11 ways to grow your business

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Knowing HECM-to-HECM refinances will eventually fade, here are 11 practical ways to grow your business in any market. 

  1. Review all previous leads that were short to close. See if they may qualify with today’s low interest rates.
  2. Find every potential borrower lead written down on a scrap of paper, Post-It-Note, or business card and input it into your CRM. If you don’t have a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), check out our Sales Engine CRM made for reverse mortgage professionals.
  3. Isolate and find your top 50 professional contacts. Now divide them up to contact each on every 6 weeks. You can schedule this on your calendar or CRM.
  4. Check-in with your top 50 professionals by making at least eight phone calls a week. Keep it casual, informal, and fun- the point is to make positive contact.
  5. Schedule at least one meeting with a professional in your market each week. It could be a quick cup of coffee, lunch, or grabbing a beer. The point is to build a relationship or keep one strong.
  6. Contact your local newspaper and offer to write a column about reverse mortgages, aging in place, or the challenges facing retirees.
  7. Time-block recurring times each week for outbound sales calls. If it’s on your calendar it will happen.
  8. Consider scheduling follow-up calls with every applicant on Tuesdays and Fridays. Call them even if there are no new developments. Regular communication helps avoid unnecessary stress for your applicants and possible cancelations.
  9. Find one inspirational book to read. Schedule two nights a week to complete.
  10. Find one inspirational fellow reverse mortgage professional. Ask them if you could speak once each week. Give encouragement, perspective, and ideas to each other. Avoid the trap of complaining.
  11. Join your local chamber of commerce, a leads group, or your local financial professionals’ group. Be a friend, helper, and fellow professional. Don’t ask for leads first. Show your value and build a relationship.

-Shannon Hicks

The Problem with Drift Net Marketing

How today’s top-producers are succeeding

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Last fishing season I sat down with my friend Mike and caught up on his recent fly fishing exploits in Shasta Lake, California. As an experienced fisherman, he related to me how he adjusted his typical techniques due to the rapidly-rising waters in the reservoir after several weeks of heavy rain and snowfall. The water was brown in several spots obscuring the fish below the surface, the currents had changed, and small inlets disappeared. Basically, he had to reinvent his approach in a rapidly changing environment. His flexibility paid off with over 20 fish caught and released.

Mike’s technique is specific and targeted. The opposite approach is deep sea drift netting, which hangs several large net curtains under the water’s surface catching nearly everything in its path- often entangling smaller fish that must be thrown back.

While it is easy to lament the decline in homeowners taking a reverse mortgage, the more intriguing question is how do a handful of HECM professionals succeed in today’s marketplace? Here are just a few of the ways today’s top producers tell us they attracting and closing qualified homeowners.

  1. Referrals– Most salespeople in any industry fail to get referrals. One of the best ways to enter a sphere of influence is to ask each borrower if they know any local CPA, attorney, or financial planners in your community you could speak with. Take note of each name and ask them if you can use them as a reference when you make your introduction.
  2. Relationship management– if you have contacted professionals in the past, when is the last time you spoke with them? When was your last coffee or lunch meeting? When was your last phone conversation? Do they see you as a friend or just another salesperson looking for a free lead?
  3. Targeted investment– Your time is an asset you choose to invest each day. Are you spending 80% of your time on activities that produce 20% of the results? Take a hard, cold, pragmatic look at where you are marketing. Are you trying to reach every age-eligible homeowner in your area? If so, chances are you’re getting burned out on unqualified applicants. Instead, seek out the homeowners who are most likely to qualify and utilize a reverse mortgage. This could be those seeking to right-size into a new home in retirement, who want to avoid taking more taxable withdrawals from their retirement accounts or are simply looking for an alternative to a home equity line of credit.

Whichever method you choose, commit to hanging up your driftnet and pick up your fly rod and reel. Explore the smaller niche inlets and coves overlooked by most that are rich with opportunity.

reverse mortgage marketing

How to get a local TV interview


Here’s a short ‘how-to-guide’ on how to get on your local television station and what topics to present.

Are Google Ads Dead?



