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Today it’s all about technology; Social media, online information, immediate access to products and services. You name it, it’s better with technology.
Mortgage lending, although a little slow to the dance, is now embracing technology like never before, and what tech can do for them. It’s about time.
Lenders now offer online product and pricing search engines, with automated applications and loan processing. Some have gone to the extent to nearly automate the entire process end to end.
When used properly, technology can be one of a lender’s biggest assets. However, it can also create some major problems.
Aside from the obvious challenges of programming and finicky computers (sometimes it seems they have a mind of their own), technology can distance a company from their customers.
Just think of those automated answering systems that send you through a maze of options before you get the chance to speak with a real person, if ever.
Lenders and especially their originators cannot let this happen. Mortgage lending at its core is still a people business. Applicants want to know and trust their lender. They may first shop online and wish to apply online. But, in the end, they want a relationship with the person and company that are providing them the money to finance their American Dream.
According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a lender must keep these “consumer wants” in mind, whether using technology or not.
- Personalization
- Relationship
- Education
- Transparency
- Options
- Convenience
Although many consumers today want the convenience to conduct business anytime, anywhere and anyway they wish, they still want a relationship with the company involved once they make their decision.
Technology can support the functions, streamline the process, and reduce costs but it cannot, for now, replace the personal touch.
To be successful, lenders need a good combination of technology and human intervention. These go together like the old horse and carriage; you can’t have one without the other.
