When An Exceptional Customer Experience Becomes Reality

Business models get disrupted when new entrants figure out how to get past constraints that incumbents can’t. Historically, obtaining a mortgage has been a painful consumer experience, with visible opportunities for improvement, that banks and mortgage companies have had a difficult time figuring out.

My wife and I recently got a new mortgage with a company that has successfully disrupted these long-held beliefs. It’s not important which mortgage company it was, but the experience it delivered at every touchpoint was exceptional and the customer journey is well thought out. While most mortgage companies use outdated engagement and service models with limited digital capabilities, this technology company (which sells mortgages) has focused on innovation to automate and streamline the process of applying for and getting a mortgage.

My mortgage journey started on a Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., when my wife and I made the decision and started our research. Most sites we visited were for local and national banks whose idea of a “digital experience” was a web page asking me to enter information so someone might call me back on Monday morning. We then found the mortgage and technology company mentioned above and we were instantly able to chat with someone, but it wasn’t just anyone. The person I was chatting with was a licensed mortgage banker (let’s call her Jenn) who after a couple of pleasantries wanted to call me.

During our 30 minute conversation, Jenn had obtained enough information to start researching different mortgage options. Three hours later, Jenn called me back to review her findings, started the application process and provided me with online access and a short tutorial. By the time my wife and I went to sleep that night, we were a week ahead of where we would have been with a traditional mortgage lender.

The most delightful part of the experience that afternoon though was the service experience. Jenn understood what we were looking for and aligned her company’s capabilities with our needs. One thing was obvious: Jenn’s company had invested in training to not only make Jenn an expert in their mortgage offerings, but also an outstanding service professional. We’ve had mortgages in the past from local and national banks, but knew this was going to be an entirely different experience. While this mortgage company considers itself to be more of a technology company than a mortgage company, it was obvious from the beginning that its staff was a major reason it delivered a differentiated value proposition.

The technology really shined as we began the application process. For starters, the entire application process leveraged digital signatures. We didn’t sit in front of a blizzard of paper with a bank loan officer putting pen to paper (for those of you in wealth management, this was not a partial digital signature experience either). The website provided an easy way to upload documentation and information for which the mortgage company was looking. No faxes. No uploading documents via email. The website kept track of what we had uploaded. There was never a question from anyone with whom we dealt about which documents were received and which were still needed.

Our favorite part of the digital experience though, was something very simple: the to-do list. We were never lost in the process where we had to call the mortgage company to figure out next steps. The to-do list told us exactly what was next, whether it was to upload supporting documentation or an electronic signature. It also told us the date when the next task was due. My wife and I logged in every morning to ensure we were keeping the process moving along. We had never felt this organized and in control in any of our prior mortgage transactions.

While many think of a great customer experience as being largely about the digital experience, this proved that the interaction with a company’s employees was equally important. The team that worked on our mortgage was exceptional. In addition to Jenn, our mortgage banker, Kevin was our primary servicing agent. They were in sync with each other throughout the entire process. If one of them was going to be out of the office for even a day, they provided clear communications on who their backup was and how to get in touch with them. This mortgage company was not only easy to do business with because of their digital capabilities, but even more so because of their people.

There was one word neither of them ever said: “No.” There was always a solution. There was always confidence that they would get us to our desired outcome. No bureaucracy and no need to get additional approvals for special requests. They were empowered to make just about every decision.

There were two other unique experiences with Jenn and Kevin. One was that neither of them worked traditional 9-to-5 hours. Instead they had schedules that fit their customer base, which can only typically focus on things—such as a mortgage—before or after work. The other unique experience with Jenn and Kevin was how they used text messaging and proactively provided their mobile contact information at the beginning of the process. They were highly responsive to us when we texted them.

Our new mortgage experience was greatly enriched by the talents and attentiveness of Jenn and Kevin. But at the core of all it was the customer-centric culture of their company. The customer is truly at the center of everything they do. The experience we had was not by accident or an outlier. It is worth noting that this company has earned top marks in J.D. Power client satisfaction surveys and has repeatedly made Fortune’s list of Best Places to Work For.

Having worked in the wealth management space for a few years, this is the experience every firm would like to be able to deliver. It’s not easy to put together the pieces, seamlessly deliver to customers and be known as a firm with which it is “easy to do business.” Some firms focus too much on one aspect of the customer experience and journey while not investing as much in the others. The reality is that customers are having these experiences in other parts of their lives. New entrants in wealth management are thinking different and are attractive to clients of all generations. More established firms are, in some instances, struggling to articulate their value proposition. Leadership at wealth management firms that are lagging will need to embrace the reality that customer expectations are evolving faster than ever.

Those leaders need to determine initiatives and opportunities based on their importance to customers. These priorities should focus on solving the customer satisfaction issues, which can have the highest return. Viewing it from the perspective of the end-to-end customer journey, not just to solve specific points on the journey.

Eliminating customer pain points is critical, but also determining how to deliver a differentiated experience will articulate a unique value proposition. What wealth management firms can learn from my mortgage example is that, while the technology is important, not being customer-centric is the biggest threat to their business.