“Many companies are unfortunately finding the mortgage business difficult and unprofitable.”
The status quo may be good in for some industries, but not in the mortgage business. The best scenario for our businesses is to do what it takes to have improve our loan volume, cost to produce, sales skills, and profitability improving. This can be a difficult management challenge, but as each month during 2000 goes by, there continues to be plenty of opportunity opportunities to improve these performance measures by strategic and, opportunistic growth.
Many companies are unfortunately finding the mortgage business difficult and unprofitable. Rising interest rates and unrealistic price competition, often driven by continued excess capacity, are taking a its toll. Some companies have failed and some have chosen to be acquired rather than loose money and or have its business fail. deteriorate. Both situations create tremendous opportunities for companies to grow, and t. These opportunities should be exploited.
During tumultuous times (, which is exactly what we have been experiencing),, branch managers, loan officers, and support teams can get very nervous about their futures. As the financial security of their company comes into question, or if they have negative perceptions about the management and direction of a new company if an acquisition is going to occur, it is natural for employees to look for other options. These anxiety–causing situations create opportunistic -growth for other companies that are prepared to react to the situation.
For your company to take advantage of the opportunity to grow origination capacity and add quality staff, it is important to have a basis for evaluating your opportunities. This is exactly when you need to revisit and review your long-term business plan.
Your plan should include the following:
Define growth needs
Make yourself attractive
Be organizationally flexible
Be logistically prepared
Create an integration team
Go for it
Define Growth Needs
It is great to take advantage of growth opportunities, but make sure it adds the most value by having a business plan that provides direction for future growth. Whatever is done should mesh coincide with your strategic direction that is defined and outlined in your plan. What Ask yourself what markets offer the greatest opportunities.? Are there markets or product niches that you’ve missed or have been unable to penetrate? Where does your present organization need strengthening? How big do you want to be? Where do you want growth to come from?
At any time, but especially times like such as these, you may be presented with business opportunities that you’ve never considered or contemplated. You may want to take advantage of them, and when you have a plan and a strategic direction, you will be better able to make the most of them.
Make Yourself Attractive
The best people can go to work anywhere, so it is important to make your company as attractive as possible. Why should a potentially valuable employee choose to go to work for one company versus another?
Often new employees are often seeking a compatible direction and along with good leadership. This may have been missing in the employee’sir current situation. Make sure you can articulate your vision, direction, and objective. If it is written down, all the better. Compensation and benefits are also important and must be competitive. They are worth reexamining every year or so. With all of the growth opportunities in the market, it is important to revisit them and analyze these benefits.
Tools for success are becoming increasingly important are the tools for success., which these may include loan products , competitive pricing, laptop computers, loan origination systems, Desktop Underwriter, LP or other loan approval underwriting engines. Sales, product and process training, web sites, and direct marketing support are also crucial. Any or all of these tools may be important, including the flexibility and the autonomy employees have need to succeed. Assess what it will take to attract the best talent and make your company an even better one to work more attractive to potential employees.
Organizational Flexibility Reorganize Your Company
If you’re going to take advantage of growth opportunities, it is important to keep in mind the possible need for organizational flexibility. It may be necessary to completely reorganize your company, or at least parts of it, to make the new opportunity work.
The situations or options available to you may be variedvary, ranging from new individual managers, loan officers, or support staff to the possibility of picking up a complete branch or branches. These situations can create conflict within your current organization because of an overlap with existing staff, responsibilities, or territories. It may be necessary toYou may need to be pragmatic and entrepreneurial. It is likely that these opportunities will not be as you envisioned, so it is important to evaluate every situation in light of your strategy, the company, and what is best for the staff involved.
Logistical Preparation Prepare for Growth
If you have an opportunity to add five people or fifty 50 people, or more you should ask yourself if you are really prepared for it. Someone once said that you should be careful of what you wish for because you may get it. Growth is great, and change is necessary, but your team must be ready to accept and accommodate it.
Your ability to handle growth will depend on the size of your company and the size of the opportunity. It is advisable to consider in advance how you can accommodate different growth scenarios. First, what and how much can you afford to do? Too many times growth is done in the absence of understanding the financial implications. New space, furniture, and equipment may be needed—plus , plus the cost to carry this new expense until revenue catches up. What can you afford? Know in advance what to expect as much as possible in advance.
Let’s assume that you can afford to grow. You need to be prepared and to have a plan to provide the necessary space;, increase your computer or data network;, provide human resources support;, train new people in your products, policies, and procedures;, and to provide the necessary marketing support tools. While you may not have the time nor inclination to prepare everything in detail, it would be helpful to consider all the logistical issues you will likely encounter and have a plan to deal with them. It is recommended that someone be specifically assigned the responsibility and to be accountable to manage the details.
Create an Integration Team
It may be important, depending on the scope of change, to create a specific team in order to make the integration of new staff work smoothly and to avoid losing any production volume through mistakes or delays. If you know there is an opportunity to add new people or new teams, make certain that all functional areas are organized to facilitate integration.
Define who is specifically responsible for communicating employee benefits, signing up new employees, coordinating phone numbers or phone systems, providing laptops and computers, getting business cards and stationery, integrating existing web sites, communicating with referral sources or providing materials to effectively communicate with these sources, and setting expectations, etc. Whether you are hiring new staff in ones or twos or in large numbers, you want to make the experience as smooth and as non-disruptive as possible. As mentioned previously, have someone specifically assigned to manage the overall effort.
Go For It
Growth in the past or future may have been or may be at a deliberate pace, as it may be in the future. Now, however, there is an opportunity to take advantage of a situation that may come along once every three to five years. Fast action may determine the outcome. Whether the potential new staff chooses your mortgage company or another one, the decision could have a profound effect on your company’s future and continued financial success. Don’t just react and see what happens.; Act quickly by having a plan. With preparation and forethought, you can know how to do it smoothly, efficiently, and in a way that takes full advantage of the opportunities. The best advice is to go for it.
by Jerry Baker