Jan/Feb 2022 RMM

FOR ALMOST 18 years, Paul Fiore has distinguished himself as one of the reverse mortgage industry’s top sales executives. He got his start with Long Island-based Senior Lending Network/World Alliance Financial and was part of the team that devised the hugely successful commercials featuring veteran actor Robert Wagner. In 2009, he joined American Advisors Group and helped transform the Orange County-based corporation into the largest retail originator in the industry, thanks largely to AAG’s commercials featuring the late Fred Thompson and his successor, Tom Selleck. Today, he oversees more than 300 people who originate loans out in the field and in three regional call centers. Reverse Mortgage magazine sat down with Fiori to learn how the past year has impacted his sales approach and to learn more about what it takes to be successful at originating reverse mortgages. Reverse Mortgage: What has the past year taught you in terms of how reverse mortgages should be presented and sold? Paul Fiore: A consistent and repeatable sales process is key to successfully selling reverse mortgages. When you get put into a remote work environment, there’s a risk that salespeople will operate independently and do things that are not consistent with what you teach. We doubled down on sales trainers. They listened to loan originators’ phone calls. They provided one-on-one coaching. The sales process is very much a consultative approach that allows you to understand whether you’re dealing with a needs-based or wants-based consumer. That has been the number one thing that I noticed over this past year, which has led to record levels of performance. Even new people, who have come into the organization during COVID, are producing at levels on an individual basis like I’ve never seen. The common thread is a consistent sales process and, obviously, phenomenal listening skills. Those are extremely important. RM: What were the top reasons homeowners sought a reverse mortgage from AAG in 2021? PF: This may be a COVID mindset, but we’ve seen more people establishing a line of credit as part of their Paul Fiore Paul Fiore, Chief Retail Sales Officer, American Advisors Group By Darryl Hicks From the Top 10 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022

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