Turning Data Into Intelligence: The Ultimate Cliché

Many of the big players in big data claim to help you turn data into intelligence. We are going to jump on that cliché bandwagon, too. Truth be told, here at Mortgage MarketSmart, we are kings and queens of cliché—especially when we're talking about markets and market intelligence. To us, it's clear as a bell that the keys to sustainability in an environment like today's are not found in the old school, reactionary, and transactional ways of yesterday. Despite the fact that so many lenders got burned and came in a day late and a dollar short after the housing crisis, there still are industry players stuck in the pages of history—depending on gut feelings; believing that quantifying future market opportunity is a crap shoot; and creating top-down, cookie cutter strategies that simply don't work over time and, in the long run, break the bank (literally).

Yet, far more lenders are looking at the big picture, where it is a no brainer to go back to the drawing board, and start making decisions that are informed by market-level, forward-looking data. Once they use this kind of intelligence and compare apples to apples (or, in this case, market to market), they see that one lender's bad market (garbage) is another lender's great market (treasure). It's all about finding the market that fits like a glove and building strategies that prepare them for the marathon, not the sprint.

What it all boils down to is that opportunity doesn't knock twice. Instead of reacting to the industry's challenges and market uncertainties like a deer in headlights or a chicken with its head cut off, face the fact that things aren't what they used to be in the mortgage industry and market share is always up for grabs. Now that we've re-learned that refis are here today and gone tomorrow, let's get the ball rolling on sustainable, purchase-market-based strategies. We built Mortgage MarketSmart to make it (almost) as easy as pie to use mortgage market intelligence effectively. Here are 5 quick ways:

1. Market-based intelligence is mission-critical. Even if you think you know your markets like the back of your hand, Intuition and gut feelings can't help you quantify market opportunity. Sure, you know that the southwest side of your market is a hot spot—but how many more loans do you expect this year? Next year? It's easier to set market share and origination goals when you have the 411.
2. Get covered. When you see your loans plotted on top of opportunity forecasts, it becomes crystal clear where you're knocking it out of the park and where you've got to buckle down and get your head in the game. Mortgage MarketSmart's maps help everyone at your organization see eye-to-eye.
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3. Know when to dip your toe in and when to jump in with both feet. Not every market growth strategy is all-or-nothing. Our Market Comparison Tool helps you prioritize your markets to determine how to allocate resources effectively.
4. Don't abandon ship if it’s not necessary. Before you leave a market because you're not profitable, look at the market's opportunity and see if there are strategies that would be a better fit. Maybe you need to tighten your belt, or maybe you just need to sit tight.
5. It may be true that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. (But we're certain that you can't make him drink if you don't lead him to the water.) By providing your struggling sales resources with clear, measurable goals and arming them for battle with the intelligence they need to get there, you help them beat the street.

Before you jump into or out of a market strategy, look before you leap—listen to what the data tells you. It may have an ace up its sleep.

That’s enough clichés for now…let’s put a nail in this coffin and bury the hatchet.