Businesses strive to provide rock solid customer experience but many fall short because one of the reasons is the lack of technology.
In order to remain in business, one must evolve with the times.
Banks continue to evolve, rapidly adjusting to processes and relying on third parties to develop tools to meet these needs. Service providers who can find ways to effectively communicate and connect with the overall client relationship will stand out as industry leaders in meeting or exceeding client expectations, streamlining processes and ultimately reducing costs.
Most banks and credit unions are already set up to drive loans digitally. Loan volume has never been higher and the global pandemic has forced everyone to rely on their digital infrastructure. While most banks had implemented or were in the process of implementing a digital strategy, the sudden emphasis on serving borrowers through digital channels revealed major gaps in those strategies. Mobile apps, online forms, internet banking, self-serve Interactive Voice Responses or IVRs are all pieces of what was meant to be a seamless borrower experience turned out to be disconnected.
A disconnected experience has not only frustrated borrowers and lenders, but it is costing banks business and revenue. Banks, like every other industry, compete on the borrower experience they create and deliver.
How can banks transform customer experience (CX) to capture customer trust, increase revenue, and improve business performance?
Housing growth could slow in 2021. Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group expects home sales to rise by 3.8% in 2021, with the monthly pace slowing throughout the year. Purchase mortgage originations are expected to rise to $1.8 trillion in 2021, up from the projected $1.6 trillion in 2020, while refinance originations could reach $2.2 trillion in 2021, down from a projected all-time high of $2.8 trillion in 2020.
Despite the downgrade from Fannie Mae’s prediction of 2021, it is still a record number of purchases and refinance. The entire lending process is under stress to work more efficiently and faster.
Borrowers trust their lending institution with enormous amounts of data. This data raises the value banks can provide these borrowers. The information helps banks offer other services, such as wealth management, insurance, college savings plans, etc.
The bank is armed with the data to sell more products, potentially over the life of the loan, upwards to 15 to 30 years. Also, mortgage owners tend to be more affluent. That’s a very desirable attribute for a banking client, raising the stakes of attracting and retaining these mortgage borrowers. Banks should be challenged to double down on unparalleled borrower service to retain and attract these borrowers as clients. Innovative lenders embraced the idea of a better borrower experience, and now they are some of the nation’s largest lenders with the highest JD Powers Satisfaction scores.
Attracting more and converting current borrowers into clients increases revenue per client, which in turn positively affects the ROA (return on assets),a fundamental ratio banks use for benchmarking efficiency.
And with the preponderance of remote work, many banks are contemplating shuttering branches due to low traffic volumes. Without in-person interactions, it becomes even more important to design a digital experience that provides ease and security, while maintaining a feeling of human connection.
Consumers expect a seamless experience in every aspect of their lives today. From retail to healthcare to banking, these expectations define how consumers choose the organizations they trust with their wallets and their loyalty. Banks are held to the same expectations, and as digital has become a necessary core business model, every generation is now turning to digital as a primary way to engage with their bank.
Taking out a loan can be a highly emotional event for borrowers, as often their biggest hopes and dreams depend on getting approved. With so much at stake, banks that can make this process a positive one, fill the borrowers’ emotional need for a trusted advisor. And the old adage that people may not remember what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel, holds true. Borrowers stay where they feel valued and cared for. So, why is this so hard to do digitally?
Having an app and online banking are great, but if a borrower contacts you on the app and doesn’t hear back, or submits an online application for a loan but then is asked to fax documents over, frustration sets in. What’s more, banks leave money on the table when they fail to leverage every touchpoint with a borrower, for cross and upsell.
What’s needed is not necessarily more digitalization, but rather a connective fabric that ties the whole experience together. It’s Important to provide texting capabilities, and to have social media outlets such as Twitter, but it is even more important to integrate all the data together into one seamless experience which will drive not speed and efficiency but also transparency throughout the process.
The experience clients want is the primary cause of digital disconnect. For multiple systems and applications to connect, client data has to flow smoothly and securely. From your CRM, Underwriting and Core systems across which lead generation, application, processing and closing/funding occur, data needs to flow automatically and inform each step without the borrower having to repeat themselves. Most banks operate both legacy systems and newer cloud-based systems, which also need to connect.
The digital disconnect 67% of financial services consumers feel “it is important to be able to transition from one channel to another while engaging with a service representative”
Upgrade Your CX Technology to transform lending experience.
So, how do you connect the dots?
Contact Centers.
Contact centers have been around for more than 40 years but haven’t changed much. In a technology infused world and increasing dependence on social media, web and phone interactions, it’s time to rethink your contact centers’ role and consider the value of adding a CX contact center in the cloud that integrates with existing systems across the lending process.
Why the contact center?
Traditionally, contact centers have been viewed as a cost center for the business. Their true potential as profit centers, and furthermore as engagement drivers has been left unexplored.
This is changing.
Moving to a cloud contact center enables banks to take advantage of the ability to integrate their data and their systems, and take advantage of AI and automation to
deliver greater experiences across the lending journey.
Approximately 85% of CX financial service leaders agree that repositioning contact centers as profit centers is a priority today. But at the same time, 68% of those leaders feel their legacy contact center technology limits their ability to improve CX.
Approximately 71% of consumers say they are more loyal to companies that invest in strengthening their CX.
Approximately 75% of consumers say that it’s “important for me to engage with companies on my preferred channel”.
Approximately 72% of CX leaders of financial services say it is challenging to deliver a positive CX in loan servicing.
Rock Solid CX doesn’t only apply to banks. CX applies to almost every industry that caters to people.
Let us show you how it can be done. Contact Konnect Up today at + 1(510) 972-3028 or email us at info@konnectupsolutions.com.
You can also visit our website at www.konnectupsolutions.com
