Greg Williamson

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  www.cameronstreet.ca/Page.asp?pageid=20 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/2/2005    Last Visited: 5/3/2007  

  Greg Williamson, AMPPresident - Canada Mortgage Direct

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  Canada Mortgage Direct - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/14/2008    Last Visited: 10/14/2008  

  Greg WilliamsonAMPPresident

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  Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2008    Last Visited: 8/22/2008  

  "Since the beginning, it has been my goal to create a unique mortgage brokerage experience for the clients and mortgage professionals of Canada Mortgage Direct alike," says Greg Williamson, CEO of Canada Mortgage Direct, a finalist for the CMHC Award for Mortgage Brokerage of the Year (Independent/Non Franchise).

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  Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/1/2006    Last Visited: 8/22/2008  

  Greg Williamson, broker/owner of Canada Mortgage Direct in Calgary, became a partner in just such a deal less than two years ago.Williamson was approached by Calgary-based Royal LePage Foothills real estate broker Ted Zaharko and a contract was formalized.
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  "Initially, my response was I wasn't too crazy about that idea," says Williamson.
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  Williamson, however, is convinced."There are a lot of people who struggle in prospecting but can actually do the deals and be a good sales person when they get deals handed to them," he says.
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  "Now, would Greg Williamson go and work for 50%?Absolutely not.But all I have to do is put two other people in there and manage and coach them and give them support and then I still make money at it.So, it's more of looking at it as a business owner," he says.
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  "To a certain extent, even in my local marketplace, I took a lot of heat for doing this deal," Williamson admits."I still do, to a certain extent.And I've often thought it's unfortunate.Calgary's made up of a lot of long-term, been in the business a long time, good, solid companies and so my take on it is they really don't want to change that easily.And I didn't certainly go seek this out but if somebody seeks me out and says, 'Do you want to do a business together?' I'm going to listen and, if it makes sense and I can make money at it, then I am going to try it."
  
  As for future partnering opportunities, Williamson says he has received other offers, including the potential to work with real estate offices in Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer, but he has turned them all down.He says there were two reasons behind this decision.
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  So, real estate brokers started to figure that out and say, 'Well, I want a piece.' So, that's why I think you're seeing more and more of that happen," Williamson says.
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  "You see the lawyers now getting in the business, you know real estate brokers are going to get more and more in the business and you see financial planners are considering getting into the business," says Williamson."So, my contention is that - not only in the mortgage industry but even in the real estate, all of the different industries - the traditional lead generation sources are becoming overworked or they're not working as well.I think that the successful mortgage originators today are getting a bit of blinders because the market Canada-wide has been so great that you don't really have to worry about it.But, if it changes, where are you going to get business from tomorrow?
  
  "I believe that the industry is changing and traditional lead sources are becoming different and less reliable so you need to find new ways to maximize those lead sources,"Williamson contends.

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  Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/1/2008    Last Visited: 8/22/2008  

  "There just isn't enough money to go around, so you're going to see much tighter underwriting standards," says Greg Williamson, owner of Canada Mortgage Direct in Calgary.
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  "I think that probably in the short term we've seen the end of exotic products," Williamson says, referring to less traditional - and riskier - products that led to the downfall of the US market.
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  Williamson from Canada Mortgage Direct agrees, adding that financial wellness centres are the best way for mortgage brokers to respond to the changing trends.
  
  "A couple of years ago, mortgage brokers started setting up retail locations," he says."The next evolution of that is setting up financial wellness centres with financial planners, insurance agents, lawyers, mortgage brokers and realtors in one building."
  
  Williamson believes that as 'the best rate' becomes less of a differentiator in the marketplace, brokers will have to focus on offering a full service delivery of financial services.
  
  "You have to be able to compete with a bank branch, but do it better than a bank branch," he says.

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  Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/1/2007    Last Visited: 8/22/2008  

  Greg Williamson and his team at Calgary's Canada Mortgage Direct have gone to the extreme with their Financial Wellness Centre.Opened for business in March this year, the one-stop financial shop comes complete with a concierge who offers a smooth transition from business to business and enhances the customer experience even further.The creation of the wellness centre reflects an emerging trend that is changing an old mentality where mortgage brokers were sitting in the offices of outside professionals, but very few were taking control of the relationships.
  
