They love a good story!


We all love a good story. Here’s how you can use storytelling with your potential borrowers. 

Succeeding in Tough Times: An Interview with Tom O’Donoghue



Tom O’Donoghue shares how he’s consistently closing several loans each month

Our industry is rich with experienced and ethical professionals. Tom O’Donoghue of Reverse Loans Now is just such a person. In Part 1 of our exclusive interview Tom shares exactly how he’s built relationships with area professionals, maintains those relationships, and what every originator should do when the borrower has a CPA.

The Holiday Slump

6 ways to avoid a costly holiday sales slump

The big slump. That’s often what the holidays are for sales professionals. That may even include even reverse mortgage originators (gasp).

Years ago when working in financial services fellow agents would often disappear in December. This was before the age of social media so no ‘proof of life’ photos were available online to soothe my fears that perhaps they had been placed into witness protection or worse.

The truth is too often many believe that no one will be available or wants to hear from them during the holiday. Okay, certainly you could say that on Christmas eve or Christmas day. Beyond that, the need and interest in the reverse mortgage may be heightened as expenses mount, and bank balances dwindle. Perhaps the cash stuck in the bricks and mortar in their home just became that much more important.

A slump in sales in December would certainly be felt in February. With that in mind here are some practical strategies to have optimal engagement with potential borrowers:

  1. Send a holiday greetings email to those who’ve closed a loan, those who didn’t and especially to those who are sitting on the fence. Don’t ask for a sale- just include a short and heartfelt message.
  2. Mail a Christmas card to your top referring professionals. Attorneys, CPAs, and realtors still maintain the tradition of sending holiday cards and are accustomed to receiving them as well. Address your envelopes in your own hand. (See #6)
  3. Host an open house event. It may be too late to squeeze a date before Christmas, but you can certainly host a new year’s themed event. Remember the purpose of your open house is not to make sales but to express your gratitude and stay top of mind.
  4. Email gift ideas for several age groups. While few will admit it, often we find ourselves stumped to find the perfect gift for that special someone.
  5. Schedule appointments for the new year. If all else fails, schedule a meeting in January after the holiday frenzy has settled. Be sure to make a note in your CRM or calendar to remind them 5 days before your meeting.
  6. (BONUS): Send a New Years’ card. For the new year? Indeed. You will stand head and shoulders above the glut of Christmas cards sent.

These are just a few ways to beat the holiday sales slump. What strategies would you add to this list? Leave your ideas in the comment section below.

How to Overcome Confirmation Bias


The first step is knowing you have confirmation bias too

Are you Selling or Serving?


Why the authentic approach works

I owe much to a friend who gave me Lou Cassara’s book ‘From Selling to Serving”. At that time I was a greenhorn in the insurance and financial services industry. Regardless, I attended countless sales seminars to improve my skills. I even read Tommy Hopkins “How to Master the Art of Selling” which was a tremendous help in closing more deals and substantially increasing my income. Yet there were times I began to question some of what I had been taught? Was I becoming your typical salesman?

HECM improvements will pay dividends

The focus on foreclosure prevention and servicing will pay dividends for both consumers and industry participants alike


It’s a fact every salesperson and reverse mortgage professional must embrace- the vast majority of consumers inherently distrust salespeople. Will recent HECM changes help bolster the product’s legitimacy in the public eye? How will you approach the nuances of future policies and present them to homeowners?

The irony is that every major purchase from buying a home, a car or investing in your retirement entails working with a sales professional. The same applies to reverse mortgage professionals who approach a distrustful public. Further compounding this general skepticism are products whose unique features are highly advantageous leading many to say ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’. The good news is that recent changes to the federally-insured reverse mortgage may have helped us close the credibility gap.

It can be argued that recent changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage may help improve the loan’s reception and close the credibility gap. The Financial Assessment raised the bar of entry excluding homeowners with a questionable credit history and late tax and insurance payments. Now Congress is looking to HECM loan servicers to modify their communication with borrowers before property taxes are due, and how delinquencies are handled. These reforms will help reduce foreclosures actions which are key to keeping and building public trust.

One witness representing the Government Accountability Ofice outlined the need for additional data collection from FHA, especially for foreclosure actions. This data could provide additional insight into how to further prevent foreclosures.

The good news is we have no major cutbacks in principal limit factors or changes in FHA insurance premium pricing. In addition, the outstanding HECM changes discussed in recent months are not guaranteed to be implemented. With that in mind, our best course of action is to continue reaching out to those who would benefit from a HECM being embued with the confidence that comes with Congress openly supporting the need for the program and acknowledging the impact of previous reforms.

The Highest Good

HECM sales present opportunities to respond with virtue

“Summum Bonum”

“Summum Bonum”. The highest good was a phrase Rome’s famed orator Cicero was inclined to recite before his audiences. The greatest good or the sum of all that benefits your fellow man/woman. It’s a phase every HECM (reverse mortgage) professional should keep in mind when approaching every potential borrower.

The highest good is also embodied as the Stoic definition of virtue. The stoic tradition held that virtue is composed of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice.

Applying these principles lets see how each could fit into our interactions as a reverse mortgage professional.

Wisdom

  • Am I overwhelming the homeowner with information?
  • Are they looking for a quick fix?
  • What is their communication style and am I using it?

Courage

  • Am I willing to be direct about their current financial situation?
  • Am I willing to make less money do to the right thing?
  • Am I willing to discuss any property issues?

Temperance

  • Are ethics at the forefront of how we interact in this loan transaction?
  • Am I showing sensitivity to their needs, hopes, and previous disappointments?
  • Am I willing to slow down my pace in the interest of them holding firm to the information being presented?

Justice

  • If they were my grandparents how would I proceed?
  • Did someone else try to deceive or rip them off?
  • Do my words and actions reflect the value of honesty?

Stop debating and do this one thing


Do this instead of debating

It seems that everyone wants to argue but debating is usually counterproductive. Here’s a better way… 

Why he didn’t let his mom get blinds…

It all began with window coverings

The story is etched in my memory. My friend Eric recounted last year how his mother had told him about her plans to get new window-coverings throughout the house and why he told her to cancel her next appointment. We’ll get to that in just a moment.

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My friend is like most adult children I know. They don’t want to intrude into mom and dad’s privacy, but they’re also protective. One way adult children try to ensure their parents are not taken advantage of when purchasing a good or services is to check on the chosen individual or company. And how do most of us research a company before we do business with them? Online.

Eric asked his mom for the name of the company and she handed him the business card the young man had left behind. No website was listed, so he searched for them online and found nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. Rather than risk his mom doing business with a complete unknown who isn’t online, he asked her to cancel and go with his personal recommendation. That window/blind salesperson lost out on a $5,000 sale, all for the mistake of not having an online presence.

All which leads us to the question. What will happen when the adult children look you up online? Will you be found? Do the search results build confidence or undermine it? Even better, would mom or dad have found you first online searching for ‘reverse mortgages’ in their city? If you’re going to win that game you have to show up on the first page of the search engine results. Studies show that 94% of web users click on the links on the first page of their search results, with only 6% clicking on a listing on the second page.

If you cannot be found online, your competitor will be. How many additional loans could you have closed this year had your website (if you have one) showed up on Google’s first page results?

If you’re serious about learning how online dominance and a sensible online strategy could work for you, register for our upcoming webinars.