I wonder if mortgage companies and the tightly coupled lead generation companies have the guts to depart from the “Gigantic Lead Generating Contraption for Business-As-Usual?” What does that mean? What would it look like?
Glenn Kelman at Redfin has a proposal that seems like what a lot of us in the idustry have said, but few have had the guts to execute:
Our purpose is to use technology to put consumers in charge of buying or selling their home. This is the most valuable change we can offer the consumer. We hope that it can lead to our becoming the most valuable company in our industry.
Hats off to a leader in putting smart consumers in the drivers seat!
-Silence Dogood
telldogood@gmail.com
I love the idea of putting the consumers in the drivers seat, however along that train of thought I am putting together a highly technological website where I will educate the consumers on how to perform minor surgical procedures from their own homes and avoid the inflated costs of hospitals, doctors, nurses and insurances. I believe that smart consumers/patients can do anything that I give them a few pages of information to read up on. I also believe, because I have a ton of very well educated friends, that if you read a little material on any subject then you are able to do it like a pro. It has not worked with me yet, I keep reading books on how to speak spanish, but I still can’t roll my R’s. I must not be smart enough.
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Thats funny Webster. Thank goodness buying a house and doing a loan is hardly as complicated as performing surgery. I think many of the industry professionals want to believe it is similiar to surgery, but we all know it is not.
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I have been amazed by the industry’s belief that we like Doctors, Lawyers, CPA’s etc…We are not. We do not have to have 7-12 years of higher education plus in many cases a residency to get State or Board certified. We are salespeople and we work for commissions same as all other salespeople. We fill in the blanks and submit to a computer program that then approves or declines our clients. If they are approved we then let a processor see the file to conclusion while we go hunt for more clients. We can and will be replaced by lower wage service providers. That said, our real value to the loan companies is they have chosen to be dependent on us to deliver loans. As long as this model holds we are safe. Why not have the “guts” to lead the pack not die with the weak.
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BigGroovy, you really do not think much about yourself do you? My wife is very intelligent, but when I start talking about rates, closing costs, appraisals, programs or the industry overall she gets bored and frustrated. She doesn’t enjoy numbers or work well with them and when she talks about health insurance I just ask her how much does it cost and can I still go to my doctor? I have no desire to research it until I understand the industry so fully that I can do it myself. While I am doing it myself I am not doing what it takes to earn a living. Let us also not forget that average education level in America is sixth grade. Would you let your sixth grader do your mortgage? Do you think they get it? I know consumers are smarter than we give them credit for. They will make good decisions when presented with the options usually. Maybe they should not be talking to the kind of loan officer that just runs them through a system for approval. Maybe they should be talking to an undustry expert that understands the products beyond what they can just automate. I believe loan officers and brokers of that kind are among the 21,000 out of work right now and thank God for that. Again, a few pages on the internet will not make people able to understand the difference between an option arm, no interest loans or FHA products. So now if you will excuse me I have to sharpen my scalpel as I have to do an emergency tracheotomy.
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I had a feeling when I posted my above comments that I did not address the loan officer profession for what it is. I was merely expressing that I am not a Doctor, Lawyer etc…I am a Professional Salesperson and quiet good at that task. My lending background is ALT-A Residential Income and Small Balance Commercial so I know my way around the products. I have been doing this for 14 years now. These past few weeks with product changes I have been handling a larger number of Agency Express style products which require few skills in my opinion. At the end of the day my value is selling and generating leads to sell too. Yes, I consult and explore/recommend products etc…I enjoy a generous income and I am still very much employed despite the 40,000 plus people who have lost their lender related jobs this year. In the end I am a proud and successful salesperson not a highly skilled surgeon capable of saving lives.
I think it is ok to be a great salesperson and not hide it behind the idea that we are more than this. The latest gizmo is “mortgage planning” or “strategic equity planner” before this it was “lender for life” and “by Referral only”. Put lipstick on it but in the end we sell and we get paid by lenders to sell loan products to consumers.
In the end, luckily for us, the consumer does use our services but they can do the task on their own. I do not know if this works for surgery, or defending a criminal case, or wrestling with the IRS.
Thanks for the dialogue. It gets me thinking!
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Everyone is an expert at something. Or at least they should be. My grandfather was a machinist and could rebuild anything made of metal. The guy with the orange vest in the plumbing aisle of Home Depot last weekend was an expert.(At least he was to me since I didn’t know the answer.)
Neither of them tried to call themselves something they weren’t, and neither of them tried to pawn off the wrong product to someone just to benefit themselves.
I think that sometimes labeling an individual allows us to create an insular quality that puts our industry, our company, or our profession above others. As a consultant, I met some of the most brilliant people in America designing aircraft, power generating stations, and numerous other products. They did not put themselves into any other category than “I roll my sleeves up every day and get the RIGHT job done.”
How many of us know the “financial advisor” that is the same guy we bought a cell phone or cookware from 2 years ago? Slapping a label on does nothing to improve the customer experience or quality. In many cases, labels of “expert” and “planner” have assisted thousands in making bad decisions.
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