’s efficacy quickly diminished. This is a prime example that marketing if often cyclical as direct mail effectiveness has increased in recent years…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
5 Tips for a Productive Holiday: Friday’s Food for Thought from Reverse Focus on Vimeo.
The holidays are upon us. Christmas parties, company get-togethers and other events fill our calendar. Pastries, rich foods, and irregular schedules are all part of the American ritual of celebrating the holiday season. As a result, our productivity can slow to the pace of thick eggnog being poured into our favorite reindeer glass.
Let me say I am all for enjoying the holiday season. What should be avoided however is squandering this once-a-year opportunity for greater professional growth. Here are a few tips for each of us to put into practice in the coming month.
1. Don’t buy the lie. As salespeople, we often convince ourselves that our prospects don’t want to hear from us during the holiday. Sure, that’s the case on Christmas eve, Christmas day, or New Years’ but not necessarily the case for the entire season. For many of your potential customers, the holidays are a stark reminder that their financial situation is not all they wish it was. During this time at least engage your prospects, send out a quote or schedule a time to meet during or shortly after the holiday season. Don’t let your sales pipeline collapse unnecessarily.
2. Put a bow on organization. Springtime is often when we clean out the garage and organize our homes. The winter holiday season is your opportunity to ‘wrap up’ your…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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Numbers, statistics and figures are the backbone of federal agencies who must account for their fiscal status each year. In the wake of the housing crash housing agencies such as FHA have come under increasing pressure and scrutiny. The recent report shows that FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) fund increased $19 billion dollars in it’s overall economic value with $8 billion being attributed to improvement in the HECM portion of the fund. The Urban Institute is pushing for the HECM fund to be separated from the general fund.
First some context. The Urban institute was founded in 1968 to understand the problems facing America ranging from poverty, tax policies and other public issues providing objective analysis. Urban suggests that the commingling of the HECM fund with the general fund is providing a distorted and misleading picture of FHA’s financial status. Further they assert the most recent ‘windfall’ may not be all that it is cracked up to be. As we stated two weeks ago on this show the fund’s improvement was not attributed dollar for dollar to increased premium collections but primarily from an improved economic forecast.
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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The nature of life is repetition, patterns and routine; all which can easily lead us to personal or professional ruts. What are the symptoms? Feeling stuck, helpless and constantly frustrated. The question is how do we get out?
Here are a few ways to escape your own personal rut:
1. Accept the reality. Embrace the fact that you are in fact stuck. Helplessness leads us to often say “what might have done?” Rather than fixating on regret we can ask a more important question, “when x happens again I will do Y”. This leads us to acceptance of what has happened and resolve to act differently in the future.
2. Look for negative comfort zones. It may sound strange but for some the ‘norm‘ is unhealthy…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
Download your November 2015 Top 100 Retail HECM Lenders Report Here.
This report was compiled from data courtesy of Reverse Market Insight.
