May-June2020 Issue

Talking Heads It was a weird kind of parallel. I felt comfortable being in front of people. My leadership and sales training took off from that one call center venture. RM: You’ve met a lot of businesspeople over the years. What are some common traits or qualities that make someone successful? TA: There are common qualities across all industries and countries, but it starts with being humble and admitting when you have made a mistake or error in judgment, regardless of your title. Another quality is not allowing your ideas and your identity to become one. By that I mean companies lose billions of dollars a year when people cannot admit when their ideas are bad and cut their losses before the situation worsens. The last quality is the ability to remain “present.” Our CEO, Reza Jahangiri, is the strongest executive I’ve ever seen who’s present when he’s in a room. There could be 16 of us, that he asks 16 different questions and receives 16 different answers, yet three hours later he can go back to you and regurgitate what you said and have a response to it. That’s what I mean by being present. RM: What makes a successful reverse mortgage loan officer? TA: Sales is sales. The product is secondary. When you look at all of the sales programs, books, certifications etc., they apply to any industry. A successful reverse mortgage salesperson follows three essential tips: research, discovery and matching. Through research and discovery, you’re asking questions that can help identify an elderly client’s retirement needs and goals in the same way that wholesale account executives collaborate with their brokers/partners to identify a “match” in their needs and what AAG has to offer. Then you’re matching them to the appropriate product and support options that help them achieve those goals. In our industry, it is also very important to set the right expectations. Both B2B with our partners and B2C with borrowers. Knowing upfront that this is not a one-and- done transaction is very important. Follow-up is key and often makes or breaks a sales conversion. Communicating realistic and mutually agreed upon expectations, on both sides, saves a lot of headaches throughout the process. RM: At the 2019 NRMLA Annual Meeting, you gave a presentation on how ego can impact success that was very popular. Give us the highlights for our readers. TA: Regardless of your tenure and position, before you can succeed in your role, you must first focus on you as an individual, as a human. Realizing that, where ego is concerned, there is both a positive side and a negative side. By default, when we all hear the word “ego” we associate it with the negative side. When individuals are asked what comes to mind when you think about “ego” the word “arrogant” comes to mind five to one. On the flip side, there is also a positive side to our egos. This is where our ambition, our drive, our determination comes from. Egonomics is the study and practice of identifying the four early warning signs of when the negative side of ego is about to present itself—not just identifying it, but changing the way you respond to ultimately change the outcome to a positive one. Alongside this concept, the importance of creating and supporting a “we before me” Talking Heads continued from page 15 16 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MAY-JUNE 2020