Industry Publications: “This Year’s Vendor Awards Have Never Been More Affordable”
Nominations now open to any vendor with a valid credit card and a dream
THE MORTGAGE SCOOP POOP Satire for the Broker Nation | The Broker Journey
Several prominent mortgage industry publications announced this week that nominations are now open for their annual vendor awards, which recognize the most innovative, most impactful, and most “punctual-with-their-payment” companies in the mortgage space.
“We are committed to celebrating excellence,” said a spokesperson for one publication, which will be referred to here as Mortgage News One, because there are several of them and they are all doing this. “Our rigorous selection process ensures that only the most deserving vendors receive recognition.”
The rigorous selection process begins with a generic nomination form and ends with an invoice.
Mortgage News One’s awards program, now in its eleventh year, has grown significantly since its launch, which industry observers attribute to either a dramatic increase in vendor excellence or the fact that the nomination fee has been broken into three easy installments.
This year’s award categories include Best Technology Vendor, Best Service Provider, Most Innovative Solution, and Best Vendor Who Renewed Their Media Package Before March 31st. The last category is new this year and is proving extremely competitive.
“We had a record number of nominees,” said Mortgage News One’s Director of Awards and Sustainable Revenue Streams. “The caliber of this year’s class is truly extraordinary.”
When asked how nominees were evaluated, the director explained that a panel of independent judges reviews each submission based on innovation, client satisfaction, and whether it will help generate more website traffic. The judges, who are employees of Mortgage News One, evaluated 200 vendors over lunch, which was sponsored by one of the award winners.
Winners will be announced on Mortgage News One’s social media channel, and they will receive a glass trophy, a digital badge for their website, and a framed certificate suitable for the lobby. And finally, they will be featured in the special edition of their magazine, which is read primarily by other vendors who also won awards.
Loan officers, who are the actual end users of most of these vendor products, were not consulted in the judging process. They were, however, sent an email about subscribing to the magazine.
Past winners report that the award has been enormously valuable for their sales and marketing efforts, particularly the digital badge, which generates significant trust among mortgage professionals who assume it was based on merit alone.
“When prospects see that we’ve been named a top vendor four years running, it really opens doors,” said one award winner who has paid the nomination fee four years running. “It validates everything we’ve paid…I mean built.”
Nominations close April 15th. The magazine discount expires March 31st. Mortgage News One wishes all nominees the very best and looks forward to celebrating their excellence (pending payment confirmation).
At press time, a vendor who had won the award every year since its inception had just been named to the awards selection committee. He called it an honor. Mortgage News One called it a platinum sponsorship.
The Mortgage Poop is satire. The nomination fees are non-refundable.