While many lenders have adopted various digital technologies to help create an easier and more seamless digital process, there remain many gaps to be solved in the overall customer experience, according to a new report by mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group.
In the July Insights report, “The Customer Experience (CX): Create Business Success Through a Culture of Excellence,” Stratmor consultant Sue Woodard provides advice on how mortgage lenders should manage the customer experience.
“Search the phrase ‘mortgage customer experience’ online and over 178 million results pop up. No wonder ‘the customer experience’ is seen as the critical differentiator, even though it is often missed or misunderstood,” Woodard wrote. “Defining, understanding and improving the customer experience is definitely the hot topic du jour for lenders, particularly as the signs of rising interest rates foreshadow the dawn of a renewed focus on purchase transactions. It’s time for lenders to unlearn the reactive muscle memory of the refinance market and prepare for the purchase driven climate ahead.”
The good news, according to Woodard, is most of us are already customer experience experts.
“We surely know what a great customer experience is...and what it is not,” she stated in the article. “The key is to change your vantage point and honestly look at your own customer experience from the outside in.”
To start with, lenders should define their existing customer experience, something that a surprisingly small subset of lenders have taken the time to do. Woodard, chief evangelist at financial wellness company Total Expert, noted that while 82 percent of organizations agree that CX offers a competitive edge and 58 percent say it is their primary differentiator, only 14 percent are intentionally applying ongoing focus to customer experience as a crucial part of organizational strategy.
“Technology is a part of the CX story, but digital technology is simply a tool in your arsenal,” Woodard added. “Technology on its own cannot create an optimal experience for your customers or employees. Your tech stack is there to help ensure the execution of your well-designed CX strategy.”
Woodard advised lenders to start by asking themselves the following questions on customer experience:
Does your process have gaps? Is it consistent? Measurable? Does your team understand, embrace and embody the strategy? Is your CX living up to the standards of excellence you want and expect for your customers?
Lenders who aren’t satisfied with their answers to those questions must take action.
“With the market shifting quickly from refinance to purchase, and competition set to become even more fierce by Q4, now is the time to focus on creating or strengthening your customer and employee experience,” she wrote.