Florida’s Top Lender Shares Sales & Marketing Secrets
Monday, 14 December 2009 13:36
Articles - Sales and Marketing
CityOne Mortgage Bankers, reported by HUD as Florida’s leading private reverse mortgage lender, has scheduled an exclusive webinar this Thursday, December 17, to share how they out-produced the giant two (Wells Fargo & Bank of America), captured the 16th spot in the nation and did it all in only 12 months!
“What’s even more amazing, is that we hit sixteenth in the nation, doing going head to head with giant lenders originating in multiple states, and we did it all in one city!” commented CityOne’s CEO, Bert Gonzalez, the mastermind behind the company’s lead generation and sales systems.
Reverse Mortgage Magazine, published monthly by NRMLA, compiles the Top 100 HECM list and featured CityOne as 16th nationwide in September’s issue, and The Miami Herald did an article on the company for having toppled Wells Fargo & Bank of America in HECM endorsements for the month of January 2009, exactly 12 months after CityOne endorsed their first HECM loan.
“Companies and Originators get into HECM’s thinking they make great sense and that many seniors, particularly those in need, would be crazy not to take one out, but their missing the boat.” said Gonzalez. “While I was skyrocketing to number one, companies would get in and soon be out, scratching their heads wondering how we did it”.
CityOne’s accomplishments did not go unnoticed by the reverse community, and soon after their market launch, almost every wholesale lender was knocking on their door to sign them up as a correspondent, while his competitors were trying to figure out what he was doing.
CityOne start in the HECM business, like a lot of lenders, was motivated by the drastic drop in forward loans in 2007, but the similarities stop there. In May of 2007, with loan volume dropping monthly, Gonzalez decided to attend a Financial Freedom conference in Orlando, what happened next as he tells it is anything but typical.
“I had let my FHA approval fo a couple of years before, but attended the conference thinking Reverses were the way to go. I tracked down the S. Florida rep, which was Tim Frederick at the time (now with Genworth) and told him he’s better sign me up, because I was going to be number one very soon. I’m sure Tim got a chuckle out of that one!” Gonzalez recalls, “but sure enough, after doing my first deal in January, and 56 by March, Tim took notice, just like every other wholesaler”.
HUD is reporting that from Nov. 12st 2008 through Oct 31, 2009, CityOne endorsed 428 deals, landing them third in the entire state, behind Bank Of America and Wells Fargo who captured first and second respectively.
Asked how his small company with only ten originators could produce so much, so quickly, Gonzalez responds “I built it from the ground up. I threw out everything I learned about regular loan marketing and origination out the window and built our process from scratch. From the advertisements, phone scripts, appointment setting, presentation and follow up, we do almost nothing like we used to” said Gonzalez.
CityOne does not use the traditional Loan Officer model where they depend on the sales staff to generate leads and applications. “We bring in everything at a corporate level, and I pay my Counselor (Loan Officers) a flat 20% commission”, reports Gonzalez. “My people are in the office, taking calls and applications from 9-6pm, five days a week, and on alternating Saturdays.
We asked Bert to share at least one of his secrets that he plans to disclose on the webinar that have catapulted him to number one in his marketplace, and he grudgingly obliged. “OK, here’s a very small, but extremely powerful thing to overcome the “we have to think about it objection”. It’s mandatory for all our face to face presentations. At a precise moment during the process, the Loan Officer will offer the prospect something to drink or snack on, and then excuse himself from the room for about 15 minutes. This is gold! The prospects will invariably, use that time to discuss it between themselves and make up their minds. Simple, but amazingly powerful, because this one thing, coupled with right reason for leaving the room, and at the exact time in the presentation to do it, increased our sign rate by 28%!” exclaims Gonzalez.
Another Key to CityOne’s success is metrics. “We measure everything!” said Gonzalez. “I use different phone numbers for different sources and even different ads. Sometimes I have up to 3 different numbers in the same ad, so I can measure which part the prospect is responding to. We count, record, crunch and measure everything to tweak it just right. To compete and outsell the big boys, you imply cannot wing it”. I’ve figured out how to do it so simply, that my receptionist is actually my “number crunching genius!”
The methods Bert has pioneered have paid off handsomely. CityOne grossed more than $2.5 million in origination fees during its first twelve months originating HECM’s. They get special treatment and pricing from their wholesalers, and the company is so dominate in its area, that competitors shy away from even entering CityOne’s market.
We asked Bert the obvious question that was on our minds. Why is he disclosing his proven marketing secrets? “Yes, there’s a method to my madness. To expand across the nation is no easy feat, so while the information I have is worth thousands to anyone doing, or wanting to do reverse mortgages, I’m basically giving it away because I want to attract other like minded companies or individuals who, after seeing the everything I do, might be inclined to partner with me, instead of doing it all themselves. I know I may be creating a bunch of knowledgeable competitors with through my webinar, but there’s enough business to go around, and when the housing market starts coming back, we’re in for the really big boom!” To see all the documentation on Bert’s meteoric rise, and register for the CityOne Reverse Marketing webinar, go to http://www.reversemarketgenius.com/webinar/?ls=rmda and hurry, it’s only a couple days away and space is limited.
The above is a paid advertorial written by Reverse Marketing Genius.
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