"Loan Officer of the Future"

 

We all know change is not easy. Long established approaches to business are so comfortable that any departure, no matter how minimal, becomes threatening. The trepidation and internal turmoil brought about by change causes many to reassess the ways in which they currently approach their loan origination responsibilities. The new millennium is hastening that process. The results of this introspection range from eager anticipation and excitement to total dread for those who are set in their ways. For many, the chains of habit are too light to be felt, until they are too heavy to be broken. The spectrum of attitude and response is therefore extensive. Where you currently fall on this spectrum will play a large part in whether or not you will thrive, or barely survive into the year 2000 and beyond.

"The questions you face are many
How badly do you want to play?
How committed are you really?
And how much are you willing to pay?"

Not in dollars but in time, commitment, self-discipline and dedication?

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. The Successful loan officer of the future will have no problem losing sight of the shore. Competitive realities will demand that he be a risk taker. If you are not changing faster today internally, than your competitors are externally, you are going backwards.

Will the loan officer of the future zip around the galaxy in their "George Jetson" spaceship? Will they "teleport" themselves to the applicant¹s living room? Will the loan application of the future simply require a thumbprint? Will the entire loan process be paperless before the baby boomer generation has applied for their last loan? Some industry insiders are projecting 30 % of loan originations will be made over the Internet by the year 2005 However, one thing is certain : Technology will not replace Mortgage Brokers. Mortgage Brokers with technology will replace Mortgage Brokers.

Mr. Joe Ringer, Executive Vice President of LION, Inc. Bellevue, Washington, states, "the use of technology in our industry is growing rapidly. The exchange of information in paper form is becoming a thing of the past. Automated underwriting is growing by leaps and bounds and dramatically cutting the time it takes to close a loan and at the same time reducing documentation and qualification requirements. The Internet is proving to be a cheaper way to originate business. He paints a foreboding picture for those of us who have just recently figured out how to pay for our gas at the pump!

Loan officers of the future have a simple choice as it relates to technology: Capitalize of capsize.

Totally embrace it and you will survive, maybe even thrive. Ignore it and you will lose your customers, your job and your income. Maybe not tomorrow, but eventually. Consumers will become less inclined to work with loan officers who do not use technology and will look more and more to the Internet. This will be true for the generation that grew up with SegaGenesis. For the generation that grew up with Davy Crockett, the jury is still out. There are still Borrowers who do not know, understand and or have a comfort level with computers. But their numbers are declining daily. If you have not totally committed to the technology available today, you won¹t be able to handle what the future will bring tomorrow.

According to Rich Doran, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Alliance Funding, Montvale, New Jersey, "We have launched a service in our web site "Elite Services" which allows clients to track the status of applications and remaining stipulations for their entire loan pipeline on-line. In addition, approved or pending accounts will be able to e-mail Alliance Funding underwriters at the touch of a button. All loan information is updated every two and a half hours and is protected by a log and password system. We are making the latest in technology available to our customers. If you are going to be a leader in the industry, you must maximize the technology available". No truer statement could be made for loan officers in the new millennium. In the future there will not be a choice between companies with technology and companies without. The question will be how well are the loan officers trained to take advantage of the tools they have?

The mortgage industry has not adequately invested in training and development of personnel on both the origination and operations sides of the business. The average Fortune 500 company spends ten times more training their employees than does the mortgage industry. The new millennium will require a loan officer more prepared, more knowledgeable and more professional than ever before. What this means for an individual loan officer of the future is mandatory investment in their career. An investment in knowledge is mandatory in a changing environment.

Rich Doran of Alliance Funding concurs: "Customers want an ever increasing level of speed and customer service and they know technology is the answer to speed. Only loan officers can provide customer service and build long term relationships. Successful relationships will not be built unless the loan officer has developed a high degree of trust. Knowledge is the most important element in building trust. The knowledge required of the industry, competitors and specific products will be much greater in the future. Customers will demand it. Loan officers of the future will quickly surpass the knowledge levels of today".

Flexibility will become a characteristic that will be easily discernible. There is no doubt that technology is changing the world. Some loan officers will recognize and seize the opportunity to race past many of the current practitioners. Others may be agile and quick enough to catch up, as long as they do not over do their philosophy of "Fire-Aim-Ready". Attitude will play an important part in order to survive Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" theory. Loan officers must have an attitude that is accepting of change and creativity. Any lesser approach will doom the loan officer of the future to failure.

Future loan officers will have to learn how to recognize their own comfort zones and bust them. Those suffering from "Terminal Comfort Zones" today will have a difficult time. The ruts created by today¹s comfort zones can be fairly deep. Because of the increased pace of change in the coming millennium, those who fall into comfort zones will find they are so deep they can't get out. Constant self- assessment will become a basic of the business. Today it happens rarely.

The evolution of files four feet thick to loan approval in minutes without paper is a quantum leap. Loan officers of the future will have to jump even further!

Bill Evans established the Institute of Professional Training in 1979, working solely with production and operations personnel within mortgage lending and related services. He is a frequent guest speaker to state and national conferences and a regular contributor to Mortgage Originator Magazine. He can be reached at 360-871-7574 or email bevansipt@aol.com.  

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