How Mortgage Analytics Is Like Fantasy Football

The football season is in full swing, and that means the competition in fantasy leagues is heating up. But the digital gridiron isn't the only place where scrutinizing ones and zeros can reveal the X's and O's for a winning game plan. The granular data and quick decisions that can help field a winning fantasy team have a lot in common with the analytics tools that mortgage lenders use to monitor and evaluate their operations.

Data Availability

Gone are the days of manual input. Data has always been around, but only recently has the technology become widely available to aggregate and compile it in a way that allows lenders to access data in real time on their dashboard. Specialty websites now also exist for casual fantasy team owners to plug in a few characteristics of their league and get guidance on draft strategy. So long and farewell, box scores.

Data Volume

There is no shortage of data to be parsed, and a lender just getting into analytics can decide how much or how little they want to incorporate into their decision-making. Likewise, there are hardcore fantasy team owners who model drafts in every scenario imaginable, while casual players choose a team based as much as possible on a handful of easily digestible data points.

Agility

Lenders using analytics to monitor their pipelines can make snap decisions in reaction to changes in the market. Sound familiar? Think scooting players around your fantasy lineup in the event of an injury or poor performance. (Here's to you, Cuts, Bridgewater, Jimmy G., Keenan Allen and everyone else on IR.)

Roster Management

How is loan officer No. 1 managing their production workload versus loan officer No. 2? And how are both of them up against the star team in the office? Analytics can help you notice patterns, identify strengths and establish benchmarks against which teams in your individual lender branch can evaluate their production to counterparts within other lender branches. Fantasy team owners are familiar with this method of analysis and use it to decide who starts and who sits in any given week.

Unpredictability

Analytics don't predict the future, per se, but studying patterns can yield insights that savvy execs can use to their advantage. Is one loan officer better at closing a certain kind of loan than another? Are there days of the week that see a spike in production volume? Similarly, fantasy team owners look at teams in the context of points scored the previous week, players' upcoming opponents, and a host of other metrics to decide whether to start the player or leave them warming the bench. But it's not an exact science; anything can happen on game day. In both scenarios, success usually boils down to a lot of preparation, execution and a little bit of luck.