What Path Will You Take?
Digitization of the Mortgage Process
By: Bill Dolan, CMB, AMP
Digitization of the mortgage process is transforming the industry when it comes to the customer experience, asset quality and risk, regulatory compliance, efficiency and cost containment. Those financial institutions and lenders who do not formulate a comprehensive digital strategy will risk losing business to their competitors and become irrelevant as stated in a study published by Cognizant.
A fully digitized mortgage process by mortgage lenders can provide significant value across a wide array of lender goals, risks and needs. Each lender will require a customized approach based upon each institution’s level of digital capabilities. A thorough digital assessment should focus on all areas of value associated with the following:
It is no longer enough to compete on products and services. How an institution delivers on its experience is becoming far more important than what it delivers. The Office of Consumer Affairs found that 83% of consumers will pay more for a better experience and according to the Walker study, the customer experience will overtake product and pricing as a key brand differentiator. Focus on the customer experience improves customer satisfaction, customer retention, brand value and ultimately leads to increased sales volume.
Within mortgage lending, significant improvement is possible in moving customers to digital channels and enabling more self-service options primarily through mobile phones, tablets, websites, etc. More and more of your customers are looking for self-service options and look to move away from the lending associate engagement. This does not mean that all customers prefer self-service options. A Global Contact Centre’s benchmarking report highlighted this point: “For customers 55 and older, the telephone is the predominant channel of choice for upwards of 87%. However, the number falls quite dramatically to just 51.7% for customers aged 35-45 years. This group will soon become a minority as this age group will follow the younger age groups in preferring immediacy and convenience of the digital channels to the traditional phone service.
Next Week: What Customers Want
Let SCA partner with you and your institution to help build your mortgage strategy for 2021 and beyond.
For a free consultation, contact Bill Dolan at (617) 694-2617
