What’s the biggest room in the world? It’s the room for improvement. This is true for all of us (especially for me). With this in mind, here are the 26 keys to becoming or remaining a top-flight HECM originator according to the letters of the alphabet. I should probably start with Z and end with A so that it’s in reverse order, but my editorial committee (led by my wife and three pugs) decided to start with A for attitude and end with Z for zeal.
Attitude: We originators need to have a blood type called B Positive. Our customers go through a lot of ups and downs in life, and we often ride part of that journey with them. We have to embrace Charles Swindoll’s famous quote, “Life is 10 percent what happens and 90 percent how we react to it.” A bad attitude is like a flat tire—you can’t go anywhere until you change it. Nothing is easy, but being in the reverse mortgage industry still delivers a great sense of purpose that inspires me, even on days that don’t go particularly well.
Bendability: Bendability is the ability to roll with the punches, to adapt, to be flexible in your approach. It’s important to listen to what the customer wants and to evaluate what they need, and to create a customized solution that fits their needs. As originators, we need to be flexible like Gumby.
Commitment: To be an originator in this industry, you have to be committed, not just involved. You have to be all in. There are so many things to learn, so many challenges and crazy things that pop up in your files, that you have to give 100 percent of your attention. It’s impossible to dabble with originating reverses because it requires originators to be relentless and committed to learning something new each day so that the next HECM client can benefit.
Discipline: It takes discipline to be a top-flight originator. You have to continually read articles and blogs, attend “lunch and learn” webinars, read industry publications, and brush up on the changes and updates concerning the HECM program (i.e., mortgagee letters, bulletins, NRMLA updates). Discipline is the bridge between goals and achievement.
Execution: Without strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless. As an originator, I realize I can always improve in my execution—the actual “doing” of things. Like many of us, I often know what to do, where to do it, how to do it and why to do it. I just don’t do it all of the time. Execution is doing it.
Fear: Some originators fear rejection and are sometimes reluctant to follow up and follow through. What motivates me is the fear my clients have (i.e., outliving their money), which is much more frightening than making a few extra calls to disagreeable prospects. As Wayne Gretzky used to say, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Make that extra follow-up call and don’t worry about rejection. Focus on how you are going to transform the senior client’s life with a reverse mortgage.
Goals: An originator without a goal is like an explorer without a compass. Set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic and Timely. The late Yogi Berra could have trained many reverse mortgage originators with this famous Yogi-ism: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up there.”
Health: It’s important to stay sharp, eat right and exercise. The best originators I’ve worked with always have a balance of mind, body and soul. In order to deliver improved financial health to our clients (i.e., a better life, a healthier retirement plan), we need to be healthy ourselves. If you feel healthy, you can work more effectively, which means you see more people and are able to help them improve their lives.
Imagination: Walt Disney once said, “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing: that it was all started by a mouse.” Similarly, reverse mortgages all started with one purpose: to help older Americans convert part of the equity in their homes into a monthly stream of income or a line of credit so they would not outlive their money. Originators have to collaborate with their customers and use their collective imaginations to solve the most important puzzle for most homeowners: how to use the reverse mortgage as a financial tool that helps them remain in their homes forever.
Joy: A reverse originator has an exciting and invigorating challenge each day: How do I bring joy to another client today? Senior homeowners are looking for ways to live in their homes forever and sustain a comfortable life during their retirement years. When we offer HECMs to clients, we are offering them a sense of freedom, safety, liberty, control, comfort, independence and confidence. But ultimately, we are offering joy to our customers. We need to choose joy ourselves so that we can spread the joy to our senior client.
Knowledge: Knowledge is not power; applied knowledge is power. HECM originators need to apply what they know. Use it or lose it. But the key is to impart this knowledge to our clients in a loving, caring way. My mom used to say, “People don’t care how much you know. But they know how much you care.” When helping our senior clients, you cannot fake it until you make it. That’s why I love originating HECMs; I see so many nice clients and I am part of an industry with awesome originators who love and adore their clients.
Learning: Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden could have taught a reverse mortgage training class in one quote: “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” We have to keep improving, learning and getting better each day so that we can help our senior clients reap the benefits of a reverse mortgage. Learning how to help educate senior homeowners on ways they can avoid outliving their money—that’s why we are all doing what we do.
Mistakes: Frank Sinatra used to sing, “Regrets, I’ve had a few… But I did it my way.” With reverse mortgage originators (including me), I would tweak this lyric: “Mistakes, I’ve had a few, but I did it my way.” Everybody makes mistakes. Maybe you calculated something wrong, said something incorrectly or delivered the wrong document by accident. The key is to learn from your mistake and never repeat it. Mistakes make us better. Learn from other people’s mistakes, learn from your own. As my best friend from Texas once said, “Mess up, ‘fess up, fix up.”
