“People left good paying jobs to be a part of this company when it was nothing more than a concept… Investors took a gamble on our business plan but more importantly the people behind the business plan.”

There’s not much happening on my end. Of course I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek. By now I assume you’ve heard that controlling interest in both MERIX Financial, and Paradigm Quest, changed hands last week. It took a couple of days for it to actually sink in that the sale process was really over. The process had been going on for a better part of a year. It was all consuming, and all distracting. But now it’s finally done and we can all refocuses our energy on growing both MERIX Financial and Paradigm Quest.

Before moving forward I wanted to share some thoughts with you, and to acknowledge some people who played a role in the success of both MERIX Financial and Paradigm Quest. First and foremost, Kathy Gregory. The creation of MERIX and Paradigm was first formulated on the back of napkins, over a few libations. This was long before these entities were called MERIX and Paradigm. Back then we referred to these companies as Sales Co. and Process Co. From a napkin to a fully baked business plan was the next step. At that point Kathy made one of the most important hires for both companies, our CFO, Donald Zuill. Kathy, Donald and I believed to our very core that this plan would work but now all we had to do was convince some folks with money, real money. Kathy and Donald did just that. A group of individuals came together to create an entity which is known today as FFP, Five Fathom Partners. FFP took a gamble on a business plan but more importantly the people behind the business plan. To FFP, particularly John Donald, thank you for you belief in the plan, and us. We will always wear the shareholder value we created like a badge of honour. We said we would not fail you, and we take great pride in holding up our end of the bargain.

From a MERIX perspective, I want to thank a few individuals for their faith in our vision, and to put it quite humbly, your faith in me. You left good paying jobs to be a part of this company when it was nothing more than a concept. To Andy Kuyper, Lori Smith, Jill Paish and Lloyd Pritchard, it was my pleasure to have shared this part of the journey with all of you. To all of our loyal supporters, and particularly those who were early adopters to the trailer fee model, I thank you for your faith, and for demonstrating to the industry that the trailer fee model is sustainable. You helped to change the industry. Many lenders in the industry now pay on renewals. That didn’t happen because lenders wanted to be more generous. It happened because you helped to legitimize the trailer fee model. Now it’s time to move forward. To those who still wish to debate the safety of trailer fees, clearly there’s nothing I can say or do to change your mind. So I won’t bother trying. After all these years what more can we say or do demonstrate trailer fees are safe. So we’re going to focus on the segment of the market place that does get it. Oh, and one more thing – to our competitors who tried to create uncertainty in the market by suggesting that brokers trailer fees were at risk with MERIX because of the impending sale, all is fair in love and war. And I would like to thank you for stoking our internal fire. We’re coming!

Until next time,

Cheers

“We would never sacrifice our efforts to win the hearts and minds of our customers just to end up being average, from a market share perspective.  Volumes alone does not create business depth.“

Plenty of ‘how-to’ books have been written on building a sound business.  Plenty more will be written in the future given the old economy is being replaced by the new economy, the digital revolution.  A common principal, profitability, is obviously critical to any organizations success.  If profit is the key principal in building an organizations culture, that organization will not create any depth.  Furthermore, customers will see through it and they may come to the conclusion that your business is not authentic.  The mindset of the consumer is different today.  Consumers today want to do business with companies they view as being authentic; customers do not want to be simply viewed as means to an end.

