Recently, two experiences in my personal life gave me pause, making me think about our business, our industry and our process. They also reminded me how every interaction with a potential consumer impacts their overall perception of you and your company.
My first experience was shopping for a new car, which, while exciting, can be a painful process. I visited numerous dealerships over several weeks. I noted that each dealership provided an entirely different experience. Depending on the day of the week, the day of the month and most importantly, the time of day, the attention and service I experienced was completely different and unique. In some instances, the salesperson did an interview to confirm budget, needs, interests and priorities. Most were capable at capturing my contact information, but the level of detail varied; some simply asked for an email and phone number, while others did a full CRM-style collection of information. Many, however, paid little attention, appeared tired and distracted, and simply wanted to complete the test drive as quickly as possible, then assess how serious of a buyer I was and whether I was ready to make a same-day commitment.
As the consumer in this situation, my experience made me question the dealership, the salesperson’s style and the overall feeling I had when I left each location. Despite comparable models and competitive pricing, I found myself gravitating toward the salesperson who took the time to work with me, was truly interested in my needs and priorities, and was not in any rush to firm up my commitment that day.
This sentiment evolved in the weeks following the process. While I was not ready to make a final decision after that initial test drive, I left each dealership interested. However, fewer than half of the sales representatives followed up with me, and of those who did, only one followed up more than once. The car and dealership at the top of the list quickly gravitated toward the bottom after the representative who spent an hour and a half with me failed to follow up.
It occurred to me that in our industry, the borrower who calls, emails, or hears from us by phone or email may often feel the same way. In light of this, here are some questions you should be asking yourself and your sales team:
Is every prospective borrower being educated on the product and their options, and are they interviewed to determine their needs, goals and reasons for pursuing a HECM? Is each and every member of your team treating them the same way and working together to satisfy the borrower’s goals? Are you capturing all of their information into your CRM for mining in the future, regardless of whether or not they have an immediate need for a HECM?
Are you treating every borrower the same, regardless of where they are from or the size of their home or, ultimately, the size of their loan?
Are you treating every borrower the same on the first Monday of the month as you are on the last day of funding or closing for the month? If someone calls in at 4 p.m. on a Friday at the end of the month, will that borrower experience the same level of service and attention?
What impression does the consumer have after talking with one of your LOs? What impression do they have after receiving your information by email or by mail? Is it always consistent from the team to all consumers?
Is it always professional, informative and helpful?
Finally, is there pressure to get a firm commitment on the first interaction or does the prospective consumer feel that they are working with a patient, professional and successful licensed mortgage consultant who will work with them no matter how long the process or decision takes?
The key points to the left are what will always differentiate the long-term professionals from the quick-buck ones and pushy salespeople. Accordingly, these steps will separate the good, quality loans from the rest, cultivating relationships that will build business, grow your database, and lead to outstanding referrals and five-star reviews.
The second experience I had was with my own personal refinance. I knew it was finally time to lock in for myself the low rates all of my forward originator colleagues had been selling.
While I am intimately familiar with every detail of the reverse loan process, it has been a while since I refinanced my loan. This new experience for me on the consumer side demonstrated how daunting the process can be and how important elevated customer service and communication is. My experience made me really think about how we do business on the reverse side.
I went into the refi process with more knowledge than the average borrower, but I was still overwhelmed and frustrated. I quickly understood how aggravating and intimidating this could be for most borrowers.
First, the sheer volume of paper: disclosures and documentation, sent via FedEx, USPS and email, is confusing, overwhelming and repetitive. Does your borrower clearly know what they will receive and when, and what does and does not need to be signed and returned, or simply reviewed and then retained by them? Do they understand that additional documentation will be necessary depending on other changes that may occur during the process?
Next you must collect all of the necessary documentation, a daunting task. Is your processing team calling the borrower? For me, receiving a personal call from the processor made a big difference and helped me balance the email sent with the list of documentation needed. The personal touch always makes a difference. Furthermore, with all of the additional documentation needed these days for any loan, putting all of that information in front of the consumer early made a big difference.
The timing for the next steps—and communicating that to the borrower—was crucial. I honestly had no idea how long it would take to finalize the submission, get the loan into underwriting and receive conditions. Constant and regular communication from the processing team helped keep me in the loop and prevented me from having to ask for updates all the time. They essentially beat me to the punch!
Finally, for reviewing and meeting the conditions, another phone call from processing, an email, and an honest and open expectation on timeframe (and a reiteration that rate and fees and numbers are all still good and locked in) helped keep us on track and feeling good about getting to the finish line.
As with HECMs, some forward loans can take a long time from submission to closing, depending on the situation, market, rates and industry volume. Being honest and upfront with the consumer on the stages, steps, timeframes and documentation can make all the difference in ensuring that your borrower walks away from their closing happy, satisfied and eager to refer more business your way.
Regardless of industry, exceptional service always stands out. Think about how the customer feels from the first contact and how they will feel at the end of the loan process. You can be certain your business will benefit.
