A lot of people ask me about my background and how and why I am in mortgages. Most people want to know why someone in the mortgage industry has a web site like Blown Mortgage. I guess its a little weird having a site that is primarily focused on the negative aspects of the industry in which I work. So with out further ado, for those of you that care about who is writing this blog please enjoy this autobiographical article that should shed some light on who I am and why I write Blown Mortgage.
PART 3
A New Day
Like being dunked in cold water you realize right away that sitting behind a desk dreaming up customer experience is a whole lot cleaner than the messy business that is running a company. Marketing theory and strategy that look good on paper can quickly fade in the face of overwhelming reality. But we continued to force the issue of quality and writing good loans. We focused on customer service, developed a 10-point customer service pledge, and took an oath to try to rewrite the ending of the bad story that so many home owners had come to expect of our industry. You can see our 10-point pledge online.
It wasnt easy. A constant battle to retrain employees that had come from corrupt backgrounds was a veritable turf war over right and wrong. We learned that our best people were those that were educated, friendly and decent who had the unique trait of never having been in the business. These untainted individuals were by far the most successful. For there is something truly refreshing about working with someone who actually has your best interests in mind. It was common to hear in our office in the early days I dont need to make that much money on that loan, a sign that our employees heads were in the right place.
As we grew (and grow we did) it became an ongoing struggle to weed out the bad apples (we did) and train the ones with promise (I have so many power point files you wouldnt believe) to model their business behavior after the idealized way we wanted things done. We didnt always succeed. One of the biggest misgivings I have about starting my company is that I know 100% that there are people out there that hate my company; who feel defrauded and lied to and cheated by another unscrupulous mortgage company, and it breaks my heart. I tried hard to keep that from happening, but in the end, it is impossible to 100% satisfy everyone. Even in an environment of exceptionally loose credit, not everyone can get what they want.
We spent every dime (virtually) on building the company, obtaining licenses for more states, investing in people, hardware, compliance, consultants, marketing, employee benefits, you name it. We didnt want to be a fly-by-night company working off of plywood desks but all driving Ferraris. We put it back in the business to be able to serve our customers better. I drove a 1997 Lincoln Town Car as the owner of a mortgage company (with 147,000 miles on it) while at the drive through I was surrounded by 911s and Sypder convertibles. We were singularly focused on becoming better at what we did and hopefully making a difference for the people we helped.
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[Source: Blown Mortgage]
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