Our Symposium was amazing as always. The event consistently delivers tremendous value and  I love that I leave with new lessons every year.

My top 3 takeaways from Symposium 2019 were:

1. Experience is the Differentiator

I came away highly motivated, excited and energized about our business because of the stand APM is taking when it comes to building an experience that matters. This experience extends to both our loan officers and our customers. My belief in APM was reaffirmed through the incredible content that focused on helping our team deliver what matters – and that’s building a memorable experience. APM is not going to be pushed over by Fintech.  Naturally, we’ll have our share of technology to help control costs, but we will still spend the time, money and effort needed to build relationships and experiences that matter.

2. Humans are Still the Decision Makers

I truly believe in the value of the human relationship, particularly when it comes to home financing. This belief was strengthened after Kurt discussed the experience he had with an online mortgage company. It is imperative that we, as LOs, listen, understand the circumstances and educate our customers based on their individual situations.  There is tremendous value in the human relationship and the ability to comprehend context for each customer. There isn’t a bot out there that is capable of doing that.

3. Humans are Still the Differentiator

We continue to experience an abundance of new technology in the industry – and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We need some of that technology to keep the costs per loan down. However, I’m heartened to hear that, at APM, our technology will still have a human at the helm to ensure we’re delivering anything but a standard response. Of course we’re going to utilize technology, but APM will do so while remaining conscious of the human connection. The value of this cannot be overlooked, as it instills trust, confidence and credibility in the loan process.