The challenge for every business today is to make the enterprise economically relevant, while at the same time focusing on the visceral aspects of the customer experience.  If you can build a business where customers want to do business with you because they of the belief they come first, you’re building a business with depth.  With that in mind everyone at MERIX Financial is extremely proud of the fact that we were voted the number one lender in the most recent CMP Broker on Lender Survey. Eight medals in total, four of which were gold, speaks to our authenticity.  MERIX Financial wears its heart on its sleeve.  The underlying principal of MERIX Financial is to create future wealth for its customers, the mortgage broker.  We passionately believe in the trailer fee model because of the benefit it brings to our customers.  Some may dismiss the value of our model but I don’t think anyone can question our commitment and sincere belief in the trailer fee model; that is what resonates with our supporters.  What is also appreciated is our candor and honesty.  If it’s our bad we admit it and try to fix it.  We received a silver medal approval/turnaround time, a gold medal in underwriter support, a gold medal in overall service levels.   In a utopian world it would always be like this but we do business in the real world.  We had to face our shortcomings, listen to feedback from our customers and dedicate ourselves to improvement.  Our partners at Paradigm Quest have done a remarkable job to support our efforts and our customers made note of our improvements and acknowledged our efforts by making us number one.

For those who know me (and have actually spoken to me) know that if asked a question, I will provide an honest answer; as I believe the worst thing you can do is insult your customers intelligence by being disingenuous.  Diplomacy counts but honesty denotes authenticity.  So if you’re wondering if I would trade all eight medals for another $2 billion in funding?  The answer is no.  Why should volumes and authenticity be mutually exclusive?  If we could magically fund another $2 billion our goal would not change – being rated the number one lender.  The reality is that another $2 billion in funding would put us in the middle of the pack.  We would never sacrifice our efforts to win the hearts and minds of our customers just to end up being average from a market share perspective.  Volumes alone does not create business depth.

To all of our supporters who took the time to acknowledge  our efforts by casting a vote for MERIX,  thank you so very much.  There may be a time in the future when we may not meet your expectations.  That’s the human nature of business but as we’ve demonstrated since inception we will not rest until we fix whatever problem may exist.  We may not always get it right but that will never stop us from trying.

 Until next time,

 Cheers.

“My goal since day one was to create a company whose employees would be recognized as being the best in the industry.”

In some ways I find it difficult to believe that we’ve hit the six month mark already.  Yet, on the other hand it feels like a year’s worth activities have taken place in the first six months of 2012.  As an industry we have had to deal with the constant media attacks.  Personally, as CAAMP Chair, regulatory issues and media distortions have been at the forefront for me day in and day out.  Just when you think there might be a reprieve, or at the very least seventy two hours of tranquility, BAM!  Something happens.  It’s been that kind of year.

A sure sign for me that the first six months of the year is now visible in my review mirror is the mid-year Merix Sales Conference.  We just completed our seventh annual conference, and if truth be told I think I get as much out of the conference that our employees do.  I was a tad concerned that fatigue might get in the way of providing the right level of energy for our employees.  Since mid-May I’ve traveled to Australia, Poland and now San Francisco for the Merix Sales Conference.  All wonderful experiences but getting there (wherever there might be) and back is a little draining.   So, I inhaled a little extra high octane coffee and got on with it, and after the first day no artificial stimulants were required to manufacture energy levels.  The Merix employees provided that for me with their level of engagement and appreciation during the sales conference. I always marvel at how prepared our employees are when they come to the conference.  All pre-work is completed and there are no wallflowers.  They want to learn, they want to improve their skill sets and they want to enjoy the experience.  A big thank you to Genworth for participating, and for the educational content they provided.

My goal since day one was to create a company whose employees would be recognized as being the best in the industry.  Setting aside my rose coloured glasses for a moment, bar none the Merix sales team and support staff is a cut above.  I take great pride in their results but even greater pride in the way they conduct themselves professionally.  They will never do anything to embarrass the company. They treat their customers, be it borrowers or brokers, with professional courtesy and respect.  A way for an organization to ingrain that principal is simple; you treat your employees that way.  If you treat your employees with respect, dignity and courtesy, the odds are good they will do the same for their customers.  The purpose of our sales conference is to educate, refocus and get prepared for the second half of the year, and to remember a moment in time.  For the team it was remembering the sessions during the day, the excursion to Alcatraz, taking in the Giants versus Dodgers ball game, visiting wineries in Sonoma, and officially ending the conference with a team dinner in the most exquisite surroundings.  After dinner I walked out of the cave, dinner was actually served in a man-made cave at the winery, to enjoy a cigar.  I stood there by myself and took great pleasure at the sound of laughter coming from the cave.  These people truly like each other, and they all want each other to succeed.  From where I sit that’s an organizational badge of honour.  

