Reverse mortgage vet Bruce Simmons on success in sales: ‘What is my why?’

At last week’s Reverse Mastermind Summit in Tennessee, Bruce Simmons of American Liberty Mortgage shared some of the secrets behind his successful career as a reverse mortgage originator. His motivational message to the audience centered helping them answer a key question: What is my why?

Simmons, who’s based in Denver, outlined three key steps he’s learned over the course of more than 20 years in reverse mortgages — a commitment to setting goals, daily actions to achieve them, and having the right sales mindset with clients and referral partners. He shared a quote from Tammy Saul of Federal Hill Mortgage that encapsulates his views: “Commitment is the action you take long after the feeling you have when you make the commitment leaves you.”

Part of that commitment, Simmons said, is to constantly ask “why?” and dig beneath surface-level motivations like money or security. Inevitably, the root answers for loan officers and their clients are about retirement security and providing financial peace of mind to loved ones.

In the late 1980s, Simmons experienced a life-changing moment when his dad got sick and required open heart surgery. “I’ll never forget how he looked after that surgery. He was so frail and weak, and he was only 50 years old,” Simmons remarked. “I’ve got to tell you, seeing my dad, who had never been sick a day in his life, suffering like that in the hospital, that was a wake-up call to me.”

Although Simmons was young and in good shape, having recently left the U.S. Army, his diet wasn’t healthy. His dad’s illness provided a “why” to change that. Simmons began to cut out fast food and run. Eventually, he began competing in Tough Mudder events to improve his strength and endurance.

“What I was missing wasn’t discipline. It was commitment, because commitment needs a goal,” he explained. “I didn’t complete all those runs because I was some athlete. I completed them because I had a reason I couldn’t walk away from — I could see my dad in that hospital every time I felt like I wanted to stop.”

Like any other type of sales environment, reverse mortgages require patience and tenacity. Simmons cited a recent analysis showing that 80% of sales require five or more follow-ups to close, but more than 90% of salespeople give up before that point.

He advised fellow LOs to plan out at least a portion of their day the night before, and to use techniques like time blocking for client calls and other high-priority tasks. Having an “accountability partner” can also be helpful for staying on track, he said.

“If you don’t have somebody in your office that’s going to hold your feet to the fire, look to your left and right,” Simmons said. “The people in this room, they don’t have to be in your office. You can go across the country nowadays, reach out to somebody and ask them to be your accountability partner.”

As more proof of his own consistency, Simmons has been doing a 30-minute radio show each week for the past nine years that serves as an educational and marketing tool for prospective clients.

“I pay money to be on their radio show. They don’t pay me; I pay them,” he explained. “I signed the contract and I know my producers there are counting on me to deliver. They hold my feet to the fire. I find a way to get it done. It’s so important to do that.”

Much of the subject matter of the show is tied to having a positive sales mindset and developing a value proposition. “I look at this and I say, ‘I help people live a better life with a reverse mortgage,’” Simmons said. “You’ve got to have that mindset, because if you don’t, nothing else is going to happen.”