Board Room THE KEYS TO success for any organization are its ability to recruit top-quality talent with the appropriate knowledge and skills and then retain that talent through market cycles. Given the specialized nature of the reverse mortgage business, an additional key to success is training to ensure competent service for our senior homeowners. C2 Financial is primarily a forward mortgage broker that bases its recruiting on high commission splits to loan officers and on providing resources for those loan officers that allow them to provide efficient service to their borrowers with the best loan terms. The C2 Reverse Division is marketed in our corporate recruiting as a resource that will provide a loan officer (LO) with an additional income source in a business with market cycles that are not totally synced to the forward mortgage business. In recruiting for our reverse division, we also highlight our high commission splits and access to virtually every reverse mortgage program available. LOs have access to reverse mortgage training oriented to LOs who are new to reverse or new to the company, as well as those who are experienced in originating reverse. For new-to-reverse LOs, our C2 Reverse Certification Program is provided online and on demand. It is selfpaced and includes technical training through the advanced nuts and bolts of reverse mortgages, reverse mortgage marketing and promotion, as well as training on effective senior-client interaction. For more experienced reverse mortgage originators, the company provides advanced reverse mortgage training and a stepby-step mentoring process for achieving NRMLA’s CRMP certification. Through the training program, 334 of our new-to- reverse LOs have gotten C2 reverse certified, and more than 20 of our advanced LOs have become CRMPs. The training is important as a recruiting tool but also as a key retention tool. The complex nature of the reverse mortgage product and the difficulty in getting established in the reverse business make retention a challenge. Recognizing this challenge—and that most of our LOs originate both forward and reverse—C2 Reverse provides all the resources a LO needs only “two clicks away” to prospect, market, originate and close reverse mortgages through our online LO-facing Blue Door Portal. Efficiency in our reverse business is a key factor in getting forward mortgage LOs to commit to reverse as a viable business opportunity. The company “reverse-engineered” what it takes for LOs to provide efficient, competent service to our senior clients who are making decisions related to their most treasured asset—their home equity. Scott Harmes Recruiting and Retention in Today’s Reverse Mortgage Market By Scott Harmes, CRMP 6 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
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