On behalf of all of us at Merix, enjoy the summer.

Until next time

Cheers

It can be the most unnerving, and for some terrifying, experience.   There are those who make it look so easy but I suspect their secret to success is the ability to suppress the fear and anxiety of public speaking.  There are plenty of courses for those who want to become better at public speaking but no course is as valuable as practical experience.  Presenting in front of a large audience teaches many lessons, and the lessons are usually painful.

 There’s nothing more humbling than walking off the stage and saying to yourself, “well, that sucked”.  I’ve done enough public speaking over the last few years to honestly judge my own performance.  Really, that’s what public speaking is.  Either you’re “on” or you’re not.  There have been times when I’ve been in a middle of a presentation and I know it’s working.  The words seem to flow, the pace of speech is just right and the audience is engaged.  I measure audience engagement by Blackberry use.  Then there are other times when I know I’m not connecting with the audience, and god forbid if I have another forty minutes to fill.  That has to be one of the loneliest feelings in the world.  There’s no teammate on stage that can cover for you.  It’s just you and the audience wishing they were somewhere else.

Every time I go on stage to do a presentation I’m nervous.  Not to any paralyzing degree but enough to get the feeling in the pit of my stomach, accompanied by sweaty palms.  It doesn’t matter how many times I do it that feeling is there.  It was no different last week when I spoke to a group of realtors in Oakville.  For context, a great supporter of Merix, Mark Mighton, asked me to speak at event he was sponsoring.  It was the Oakville Real Estate Association continuing education session, with some 250 realtors in attendance. The presentation was being held in a movie theatre.  It was an interesting day to say the least.  My morning started by doing the opening remarks at the CAAMP Symposium in Laval, Quebec.  Off to the airport from Laval to catch a flight to Toronto so that I can make it on time for the presentation in Oakville.  Of course the plane was delayed by an hour which means I would be cutting it real close.  I’m providing ETA updates to the organizers of the event, and I know I was causing them some angst.  As luck would have it I arrived with 10 minutes to spare.  No time to decompress or really gather my thoughts, its show time.  So I’m introduced by the host of the event, and I say “Thank you and good afternoon ladies gentlemen’”.   Just then I noticed a woman, right in the middle of the theatre, dead to the world.  I mean she is out cold, head tilted to the side, mouth wide open, she’s in a deep sleep.  It’s funny what goes through your mind in about second.  My first instinct was to laugh, and then I started to rationalize.  “Christ, it can’t be me…I’ve been on for only 3  1/2 seconds”.

For 45 minutes I tried to avoid looking at the woman in a coma.  That’ not an easy thing to do because I know she’s there and I’m wondering if she’s really going to sleep through entire presentation.  She did.  In fairness to the slumbering woman, when the audience clapped at the end of my presentation it startled her awake.  She rose to her feet and joined the others in clapping.  I made eye contact with her and mouthed, thank you.  What a thrill for me.  I received a standing ovation from one person in the audience who didn’t hear a single word I said.

 Until next time,

 Cheers.

Our want for our employees success can never be greater than their own desire to be successful.

I was just reflecting about all the changes that have taken place at Merix Financial over the past 12 months.  There is no doubt that 2011 was a transitional year for Merix.  The two significant areas of focus was the implementation of new technology, and a restructuring of the Merix Team.  I would rather not get into the technology issues we faced this year because I’m having a good day.  No need to spoil it.  The human capital issue is top of mind for me because our staff is getting together prior to the CAAMP Mortgage Forum to set objectives for 2012. (more…)