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For more than 40 years, the STRATMOR brand has centered on providing our clients with an outstanding client experience. We are committed to our Customer Experience (CX) strategy, and our brand value is substantiated by our drive to achieve excellence in every client experience. Therefore, it is imperative that our clients share their experiences (Voice of the Customer), and we use this feedback to continuously improve our programs and services. To enhance these efforts, we are excited that Sue Woodard, Chief Evangelist for Total Expert, has joined our team in an advisory capacity to help us take STRATMOR clients’ experiences to even greater heights.
As many are aware, CX is the hot topic du jour for lenders, especially as our industry transitions to a purchase-centric market, and Sue authors our lead article this month on the topic, “The Customer Experience (CX): Create Business Success Through a Culture of Excellence.” Sue does an outstanding job unpacking the importance of the customer experience, how to intentionally create, measure and track it, and the immediate steps lenders can take to level up their approach organization wide. Don’t miss this new article by one of our industry’s most knowledgeable CX experts.
Next time you’re talking about the borrower’s journey through your loan process, try picturing it as the obstacle course in the popular American Ninja Warrior competition program. That’s the road the director of STRATMOR’s MortgageSAT Borrower Experience Program Mike Seminari takes in his Borrower Experience article this month, “The Happy Path to Raving Fans.” Mike points out that there are many obstacles in the mortgage loan process, and if a borrower is tripped up on any one of these obstacles, you’ll be the one who will take the bruises when the borrower doesn’t refer you to their friends and colleagues.
Thank you for joining us for this customer experience-focused issue of the Insights Report. If you would like assistance with your CX strategies, please contact your STRATMOR partner or principal. We would be happy to help you create a culture of excellence.
By Sue Woodard July 2021
There’s a café down the street from my home that is a local favorite — and for good reason. The cheery red awnings and bright flowers welcome you inside, just before the friendly staff greet you with a smile. The food is consistently delicious, served promptly, and for a fair price. The owners even have a small section of art and gifts for purchase and they have water bowls for your canine companions on the comfortable patio. Every time I leave, I find myself thinking of who I might ask to join me on my next visit.
I recently visited another café and had a vastly different experience. After waiting for the three hosts to finish their personal conversation and see fit to acknowledge us, we were seated at a small table and told to scan the QR code for the menu. No problem, until the QR code didn’t work for any of us. Menus finally arrived, meals were ordered, but when the food arrived, one of the meals was missing. When it finally arrived sometime later, it wasn’t even the right meal. I left wanting to vent my frustration to anyone who would listen.
Talk about two very different customer experiences! Now consider the simplicity of a restaurant experience, where success is marked by friendly, prompt service and tasty food provided at a fair price in the span of one or two hours, compared with securing a mortgage loan. A mortgage loan is the largest financial transaction of most people’s lives, with a high degree of complexity, multiple players involved, not to mention the disruptive and emotional life change of moving into a new home and neighborhood. The stakes are high and it’s a tricky process to get just right.
Have you ever seen the television show, American Ninja Warrior? Shepherding a borrower thought the mortgage loan process can feel like an obstacle course competition with similar high stakes and potential pitfalls. How can lenders ensure borrowers stay on the “happy path” and finish as triumphant, raving fans?
STRATMOR Group offers a suite of data products and mortgage advisory services to power your performance–including industry-specific studies. Get the data driven advantage!
In this article, retiring Senior Partner Jeff Babcock offers some candid and straightforward advice to help lenders prepare for the inevitable downturn bound to follow 2020’s record-breaking origination volumes.
Using MortgageSAT Borrower Satisfaction Program data, we’ve pinpointed some relatively easy tactics that provide substantial improvements in overall borrower satisfaction.
Recently, Sr. Partner Jim Cameron facilitated two “deep dive” Operations Workshops with 49 mortgage lenders. Participants openly shared their experiences and talked about how the industry transitions to a “new normal.”
