Mortgage industry executives --- especially executives in mid-size and smaller lenders --- tend to be action versus planning oriented; entrepreneurial as opposed to corporate in their behavior. Further, they generally dislike overhead units --- business units that are not directly involved in either originating or servicing loans. This is why most mid-size and smaller firms do not have a planning staff and consequently a strategic plan to guide their actions, preferring instead to function opportunistically and frequently in an undisciplined fashion. And running a business this way worked for most companies in the "rising tide lifts all boats" environment that characterized the mortgage industry for more than 50 years following World War II. To put it bluntly, during this time-frame a lender just didn't have to be particularly good to do well.

Going forward, this will simply not be the case. For many reasons, home ownership rates and home price inflation are expected to slow dramatically over the coming decades, thereby radically slowing the growth of the mortgage industry. Concentration of mortgage servicing into just a handful of very large lenders is likely to make it more difficult for mid-size and smaller lenders to originate loans for repeat borrowers, leaving them with a market comprised of repeat borrower leftovers and a shrinking base of first-time home buyers. And the regulatory environment --- in response to many abuses and other conditions that contributed to the recent "meltdown"of the industry --- is likely to be much tougher and demanding of strict compliance.

For mid-size and smaller lenders, competing in this new business environment will not be easy. Nonetheless, STRATMOR Group believes that such companies can compete and even prosper. But not by "winging it" or by operating "business-as-usual." Rather, we believe that successful lenders in the mid-size and smaller lender segments will be those lenders that can both plan and execute well, i.e., do the right things in the right way.

For more than 20 years, STRATMOR Group has worked with lenders of all sizes in strategy development --- helping them figure out the right things to do. Our assistance is focused on helping companies to:

• Define their business Mission in practical terms that make it clear what activities are and are not within the scope of the business.
• Create Objectives that clearly focus the organization on the things they must do well in order to be successful
• Set quantitative and qualitative Goals for specific performance measures that must be achieved over the planning horizon
• Quantify the differences between their current performance and go-forward Goals, thereby defining the "gaps" that must be closed by new strategies and initiatives
• Develop new strategies and action plans --- involving sales, marketing and back office initiatives --- designed to close the gaps  

The end result is a clear road map for the future --- a road map that can make clear to all current and prospective employees what the company is trying to accomplish, why and how.