I don’t know if this is good parenting or bad parenting, but my wife and I give our kids a monthly allowance of $25, with a quarterly report card bonus: +$30 for A’s, $0 for B’s, -$30 for C’s, and -$1,000 for D’s and F’s. I am sure you’ve all heard the term by now, but I was more than happy to explain it to my kids as "success-based pricing." We even offer a 4% APR on their cash savings—though they haven’t quite grasped the math of compound interest yet.
This system has shifted our conversations from constant 'Can you buy this for me?' to a self-discovery of ‘Is this really worth five months of allowance?'
We track their cash flow, review their investments (birthday and Christmas money), and hold a quarterly financial check-in. This is when we remind them that they could have bought those Oakley sunnies they begged to go over budget for—but instead spent all their cash on stupid Squishmallows, Fortnite skins, useless stuff from the mall, and that ridiculously overpriced candy from the Ferry Building.
Why mention this? Because your mortgage business should be doing the same thing—just at a higher cadence (daily or weekly). At Polly, we have five business lines: core PPE, Lender Intelligence, API, Artificial Intelligence, and Loan Trading Exchange.
Let’s talk Lender Intelligence. Polly provides two key reporting mechanisms. First, our comparative data gives you competitor analytics—average rates, margins, and trends across institution types and regions. Second, our business intelligence tools dive deep into lock volume, margins, extensions, price exceptions, and profitability. Imagine being able to quickly see a holistic view of your business (and the wider competitive landscape), and tell an LO: “Hey, you’re spending 25% more on concessions than the company average, but your volume is the same. What gives?”
The moral here? Know your data. Understand your numbers. The truth always comes out in accounting anyway, and its way better to learn it upfront than from your CFO at month-end.
If you want to chat more, I invite you to visit with our attending team at the upcoming MBA Annual Convention and Expo in Denver, October 27-30. We will be at The Corner Office or you can connect at booth 412 in the Expo Hall. Reach out at sales@polly.io. I’ll be looking forward to it!
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Marcus Lam is Head of Solutions Engineering at Polly, operator of the mortgage industry’s first vertically integrated, data-driven capital markets software platform. For more information, follow Polly on LinkedIn or visit www.polly.io.