Without audience targeting are Google Ads Dead? Think again…

Early this month Google announced new restrictions for targeting specific audiences. The restrictions apply to content related to housing, employment, credit, and those who are disproportionately affected by societal biases. The news of these restrictions created quite a stir among industry brokers and lenders who heavily rely upon targeted Google ad campaigns.  All which may have you asking if these changes will kill future reverse mortgage advertising on the world’s most popular search engine. In just a moment we’ll hear from our online SEO expert Josh Johnson to find out.

Read More

The Problem with Drift Net Marketing

reverse mortgage marketing

How today’s top-producers are succeeding


Last fishing season I sat down with my friend Mike and caught up on his recent fly fishing exploits in Shasta Lake, California. As an experienced fisherman, he related to me how he adjusted his typical techniques due to the rapidly-rising waters in the reservoir after several weeks of heavy rain and snowfall. The water was brown in several spots obscuring the fish below the surface, the currents had changed, and small inlets disappeared. Basically, he had to reinvent his approach in a rapidly changing environment. His flexibility paid off with over 20 fish caught and released.

Mike’s technique is specific and targeted. The opposite approach is deep sea drift netting, which hangs several large net curtains under the water’s surface catching nearly everything in its path- often entangling smaller fish that must be thrown back.

While it is easy to lament the decline in homeowners taking a reverse mortgage, the more intriguing question is how do a handful of HECM professionals succeed in today’s marketplace? Here are just a few of the ways today’s top producers tell us they attracting and closing qualified homeowners.

  1. Referrals– Most salespeople in any industry fail to get referrals. One of the best ways to enter a sphere of influence is to ask each borrower if they know any local CPA, attorney, or financial planners in your community you could speak with. Take note of each name and ask them if you can use them as a reference when you make your introduction.
  2. Relationship management– if you have contacted professionals in the past, when is the last time you spoke with them? When was your last coffee or lunch meeting? When was your last phone conversation? Do they see you as a friend or just another salesperson looking for a free lead?
  3. Targeted investment– Your time is an asset you choose to invest each day. Are you spending 80% of your time on activities that produce 20% of the results? Take a hard, cold, pragmatic look at where you are marketing. Are you trying to reach every age-eligible homeowner in your area? If so, chances are you’re getting burned out on unqualified applicants. Instead, seek out the homeowners who are most likely to qualify and utilize a reverse mortgage. This could be those seeking to right-size into a new home in retirement, who want to avoid taking more taxable withdrawals from their retirement accounts or are simply looking for an alternative to a home equity line of credit.

Whichever method you choose, commit to hanging up your driftnet and pick up your fly rod and reel. Explore the smaller niche inlets and coves overlooked by most that are rich with opportunity.

reverse mortgage marketing

Lean Times

As dividends fall the cost of living continues to climb 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” – Charles Dickens ~ A Tale of Two Cities

While Dickens’s opening lines are not prescient they certainly could describe the current state of affairs in which we find ourselves. Lenders are seeing a significant rebound in consumer interest as evidenced in new application activity, as several retirees and seniors face lean times seeing the coronavirus continue to spread across the globe.

Today long-term inflation remains moderate, however, food prices jumped significantly this quarter as supply chains were temporarily interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NBC reported that beef prices jumped 20.4% from April to July. Everyone is feeling the squeeze- the mass affluent, middle class, and low-income older homeowner.

However, beyond daily expenditures seniors who dutifully saved are feeling the brunt as well. Millions of older Americans count on dividends to make ends meet. These shareholders are seeing dividend payouts slashed as over 700 publicly traded companies seeking to preserve cash in an uncertain economy announced a reduction or suspension of dividends. For example, last month MarketWatch noted the highly-touted Halliburton (HAL) slashed their quarterly dividend payouts  75% in May to 18 cents a share. The Janus Henderson asset management group sees this trend continuing. In its recent Global Dividend Index report, Janus projects dividend payouts will decrease between 15-34% by the end of 2020.

