Mortgage loan origination software salespeople for decades have swaggered, but they called it walking.
They were good at their jobs, they had fun, increased their company’s market share, made money for themselves and the companies they represented.
In may just be a sign of the times, but sadly, the executives in those jobs no longer swagger and they take far less enjoyment from their jobs than in the past. That’s because the loan origination software business is less enjoyable for salespeople than it was in the past.
Yes, the market has contracted, and a few vendors have staked large claims to the market and that is tough on sales pros.
In fact, I wonder if the defeatist attitude of some of these salesmen created the opportunity on which competitors capitalized to expand their market share. That means the difficulties some LOS vendors experienced may have happened even if consolidation had not occurred.
To be sure, salesmen for LOS vendors no longer seem to be as boastful as they were 15 or 20 years ago.
In that line of work, a little bragging has always seemed to go a long way. But the can-do, brazen attitude of the past is no longer in evidence. It’s as if they’ve forgotten how rewarding selling systems used to be and can be again.
Back in the not-that-distant 1990s, salesmen for these companies seemed excited to have the opportunity to sell these platforms and they never waivered in their belief that their system was the best available in the marketplace.
Selling the systems was enjoyable and firms wanted every one to know it.
For instance, Eastern Software would bring its people to shows, where they would dress in tuxedos. It was different, eye catching, part of the firm’s brand.
At one Mortgage Bankers Association annual conference, Eastern held a press conference where the entire team dressed in their tuxedos. I don’t remember what the news was, but I do remember the outfits. The salesman loved dressing like that.
Even the way LOS vendors spoke about each other was enjoyable—and reflected a confidence that sometimes crossed the line into arrogance.
Competitors were nice guys, often well meaning, but they couldn’t deliver what they promised to the lenders they signed and were frauds. They could sell the systems but they could not implement them.
No way. No how.
It was a spectacle of ego, technology, with a twist of greed that made these firms more enjoyable then anyone had a right to expect them to be.
Conversations were entertaining, comical, sometimes loud, but they were never boring. They would say, for instance, “Don’t you know my competitor and their salesmen sell vaporware. There’s nothing there, and even if it is sold, it will never be implemented. Come on, you have to see that.”
For instance, one vendor had a DOS-based system that the president of the company loved to contend was Windows. His claims to the contrary, everyone knew the technology lagged behind competitors, so to compensate, he spoke endlessly about its virtues.
He was personable. Enthusiastic. Bright. Full of dirt.
He loved to meet with people and lecture on technology. He did that either because the best defense for poor technology is a good offense, or maybe he was delusional enough to think his lessons made listeners better informed users of loan origination systems.
Perhaps the difference is not only one of personality but of refusing to fail: Old-time LOS salesmen knew they could sell and let everyone know that’s how they felt; today’s are not as certain and that may lead to difficulties. Because as Henry Ford noted decades ago, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Matt Strickberger is the managing partner of OnPoint PR and Consulting LLC, a public relations firm that represents lenders, servicers, technology companies and others. He was editor of Mortgage Technology magazine from 1997-2000. If you have comments or suggestions for future columns, email him at mstrickberger@onpoint-pr.com.
