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Promoting consistency across the industry is vital – Oakwood

by: Richard Klemmer
  • 04/11/2013
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Promoting consistency across the industry is vital – Oakwood
Richard Klemmer, partner at Oakwood Global Finance LLP, discusses the importance of consistent quality customer experience from broker to servicer.

Brokers and servicers are generally seen to be at opposite ends of the mortgage chain. It is assumed that the broker’s work is done once the mortgage account has completed, while the servicer’s job often does not begin until post-completion, when the lender outsources aspects – or all – of the mortgage account management.

While this may largely be the case, brokers, lenders and servicers nevertheless have interests in common and can benefit from sharing best practice – particularly where customer service is concerned.

Brokers and lenders alike trade on reputation – delivery of brand promise – and should this be compromised at any point in the lifecycle of a mortgage account, the customer will be lost. In the digital age, this has become even more of an issue: today’s consumers are increasingly impatient and it is easier than ever for them to switch allegiances to a competitor brand or product.

In today’s market, when innovation is the word on everyone’s lips, the industry must remember that innovation should not be limited to the front end. While new and more efficient ways of originating mortgages will be welcomed by all of us, we must also all make sure that we continue to think creatively in order to keep up with evolving customer demand, which is no less intense post-completion.

No broker would continue to do business with a lender that was consistently unable to provide a good customer experience: brokers are too dependent on repeat and referred business to take that reputational risk.

But customer service does not begin and end with the broker and the lender. Other key participants in the chain would typically include the solicitor, valuer and of course the third party servicer.

Across this entire chain, consistency is key. All parties must understand what the decision-making parameters are for their part in the overall process, and recognise the brand they are selling or representing. There should be no doubt about the validity of information or advice that has been passed on during the course of the interaction with the customer.

Simple things matter. At every stage in the mortgage life cycle, good service starts with doing what you say you are going to do, within pre-explained timescales. Most customers are relatively inexperienced in the complexities of mortgage underwriting, and therefore rely on professionals for advice and support. Those professionals must be clear not only about what information or documentation they need from the customer, but also why, when and what they will do with it.

While customer service depends on up-to-date technology to enable it, it will live or die on the quality of the interaction with skilled and helpful individuals. There will never come a time in the evolution of technology when nothing can go wrong, therefore the way problems are dealt with will always be a vital consideration.

Customers will react badly to errors if they are compounded or ignored, whereas most people respond more positively if human error is acknowledged and put right quickly and properly.

Innovation need not be solely a technological watchword. When it comes to investing in new ways of improving customer experience, all professionals in the mortgage chain should focus just as much on their people as they do on their systems.

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