Adjusting to The Unexpected

 2020 was a year of digression. In the past, when the country went into a recession homebuying typically slowed down as people either lost or feared for their jobs. The opposite held true when the economy was going well. Increased income and employment typically meant more home purchases. In January of 2020 the unemployment rate was 3.5%, by April it had peaked to 14.8%. While it has declined since then, it remains high at 6.7%. Yet originations, both purchase and refinances, increased dramatically. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association originations increased from $2.253 trillion in 2019 to $3.573 trillion in 2020. Such an increase, largely driven by refinancings that accounted for 85% of the increase, certainly digresses from the historical norm.

So how did your mortgage company deal with such a large, unexpected change? For some it was overwhelming. Communications systems, both external and internal, couldn’t keep pace with the flood of information. Hiring couldn’t ramp up fast enough as an industry of lenders all suddenly competed for a limited pool of talent. Underwriting made faster decisions, leaving some potential borrowers out in the cold. Management didn’t look to expand the loan product offerings because they were already flooded with loans. This again left some potential borrowers without a program that addressed their needs. All this meant that originators has to work harder to get loans closed and, at times, lost opportunities they should have been able to close.

At EMM Loans we saw the flood coming. As interest rates dropped and business increased, we proactively took steps to ensure our loan officers weren’t going to be adversely affected. These steps included:

·      Adjusting the Business Process – on the origination side we use several technology systems. We took steps to make sure these systems were better integrated and that the loan officers were proficient at using them. This meant that incoming leads were delivered in real time to those in a position to respond and that the client information was easily loaded and shared between systems. This facilitated a better customer experience and better communication overall.

·      Pivoting to a Remote Work Environment – The health of our employees comes first. With Covid 19 spreading we developed communications and technology systems that allowed employees to work remotely without having to give up productivity.

·      Hiring – we realized that sales needed more support. We hired underwriters and operations people. With increasing workloads this ensured everything stayed manageable and customers didn’t fall through the cracks. Increasing support levels also enabled our originators to stay focused on the most important part of their job, helping our borrowers.

·      Product Mix – We already offered a full suite of products, so we have most customer needs covered. For us it was more about staying on top of the changing pricing and making tweaks, rather than changes, to the programs.

·      Staying Focused on The Mission – the mission is to create raving fans of all our internal and external customers. Under stressful situations, when everyone has more coming at them than they are used to, it is easy to lose focus. One of the best ways to create a fan is through superior communication. Borrowers want to know what their options are, what they need to do and where they are in the process. Internally, loan officers want to know the status, what additional information might be needed and what has been communicated with the client and when. Another way to create a fan is by actually caring. By giving 101% if that is what is needed to help somebody. The management, marketing, training and technology teams facilitated this communication and curated a culture of continued caring. After all, looking out for one another is what we do.

·      Rewarding the Work- the management and HR teams made sure the compensation structures rewarded the extra effort that was being put forth and that they stayed competitive with others in the market. The rewards weren’t always about money. Management was hands on, recognizing the outstanding performance and thankful that our employees were willing to go the extra mile to get things done.

·      Adjusting our Servicing – we not only put people in homes, we help them stay there. With forbearance now an option on the servicing side we rolled out additional training so that our clients fully understood all options. After all, we want our loan officers to be able to grow these relationships and having a good servicing arm helps.

 At EMM Loans we are thinking ahead. We are forward focused, anticipating the next new development and how best to be positioned for it when it comes. Right now, that means hiring more loan officers. If you would like to talk about joining our team visit www.joinemmloans.com, we’d love to hear from you.