During the recent Future of Mortgage Servicing conference, hosted by Phoebus Software, Target Group and the Financial Services Forum, 100 C-suite mortgage professionals were asked: “Do customers expect a higher level of service from their specialist lender than before?”.
Some 70% said borrowers expected “significantly more” from them, while 23% said they wanted a slightly improved service. No lender said borrowers expected less than they used to.
Phoebus Software said specialist lenders knew that they had to improve their service, and said technology could facilitate this.
It said borrowers now expected to interact with lenders seamlessly, similar to the service they would get with Netflix or Spotify.
Adam Oldfield, CEO of Phoebus, said: “Specialist lenders play a vital role, providing bespoke products to meet specific customer needs, but there’s perhaps less focus on maintaining the customer relationship post-completion. Where high street lenders can cross-sell different products and build brand loyalty, specialist lenders need to work a bit harder to foster a meaningful relationship. The reality is that retention strategy starts as soon as you have that first interaction with the customer, and every minute it goes beyond that.
“Customers’ expectations of service are changing, fuelled by their experiences with service providers in other industries. Customers now expect to interact with their mortgage providers in the same seamless way they do with Netflix or Spotify.
“We believe technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have an important role to play in understanding and meeting customers’ needs. We don’t see them replacing the human touch, which is so important in the specialist market, but rather as an enabler of great customer service.”
Lenders must own customer relationships
A separate poll revealed that 70% of mortgage professionals felt specialist lenders needed to take ownership of the customer relationship.
Pete O’Connor, CEO of Target Group, said it was important to get the dynamic right.
He added: “We know there can sometimes be a friction between broker and lender about who owns the customer relationship, but real success comes from both working together to deliver the best outcome.
“For me, it’s less about ownership and more about partnership. You have to earn the right to do business with the customer. By working together and delivering great service, then you can build an ongoing relationship that will reap rewards years down the line.”
