A keen focus on what the client ultimately wants is the core ingredient of his success
Ryan Dibble, chief operating officer of the Seattle-based real estate firm Flyhomes, doesn’t shy away from talking about what he calls his “client obsession.”
“I started out in this industry without any brilliant ideas on how to make it better, but I recognized that there was a disconnect between the needs of our clients and the products available to them,” Dibble told MPA. “I built a discipline of listening to clients and competitors to understand their needs, dreams, fears, stressors, etc., and I continue to be laser-focused on resolving the gaps that exist and building solutions.”
Dibble's customer-centric approach has deep roots, starting with his work at Washington Mutual for roughly six months before the company failed in the Great Financial Crisis, and then moving to JP Morgan to work in its investment banking business until 2012.
Subsequently, Dibble worked with Microsoft until 2017 – although his first brush with Flyhomes was in 2015, working on nights and weekends.
Dibble said that his obsession fully took root upon taking a deep dive into the mortgage industry.
“I originally started working with mortgages to help people achieve their home ownership goals,” Dibble said. “My expectations were that I would be able to make a difference in many people’s lives. What I actually encountered was an industry that moved slowly and was completely risk-averse, to the detriment of customers.”
“It was my personal client obsession that made me want to join Flyhomes in 2015. The company was focused on clearing obstacles for homebuyers and giving them an edge in any market with innovative tools.”
June 2018 saw the launch of Flyhomes’s mortgage arm, a project in which Dibble played an instrumental role.
“Working to launch [this project] meant I had to wear many hats and had to reinvent myself constantly as we worked to grow the team from four to 200-plus. The skills I needed to take the team from four to 30 employees were very different from the skills we needed to take the team from 30 to 100 and to grow the team beyond that,” Dibble said. “I had numerous ideas on how to better serve our clients and relished the opportunity to create solutions that aligned with the interests of our clients – including 24-hour pre-underwriting, earnest money guaranteed on pre-underwriting, and great, transparent pricing.”
Dibble said that this would not have been possible without the strong fundamentals provided by his diverse experience.
“My career has run the gamut of real estate, mortgage, and title and escrow,” Dibble said. “With that experience, I know where to probe, the right questions to ask, and how to identify the hard lines versus the internal rules/overlays. I’m not afraid to ask, ‘Is that your rule or the rule?’ I have also worked hard to maintain a network of experts I can turn to when I need help.”
