While looking back on a momentous 2019, I wanted to take the time to thank the partners who grew with us over the last year, and the thousands more who joined us. We’ve doubled the number of partners at
Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS) in the last year to more than 6,000 financial institutions (over 90 percent of which are brokers) and more than 25,000 LOs working with us.
QLMS surpassed all imaginable expectations and broke records on a monthly, and sometimes daily, basis. Those records were only broken thanks to the strong partnership we have with brokers all across the nation who we are lucky enough to call partners and friends.
It wasn’t just QLMS who had an incredible year, our partners have been enjoying an unprecedented level of success in 2019. We call it an era of abundance, and they really struck while the iron is hot!
I’m sure most loan officers in the country had a great year. Our partners, however, have been able to grow their business to even greater levels thanks to the pricing, technology, process and service we provide. In fact, our research shows that brokers working with QLMS grew their businesses three times faster over the past 12 months than those who worked with other lenders.
One of our dedicated partners, Loan Pronto, is a testament of that incredible growth: “I’d be lying to say low rates didn’t fuel a lot of our growth but I’m very proud we were so well positioned to let those winds hit our sails and grow like we did,” said Roger Moore, president and founder of Loan Pronto. “We had the staff trained and in place. We had spent well over a year building solid brand equity with our marketing. When rates started dropping, we were able to substantially increase our marketing and capture a ton of business. We had the talent in place to close the deals.”
What were new partners most excited about in 2019? Partners leveraged our multi-million dollar technology tools which deliver innovation at every turn, improving communication, adding more visibility and giving clients more options and flexibility.
As of Dec. 1, our partners interacted with The Answer more than 150,000 times. This intuitive online search engine is like having your own personal underwriter in your office, on call, 24/7/365. The most tangible benefit partners told us about is how it helps reduce their largest expense–loan fallout rates have sunk. The Answer can help them find a loan program that will work for their client, so there is no need to deny them.
As 2019 comes to a close, where are we going next? What steps can our partners take to keep the momentum going? We’re advising partners not to focus just on the day-to-day, but on the long game. We say, you shouldn’t just work in your business, you should work on your business. Strategize for 24-48 months ahead. Double down on technology to help you add more speed and certainty. Solve problems instantly and become a stronger mortgage pro. You have an entire QLMS support system behind you to elevate you and your business.
We encourage you to find new ways to grow your business efficiently in 2020. That may come from adding team members, after all, the most valuable resources in any business is its people–a team full of empowered, high-level professionals. They make all the difference.
Another important growth tip for 2020–build your brand and differentiate yourself from the competition. Yet again, we are here to help you with that. You can leverage our Marketing Hub, with exclusive marketing materials to grow your brand. This is a critical key to success as Loan Pronto has demonstrated.
“I always tell people that we are a marketing company (at heart) that is really damn good at mortgages,” Moore explained. “From day one, we’ve committed heavily to marketing through multiple mediums and it’s paid off in spades. Two years in, and we are 100 percent independent of any leads sources or aggregators, and we produce as many as 1,200-plus unique and warm leads per month. I always tell people that we don’t buy leads, we produce them.”
Once marketing brings clients in the door, our entire platform at QLMS is designed to help partners deliver an incredible client experience from pre-approval through closing. Partners should stay tuned in 2020 because new technology is coming that will play a major role in their business. It’s all about the speed of the game. I can only give you a small hint: We’re calling it “W1N.”
Also remember that partners can tap into the brand equity and credibility of Quicken Loans. You aren’t a competitor of Quicken Loans, you a part of our family and you have access to the technology and processes that made Quicken Loans the nation’s largest lender.
As we look back on an incredible year, everyone at QLMS is filled with energy, drive and optimism for 2020. We will accomplish even more amazing things and bring the best possible mortgage experience to partners’ clients. Our growth, and partners’ success, have shown how we can all become stronger together.
Austin Niemiec is executive vice president of Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS). In this role, Austin oversees a team based out of Charlotte and Detroit who provides the highest level of service to thousands of partner brokers, regional banks and credit unions, increasing the efficiency of home financing. Austin’s team provides technology, resources and regular networking opportunities to partners so they can offer the best loan products in the industry. Most recently, Austin served the company by leading the account executives at QLMS. Austin joined Quicken Loans in 2009 as a mortgage banker, where he grew to understand the varied needs of homeowners through his work with thousands of clients. Prior to Quicken Loans, Austin earned a bachelor’s degree in business, management and marketing from Hillside College, and was also a member of the football team. Austin resides in the Detroit area. Austin brings innovation to his roles and lives by the motto: “Always grateful, never satisfied.”
This sponsored editorial originally appeared in the December 2019 print edition of National Mortgage Professional Magazine.
