Name: Andy Pratt
Company: Alexander Hall
I am not surprised by these results, as building societies have always demonstrated excellent customer service as a main competitor advantage over the larger banks and direct mortgage providers. Also, some customers intrinsically prefer the local feel of the service provided by a mutual, especially if a local building society is well established on the high street.
While there is a difference in the level of customer satisfaction, it is only 7% and hence banks must also be doing something right. With the corporate changes and Government involvement over the last year, the likes of Santander, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Northern Rock have now got past their problems and the level of service across the board has improved significantly.
The larger mutuals that are geared up for volume provide an excellent service to intermediaries. Nationwide and Coventry are prime examples, with Yorkshire making great progress through its Accord brand. However, the banks still take the lion’s share of the business from intermediaries.
It is easier for a mortgage lender to provide a good service when the business is coming in at a reasonable volume from a single source. Then the underwriting and processing staff can understand the business and potentially a team can be set aside to provide dedicated resources to that account and to deal with queries. The main requirement from a broker is that an application is acknowledged and that turnaround times are met, in order to manage the client’s expectations.
Name: David Sheppard
Company: Perception Finance
Like consumers, intermediaries value service but this has become a lost commodity in our industry of late. Sadly, there is not the competition in the market to make service a priority for some lenders, as they will still achieve their market share without it. We have long known that the majority of clients want a good rate first, and the service element is a secondary concern.
The mutuals that are left have had a tough time of late. The funding model that they work to has meant that the vast majority have not been able to be as competitive. As a result, volumes have no doubt decreased. Even taking that into consideration, the service does tend to be better when there is no shareholder pressure being applied.
As the market continues to improve, there is hope among intermediaries that the budgets for improvements will materialise. From simple tasks like ensuring that faxed documentation does not go astray, right up to better staff training and improved use of modern technology; there are so many areas that could do with investment.
One of the most important is online systems. The vast majority of brokers now prefer to use lender websites to submit business, but there are still cases where this is then printed off at the other end and keyed in by a data entry clerk. Just in the last week, one lender admitted to me that this process is handled offshore, which is why the mortgage offer was incorrect. At the very least, it would be good to see an end to this practice
Name: Katie Tucker
Company: Private Finance
This sort of research is flawed as it relies on the customers getting service at all. Many building societies reject customers in the first place on locality.
However, generally speaking, a personal service is what we are all after. For direct customers, this might be a branch or direct phoneline presence; for brokers, it is a live BDM and common sense underwriting.
Currently, building societies are more able to underwrite on a bespoke basis and impress us. Coventry and Leeds have maintained excellent service despite having competitive products recently.
Cambridge Building Society is the best example – when Abbey’s computer said ‘no’ to an extremely well-known jockey with good income and LTV, Cambridge’s local knowledge of that industry allowed it to agree a simple mortgage on terms to suit everyone.
Personal case ownership is ideal, yet the sheer size of some banks force them to split the process between one team for incoming calls, one team for decision making and one for outbound calls.
Since Woolwich moved some call centres overseas, it is very challenging to get an answer in response to a question you might ask when an adviser calls to read a statement off the screen.
Attitude trumps size when looking for genuinely good customer service. Nationwide is massive, yet is easy to contact and quick to resolve problems.
NatWest is another big player that is switched on: it deems its staff intelligent enough to use email and its underwriters actually call us with a question.