Consequently, older homeowners with substantial investments who rely on dividend payouts and those whose home is their most significant asset are facing lean times; both will need a source of funds to bridge the gap. Investors may be forced to tap into their cash savings or worse, sell stocks at a significant loss. Moderate and lower-income senior homeowners have limited options and are likely to begin viewing their home’s equity in a new light.

Americans are an optimistic lot not naturally inclined to anticipate unnerving ‘what-if’ scenarios. However many ancient philosophers did anticipate potential outcomes practicing ‘premeditatio malorum’- which loosely translated means to ‘anticipate the worst and plan accordingly’. Reverse mortgage professionals can encourage this mindset by asking some simple questions. “How long would your cash reserves last if you continue to use them to cover monthly expenses?” “Do you have a plan if you no don’t receive any dividends this year or next?”. Those working with a financial professional may be hearing similar probing inquires from their advisor.

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to continually build momentum in presenting the reverse mortgage not as a cure-all for one’s financial woes, but simply as a valid and established potential solution which could help older homeowners weather the economic storm in which we find ourselves. Now is the time to schedule those financial advisor introductions you’ve been putting off or plan your first public seminar.

Fortune favors the bold, especially when opportunity presents itself in the midst of adversity.

They love a good story!


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

Your Compliant Lead-Generation Website just got this much better!

Our developers have been busy little bees adding these new amazing improvements to MyLoanOfficer- your compliant, responsive professional reverse mortgage website. Questions? Contact us here.  

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.

Perspective & Denial

How perspective & denial shape our industry

Recently I was reviewing some of our earlier articles here on HECMWorld. While this post is from late 2014, it still holds some timeless nuggets of wisdom on how mortgages have been received by the general public, and where the HECM fits in that historical context.

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“Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside our own limited experience is absurd.” These words ring no truer than when it comes to those who embrace or reject the federally-insured reverse mortgage. Reverse mortgage professionals encounter varying degrees of denial with their clientele, but even more insidious is the denial of those in the financial community who often dispense advice which may be harmful to their audience- more specifically attacking the validity of the reverse mortgage or dismissing it outright.

Reverse mortgages have often been the unwanted child of the mortgage industry. Frequently spoken of in hushed tones as toxic, radioactive, predatory by critics the tide is beginning to turn. A 2014 article in the New York Times entitled “Love Them or Loathe Them, Reverse Mortgages Have a Place” reveals a substantial awakening amongst the financial and banking community.

The historical reality is even traditional mortgages were not warmly received. Early mortgages prior to the Great Depression were typically short-term loans where the homeowner had to renegotiate the terms each year. Not surprisingly as home values plummeted in nearly one in ten homes were foreclosed upon. The early stigma was that mortgaging your home was a risky proposition. Even following the establishment of the Federal Housing Administration, mortgages were viewed as a perilous venture. Then let’s consider the economics of a traditional mortgage. A borrower with a 30-year mortgage will have very little of the monthly payment applied to the loan’s principal balance until after year 15. Let’s not forget a borrower could make payments almost exclusively to interest and lose the home after sinking in tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of their hard-earned money. So again, which is riskier; a traditional or reverse mortgage?

Fast forward to today. Retirees sitting with their financial advisor will hear the importance of asset allocation while often times they neglect to include their clients largest asset: their home. It seems odd and perhaps borderline malpractice to ignore what is typically one’s largest asset in the planning process. It would seem that even financial professionals can do harm merely by letting their biases and denial influence their recommendations. The good news is times are changing. Retirement reality is about to slap the collective public and the financial community in the face as nearly two thirds or pre-retirees have not saved enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

Alicia Munnell was quoted in the Times article of her belief in the increased acceptance of reverse mortgages saying “When I look forward, I don’t see how people are going to have enough, I really don’t. Our assessment going forward is that it’s (home equity) is a luxury we’re not going to be able to afford. There are going to need money, and this is the place where the money is.”

Denial and an outright rejection of the HECM are luxuries few can afford. The challenge is to position our industry and reverse mortgages (private or federally-insured) into the mainstream of American mortgage lending.

***UPDATE*** Bloomberg released an article entitled “Why Financial Advisors Still Hate Reverse Mortgages” which speaks to the challenge we face in reaching financial professionals.