  The idea came to Williamson during his ongoing business planning - he is continually looking at ways to optimize his brokerage and stay ahead of the competition.
  
  The notion crystallized when he thought about how most of today's brokers are concerned about competing with each other for market share."It's really not about share of market - it's about share of wallet," he explains.
  
  When he examined his customer base, he decided that the more services he could sell, the better the experience his clients would have - especially if all of the services were offered under one roof.
  
  "Then I don't worry about what the competition is doing.I don't really compete in terms of market share," Williamson adds.He embraces the idea of customers coming to Canada Mortgage Direct for a mortgage and being blown away that the company is offering a plethora of other services from within the walls of its Financial Wellness Centre.
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  Williamson also acknowledges that not every customer is going to access all of the financial services available.
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  "We wanted somebody that wouldn't be starving and dependent on us for business - they had their own business but any business that we could give them would be good because, again, we've got that promise to our customers that we're not going to 'see you', we're going to 'advise you,'" says Williamson.
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  Williamson believes that the extremely hightraffic area of northwest Calgary, where his Financial Wellness Centre is located, represents prime positioning for a lot of walk-in traffic as well as an opportunity to charge higher-than-market rent to the other businesses housed within its walls.
  
  Offsetting overhead costs by collecting better-than-market rent is a sound business decision for any brokerage that can make it work.This move enables you to charge higher rent because of the potential that this type of business offers for all players involved.
  
  Although it's still premature to predict the exact amount of business that is flowing into the centre, Williamson will be monitoring the amount of leads each business receives.
  
  He maintains, however, that he never monetized the amount of leads he expected to flow to each party."All we did was say, 'Here's the things we're going to do to ensure the success.We don't know what that's going to be.' They were fine with that.You don't want to over-promise.We did say, 'Look.We're committed to making it work,'" Williamson explains.
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  Williamson even went as far as doing focus testing, because he says the last thing he needed was to go into this relying on his brokers to send leads over to the partners and referrals not being passed around.If the partners felt that they had been sold empty promises, the whole concept would fall apart, he adds.Another added benefit to help with the challenge of agent participation is the fact that creating this type of business ensures a recurring revenue stream for mortgage associates.
  
  "We are in a position where wecan create residual incomes from the insurance and financial planner sides of the business that the agents can participate in," says Williamson.
  
  "From our point of view, it's allowing us to give another income stream to our agent, which, of course, helps with recruiting and retention - retention being our main focus," he adds.
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  Ideally, Williamson would like to offer a couple of seminars per month and increase the supply based on customer demand.

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  Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/1/2006    Last Visited: 8/22/2008  

  Greg Williamson is the broker/owner of Canada Mortgage Direct in Calgary and a trainer with The Mortgage Training Group (www.tmtg.com).

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  Centum: Looking out for your best interest - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/6/2003    Last Visited: 5/21/2006  

  "As a CENTUM franchisee we now have access to the better financial products, technology, and business support, as well as superior preferred supplier relationships" says Greg Williamson, Managing Partner of CENTUM Canada Mortgage Direct Ltd."This will enable us to serve our customers better and to grow our consultant base to meet our business expansion objective of having a successful office in each of the prairie provinces' major cities."
  
  "As a CENTUM franchisee we can remain independently owned and operated but still have the advantage of being part of a larger CENTUM group of franchisees across Canada.This will contribute to our success in a very competitive marketplace," Williamson added.
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  For more information about CENTUM Canada Mortgage Direct Ltd. contact Greg Williamson at 306-790-3690 or by e-mail: greg williamson@centum.ca

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  FirstLine Mortgages - How to get a Firstline Mortgage... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/25/2006    Last Visited: 9/21/2008  

  Greg WilliamsonCanada Mortgage DirectPhone (403) 717-5555 Toll Free 1-866-997-6844

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  Hypothèques FirstLine - Comment obtenir un prêt... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/25/2006    Last Visited: 9/21/2008  

  Greg WilliamsonCanada Mortgage DirectTéléphone (403) 717-5555 Sans frais 1-866-997-6844

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