What words come to mind when you think about mortgage technology? I would hazard a guess that “compliance,” “necessary evil” and “boring” might top the list. Rarely is mortgage technology associated with words like “fun,” “flashy,” “innovative” or “fast,” but these are exactly the associations I would challenge all of us to cultivate as we work together to grow the reverse mortgage industry.

Baby boomers, born from 1946 to 1964 and now between 51 and 69 years of age, have begun retiring in earnest. Millions who don’t yet qualify for a HECM will become eligible over the next 11 years. To forge relationships with these borrowers of tomorrow, we need to start speaking their language today.

That means not just understanding how HECMs fit into holistic financial planning, but sharing that knowledge through a hands-on experience complete with graphs, calculations and simulations. It means making the latest technologies our standard sales practices. Perhaps most of all, it means recognizing what motivates each borrower to consider a reverse mortgage.

With HUD’s Financial Assessment in place, loans for the needs-based borrower are now a small portion of originations rather than the norm. As a result, it is in our industry’s best interest to focus on reverse-mortgage candidates who are somewhat funded or even well-funded for retirement. These potential borrowers have been here all along—it’s just that our industry did not focus on their needs. And they are the vast majority of the market potential. So how can we use technology to best serve these most sought-after of borrowers?

Show boomers the money…

Use tools, charts and graphs to show borrowers how they could actually improve their portfolio performance, retirement budget or estate value using a reverse mortgage. Whether you’re modeling scenarios for a savvy and well-funded senior or overcoming an anxious borrower’s objections, using graphs to clearly demonstrate the value of a HECM will improve your credibility and help lead to a closed deal.

…and encourage them to play with it.

Give financial planners—or even borrowers themselves—access to tools that let them interact with their money. Software that models how best to leverage a HECM does double duty by educating your borrower while doing the selling for you.

Say “please” and “thank you.”

Good manners matter to the boomer generation. Handwritten notes, personalized greetings and a proper attention to detail demonstrate that you are grateful for your client’s business, not entitled to it.

Once you’ve built that relationship, don’t lose sight of it. Managing a referral network becomes complex as your business grows. A robust contact management solution is critical for forging relationships with borrowers as well as important decision makers, like CPAs, Realtors and financial planners, to name a few. Use technology to help you mind your manners.

Don’t dillydally.

Boomers have a lot in common with their millennial counterparts when it comes to waiting: They don’t like it. Don’t leave the deal languishing after you’ve cleared the major hurdles of educating a borrower and getting an affirmative decision. Get it done fast using the latest technologies, such as eSign. Despite their reputation as technophobes, baby boomers are not the strangers to technology they’re made out to be. Studies show they make purchases online and are quick to adopt processes that allow them to complete tasks quicker.

Embrace social media.

Recent polls show that as many as 90 percent of baby boomers use one or more social media sites, with Facebook being the most common by far. While social media offers a powerful avenue for connecting with prospects and clients, many lenders have legitimate concerns about their ability to monitor loan officers’ activity on social media for compliance violations. Thank goodness there are technology companies that specialize in monitoring social media to help lenders protect themselves. Do your homework and select a monitoring service that keeps you compliant.

Regulatory changes over the last few years have left the reverse mortgage industry poised for real growth. Coverage in industry media and popular press are swinging our way. By necessity we’ve been refocused on the broad center of the opportunity rather than the edge cases. Now is the time to take a hard look at mortgage technology and rethink how you are using it. You may be overlooking an opportunity to change the way you sell and build a more robust referral network. In the end, improving these two important factors could help you close more loans.