1. The Key to Giving Great Customer Service 2. CMP Live Training 3. Question of the month 4. Industry Events 5. Coming soon
=============== FEATURE ARTICLE ================= The Key to Giving Great Customer Service.
Borrowers Expect & Deserve Quality Service!
All too often we hear stories from borrowers who recount the harrowing experience of trying to survive the loan process. They describe what sounds like combat rather than a happy, rewarding experience. What happened? What threw things off course? A few homeowners who were willing to share their comments had this to say:
- If I didn’t call my loan officer to find out what was going on he didn’t call me. - The processor kept asking for things that I had already submitted to the loan officer. - My interest rate and costs turned out to be much higher than what I was told. - The only time my file seemed to get worked on was when I called and reamed someone out. - It took weeks to take care of things that should have only taken days. - No one seemed to know what was going on. - I could never get a straight answer - Problems came up 3-4 weeks into the process that someone should have known about right away -I was told that my loan would close in 3 weeks. It’s been six weeks and I still haven’t closed yet.
Sound like the situation at your office? We certainly hope not.
With the Internet and other ready references, borrowers are more sophisticated now than ever. It’s not uncommon to find that the borrower has studied up on loan program features and current rates before they phoned you. Consequently, you need to be prepared to meet your potential borrower’s expectation for prompt, professional service.
Giving great service is not difficult when you make it part of your system. You should continuously look for ways that you can “wow” your customers from application to closing. The more you exceed your customer’s expectation, the less likely you are to get your deal snatched by a competitor. While out in the field, we’ve had a chance to observe a few great customer service enhancements that a few originators are doing. Take a look at this list to see if they’ll help you to improve your service:
1. Meet the borrower at home or work to take an application in person. They love the personalized service and are more relaxed in their own environment.
2. Provide the borrower with a customized package that they can refer to for explanations of mortgage terminology as well as to get a better understanding about the loan flow (title policy, appraisal, underwriting, closing).
3. Send a hand-written thank you card right after application to express your appreciation for “putting their trust in you” or “allowing you to earn their business”. Then deliver what you promised.
4. Provide a “loan contact card” that includes name, phone, fax, and e-mail for all of the parties that the borrower will need to make contact with during the process. This card includes not only the loan officer’s information but that of the processor, appraiser, and title company.
5. For customers with credit challenges, provide books, articles, or website references for ways to improve their credit score.
6. Give a weekly or bi-weekly email or phone call to provide a progress report on the status of the loan.
7. Send a “congratulations” letter at loan approval that details what happens next and includes directions to the title company from the borrower’s home or job.
8. Send a second thank you letter after loan funding with dinner or movie tickets.
These are just a few of the things that loan officers are doing to set themselves apart from the competition. The most memorable part of the loan process should be how well the transaction went rather than how horrible it was. Visit our website at www.completemortgageprocessing.com for more tips and tools to help you become a dynamic mortgage professional.
---------------------------------------- REGISTER FOR TRAINING TODAY:
Reduce your file turnaround time with proven processing training tools. Join us:
August 4th in the Las Vegas area Old Republic Title Henderson, Nevada Visit our website for class details: www.completemortgageprocessing.com/lvtraining.html
--------------------------------------------------- QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q.How long should it take to close a loan? I'm a new loan officer and I've been told everything from 2-8 weeks. What's a good guideline?
A.Good question. You're getting answers all over the board because your peers are getting results all over the board. Those results are based on everything from the type of technology used, to the type of loan program, to the level of industry experience they have. That being said,a reasonable time frame is considered to be 2-4 weeks. If you're experiencing challenges getting loans closed within that time frame, take a look at the system you have in place. You'll need to identify the earliest point where delays begin and find a way to resolve it. After you've eliminated one time lag, you can go on to the next one. Continue this way until you've achieved the turnaround time you desire. ----------------------------------------------------- MORTGAGE INDUSTRY EVENTS:
More great training tools for mortgage professionals:
CMN Favorites - A compilation of the Top 40 downloads of special reports and articles from The Complete Mortgage Network.
Click-N-Learn Quizzes - You’ll be able to test your knowledge easily with these quick interactive quiz packets.
============================================ TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
If you have already purchased our Loan Processor In-A-Box® workbook or used our other training resources, we’d love to hear from you. Let us know what has helped and what you’d like to see more of. Leave a message at our Feedback line at 1 (800) 609-9006 x2128 or just click here to submit your comments online. You can also send us an e-mail to processinghelp@aol.com or fax us at (702) 543-5397.
