Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.

“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.”
John M. Richardson,Jr

Right now in the mortgage industry there are three kinds of people, those who are stuck in the past, those who are waiting for a return to the past and those who learned from the past.  This latter group is the one who will shape the future of the mortgage industry.  These people tend to have a strong understanding of the cyclical nature of the mortgage industry and they know it’s only a matter of time until the market stabilizes and there’s a return to normalcy. 

What we are experiencing today is an overreaction by the marketplace which seems to be fueled by uncertainty.  Mortgage securities investors are wondering if this is the bottom or if this is the tip of the iceberg and reality is probably somewhere between the two extremes. One thing is certain, this environment will change probably sooner than later and when it does there will be an explosion in the amount of liquidity available for lending AND massive pent up demand from borrowers who have been marginalized as a result of tightened lender guidelines.

This is the perfect time to evaluate your strategy and get ready for the next wave of purchase and refinance opportunities.  Now is the time to make adjustments.  As I travel the country speaking with CEOs, marketing managers and other top level professionals they typically express the same regrets.  Consider this top 10 list of the most frequent regrets:

1. We should have done a much better job of keeping in touch with our customers on a regular basis.
2. We should have centralized our marketing efforts; I know we left too much control in the hands of the loan officers.
3. We should have invested more in branding our company, Again we left branding for the most part up to the loan officers.
4. We should have invested in more technology and training, particularly in the areas of basic underwriting and mortgage banking principles.  Our loan officers were not prepared for the shift and as a result they have either left the business or gone to our competitors.
5. We should have developed an in-house recruiting and training program that could provide us with fresh young stars ready and willing to change with the market.
6. We should have put a system in place to assist and follow up with borrowers who were not qualified at the time of the application.
7. We wasted a lot of money on non revenue producing feel good items.
8. We should have focused and invested in a strategy to capture more business from online customers.
9. We should have asked every customer for a valid e-mail address regardless of the outcome of the application.
10. We should have spent more time developing systems that would enable us to measure and manage our sales staff, and offer real time support to assist them in improving their results.

The good news is that each one of these regrets offers valuable insight into how to proceed from here.  The greatest challenge everyone in the industry faces right now is an overwhelming sense of fatalism.  In other words giving in to the desire to feel like a victim.  Even if that’s true, you cannot allow this to affect your decision making.  Now is not the time to lose focus or to lick your wounds.

Anyone can give up; it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

What this industry needs right now is HEROES.  People who are willing to shape the future of the mortgage business.  People who are willing to stand up and say, yea, it’s not perfect right now, but it’s also not over.  We need to dig deep and develop strategies that minimize our exposure to volatility in the market.  Notice I didn’t say eliminate, I said minimize.  There are many young and young thinking mortgage companies who are discovering ways to grow their business in spite of the adversity.  These are people who are psyched because they see this as their chance to gain market share with realtors and other key referral partners.  They wake up every day inspired by the opportunity that has been created.  They love it when they talk to people who say you can’t make money in the mortgage business any more.

These are people who never made $500k a year working from home and they understand how hard it is to earn $100,000 a year outside of the mortgage industry.  The key is they are optimistic.  Not fatalistic.  They don’t read the implode-o-meter everyday because ultimately the only company they are concerned about is their own and everyday they are not on the list is a great day.

Their optimism drives their activities and they work with a sense of purpose.  Customers love their enthusiasm and realtors feed off their energy.  They believe that life is a long time and as long as they work hard every day in the end they will be rewarded.  I love hanging around these people.  I love hearing their stories and their plan for tomorrow’s successes, not yesterday’s easy victories.  These are the people who never stop thinking about tomorrow, they know it will soon be here, better than before.

Even in the most dire circumstances you have to ask yourself one question: “Now what.” Being realistic about the challenges that exist is one thing, allowing the negativity to completely control your thoughts and actions is something totally different. 

If you are thinking about the future of the mortgage industry and how you will maximize profits and crush your competition, then we invite you to a special event that you won’t want to miss.  For the first time ever Astonish Results will share with the public how the top mortgage companies have successfully adjusted their strategy to deal with the recent shift in the marketplace.  This event is free and the information is priceless.  We look forward to seeing you in Providence on September 20.

Contact Astonish today to reserve a VIP seat and schedule a personal demonstration of the future of the mortgage industry.