Quicken Loans recently won the top spot in J.D. Power’s 2016 Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study for the third straight year.
Since the company is clearly doing something right, HousingWire wanted to pull back the curtain on its success and find out how it stays No. 1, especially given that competition was a lot tighter this year compared to the past.
What did we find out? Success doesn't happen overnight, and Quicken Loans has put a lot of strategies in place to maintain and execute top customer service.
Mike Malloy, Quicken Loans' vice president of servicing, shares the following tips with servicers on how they can increase customer satisfaction, and ultimately, the bottom line.
1. Create a client-first culture:
If a company doesn’t create a culture that motivates its team members to deliver top-tier service, client experience will suffer. It takes more than just saying, “We put the client first.” Passion for service must exist in every team member and on every team. This culture should be instilled in every new hire the first day they step in the office, and should permeate throughout the entire company. For example, our CEO, Bill Emerson, and all our senior leaders whose businesses are involved, still receive every single client complaint email. More importantly, those leaders take a personal interest in working to resolve the issue for the client.
2. Listen to your clients:
In surveys, social media, through phone and email. Our social media team monitors 24 hours a day for feedback and we respond to clients, and virtually anyone who writes us, within 10 minutes. When a client knows that you’re listening, and acting quickly on their feedback, they take notice.
3. Listen to your team members:
In many companies, the people working most closely with the client are ignored when they provide feedback and are not empowered to take decisive action to resolve issues for those clients. Quicken Loans has outlets for all team members, including interns, to submit ideas and has a dedicated team whose sole focus is vetting and implementing these ideas. Last year alone, the company executed on more than 737 ideas submitted by team members.
4. Don’t pinch pennies:
We are consumed by delivering the best possible experience, not the cost of doing so. If a serviced client calls, they will speak with one of our Detroit-based team members on the phone right away, not someone in an international call center. We don’t charge for payments by phone or online, copies of transaction histories, or the many other nickel-and-dime charges assessed by some other servicers.
5. Make technology your focal point:
Lenders who don’t implement technology as the driving force in their servicing portfolio will continue to be plagued by inefficiencies and unhappy clients. Investing in mobile solutions for payments, escrow analysis, default solutions and educational materials is just the ante to play for the next generation of homeowners.