Now: As an originator, I’d be a millionaire if they would have paid me a dollar for each time I had a great idea and took no immediate action. Do it now, and do it before the law of diminishing intentions takes over. The key to originating is to work harder now. Follow up now. Network now. Run the numbers now. Don’t be like my dad, who used to joke, “I’ll stop procrastinating… starting tomorrow.” Do it now.
Opportunity: The best originators are the luckiest originators. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Top originators are always prepared and always in the right place, at the right time, with the right people.
Perseverance: Originating HECMs is really, really tough. Endorsement volume has dipped, new rules have emerged and regulatory headwinds have come our way in recent years. However, the demographics and the financial pressures facing today’s retirees still create an enormous opportunity for all reverse originators. Be like Jim Valvano and don’t give up… Never, ever give up. Remember that the snail eventually made it to Noah’s ark. Persevere, work hard, be positive and get up off the canvas when you’re knocked down.
Question: If I could only give one bit of advice to HECM originators, it would be to ask questions, lots of questions. Ask your clients, “What do you hope to accomplish with a reverse mortgage?” Even better, ask, “If you don’t choose a reverse mortgage, how is your life going to get better?” Questions are the logs that fuel the fire. Asking the right questions is just as important as having the answers. Your questions will help educate your client and help them get what they want.
Responsibility: As a HECM originator, I sometimes wonder how I could have done better. I’ve originated forward loans since 1983 and HECMs since 2004 and, because I’m human, have occasionally played the “blame game,” where I blamed circumstances, bad luck, bad vendors and bad processors on my poor production. However, my life is so much easier and more fun now that I take 100 percent of the responsibility and give 100 percent of the credit to others when my loans go well. As Harry Truman famously said, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” The key is take responsibility for everything you do (or don’t do) as you work to originate loans.
Sacrifice: Mick Jagger once sang, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.” For HECM originators, this is so true. The key is to sacrifice some time on weekends and during the evenings to get caught up, to get ahead, to learn more, to solve problem files.
Teachable: John Fogerty of CCR would be a great reverse mortgage celebrity, but an even better HECM originator because of his great lyric, “Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play… today!” We have to be coachable, teachable and eager to learn. Heck, even Michael Jordan needed a coach. The great ones want to improve, to receive constructive feedback, to learn better ways to help our senior customers.
Understanding: Stephen Covey and my wife, Gigi Scheper, have taught me the key to selling reverse mortgages. Covey said, “Seek first to understand, and then be understood.” Heck, that’s why I’ve been lucky enough to be married almost 35 years. Speaking of my wife, her comment on this is the best: “Ever notice that the words LISTEN and SILENT contain the same letters?”
Valor: Valor is courage and bravery sprinkled with integrity and character. To be a HECM originator, you need to live with valor. It’s an honor to help our clients and to be in this worthy and respected business. Valor is simply the willingness to be afraid, and to act anyway. The NRMLA Code of Ethics should be applied in our interactions with our clients and our colleagues with relentless valor. We have to always be strong and to not only do things right, but to also do the right thing.
Why: To be a premier HECM originator, you must continually remind yourself of your why. Why am I in this space? Why do I do what I do? Why is this worth it to me and to my clients? Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why is awesome for this very purpose. It’ll help you bounce back from a bad day with one simple solution: Be relentless toward your “why.” Know your purpose, know your why.
X-Ray: HECM originators need to look back, reflect on and x-ray their past performance in order to get better. Taking a self-assessment every so often is the key to being a successful originator. We need to look back to learn and look forward to grow. Change is not an option, but growth is. The best way to grow is to reflect, examine your past, change course and improve.
Yearn: It’s important for reverse mortgage originators to yearn for improvement in all areas—taking a better loan application, asking better questions, learning to utilize technology better, and basically working smarter and harder. We need to burn to yearn and learn before we can earn. Yearning is desire on steroids. We need to yearn to help our clients live a better, more joyful life.
Zeal: As Emerson once wrote, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” This is so true with originating HECM loans. When you’re with clients, you need to “mirror and match” their style and adapt to how they want to be educated. Pompoms and confetti are good at football games, but not always at the kitchen table. However, let’s never forget what Zig Ziglar once said: “For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.” Each day, it’s OK to be like Jim Harbaugh and “attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” But it’s just as powerful to display a silent, understated zeal like Gandhi, whose words still ring eternal: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
