Consistency Is the Real Secret to a Thriving Reverse Mortgage Business

When I got into doing Reverse Mortgages in my early 20’s, I took note of some of the differences between the Reverse Mortgage clients and the traditional “forward” mortgage clients.  There were many differences, not all obvious, but all very important.

I watched the reverse mortgage clients walk in cautiously. Guarded. Sometimes skeptical.
I watched adult children sit with crossed arms.
I watched financial advisors quietly assess whether this was someone they could trust with their client and reputation.

And I learned something very early:

This is not a sales business. This is a trust business. And trust is built, in part, through consistency.

The Question Everyone Is Asking

After more than 15 years in this space, building divisions, mentoring loan officers, sitting at many kitchen tables, and now more commonly on Zoom calls, I can tell you there are two questions running through every mind in a reverse mortgage transaction:

Do you do what you say you’re going to do?
And do you do it when you say you will?

That’s of course not it, but if you can’t demonstrate a yes effectively to those two questions, your chances of finishing that loan goes down considerably.  In a high-trust product like this, consistency reinforces credibility.  I know many really credible reverse loan officers who truly do know the loan and care, but they are chaos in their every day and that makes a huge impact in the amount of loans they close (or perhaps, don’t close).

I’ve Lived the “Up and Down” Cycle

Early in my career, I saw it constantly, and I’ve coached many LOs through it since.

When business is flowing, marketing stops.
When files pile up, follow-up slows down.
When a month dips, panic kicks in.

It creates this emotional rollercoaster: Great month, slow month, great month, slow month, fear, overwork, burnout, repeat.  Though sometimes that last step is the loan officer saying, “Reverse just isn’t for me!”  Which is sad to see, but honestly makes sense; they did not acknowledge and change their ways of approaching this business, as it is different from forward loan production.

But here’s what I’ve learned building multiple reverse divisions and being a top originator both solo and with a team:

Income inconsistency is almost always the result of action inconsistency. Not talent, or the market, or the loan itself.

Consistency.

When an originator starts asking me about how the reverse mortgage market is it feels like nails on a chalkboard to me.  While there may be market factors that impact our business, they are nowhere near as impactful as what YOU are doing inside your business.

Reverse Mortgages Are Farming, Not Hunting

If you try to “hunt” in reverse mortgages, you will exhaust yourself.  You’ll chase every lead. You’ll ride emotional highs and lows. You’ll constantly feel behind.

Reverse is farming.

You plant seeds: Advisor meetings, past client check-ins, educational events, weekly content, and structured follow-up for weeks, months and YEARS!

Because the average reverse mortgage borrower takes 2 years from the first time they look into the loan until they actually do the loan, you need to make sure you stay in contact with them.

Going with the farming analogy, you must continue to water them with reliable communication.  Water them with clear expectations, a professional process, and demonstrated competence. Do this, and the harvest becomes predictable.

When I look at the highest-producing reverse professionals in this industry, the ones I consider reverse royalty, they are not chaotic operators.  They are disciplined farmers.

Consistency in the Sales Process Changes Everything

When I refined my own presentation process, when I stopped winging it and created a repeatable framework, my close rate went up. Not because I became more persuasive, but because I became more stable. Clients, adult children, financial advisors, realtors, CPA’s and anyone else you’re working with all feel that stability.

When your discovery call flows the same way every time…
When your explanation of the line of credit growth is dialed in… (btw have you taken the EWA LOC growth course yet? If not you need to.)
When you set expectations clearly and follow through exactly as promised…

Trust compounds.

And trust turns into referrals.

The Work No One Sees

Here’s the thing most loan officers don’t want to talk about, let alone hold themselves accountable to. Consistency doesn’t start on the sales call. It starts when no one is looking.

• Did you build your business plan?
• Did you define how many Financial Advisor/ Realtor/CPA/ Attorney touches you’re doing weekly?
• Did you commit to how many past clients you’re calling monthly?
• Are you tracking presentations taken, applications, and closes?

I’ve seen incredibly talented LOs fail or burn out of reverse because they didn’t create structure behind the scenes. Then I’ve also seen average LOs become top producers because they did the boring, consistent work every single week.

Consistency behind closed doors creates consistency in income.

And consistent income creates emotional regulation.

When you’re emotionally regulated, you sell better. (Emotional regulation is taught in the HECM Foundations Certification course, btw)
When you sell better, you close more. When you help more people, close more loans, and build more relationships, referrals naturally increase.  This all compounds.

Seniors Can Smell Inconsistency

Seniors have been on this planet a long time, in many cases longer than you, the originator.

They have lived through recessions, wars, market crashes, political cycles, family drama, and every type of salesperson imaginable. They can detect instability instantly. If your follow-up is sporadic, your communication shifts, you disappear when things get busy, they feel it.  The thing is, they don’t always attribute why accurately, and they interpret this inconsistency as instability and perhaps, in the worst cases, proof that the reverse mortgage is a scam. I mean, just look at the kind of shifty people doing them!

Consistency is not optional when working with a loan with a sordid reputation.  We are working double time to instill that trust; the margin for error on this is low.

Like the tale of the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise wins the race in this game. Consistency is key, though it is not glamorous. It won’t feel like a breakthrough. It won’t feel like momentum at first. It won’t feel exciting. But it is the quiet force that builds empires in this niche.

The reverse mortgage professionals who build sustainable, thriving, respected businesses all share one thing: They do what they say they’re going to do, when they say they are going to do it.  Not because they’re always motivated, but because they understand that’s what’s good for business and at a deeper level they have decided that that is who they are.

My Challenge to You

If you want higher close rates, more advisor referrals, predictable income and really if you want to stop riding the emotional rollercoaster pick one area of your business and lock in consistency for 90 days.

Marketing.
Follow-up.
Advisor outreach.
Sales structure.
Tracking.

Not perfection, in fact, this brings up a memory of a previous mentor of mine constantly telling us to take “imperfect action”.   Go take imperfect, consistent action; your clients and your business will thank you for it.

1. The courses referenced in this blog are intended for Originators and can be found at the following Links:

HECM Foundations Certification: https://www.equitywealthacademy.com/HECM-Foundations-Live

LOC growth course: https://www.equitywealthacademy.com/offers/JLhaKcBs/checkout