For the past three decades, I have been a fierce advocate for mortgage servicing innovation that supports the industry’s forward momentum while increasing operational efficiency and exceeding customer expectations along the way. And what fuels my excitement is our customers’ reactions when that innovation comes to fruition.
A precise focus on the customer experience should be a core tenet for all in servicing — one of the main reasons I joined Sagent was because of their innate focus on the customer. But I also joined because it was clear they were on the right path to fundamentally change the dynamics of America’s housing ecosystem to deliver positive homeowner outcomes.
As service providers, our priorities are reducing total operational costs, maintaining compliance with complex rules and evolving regulations, and — most importantly — providing a superior customer experience.
A simplified, single user experience (UX) that can ensure the operators, homeowners, investors — and every other stakeholder involved — can see every relevant detail in real-time across systems is the kind of true innovation that will propel us forward as an industry. This is the future of servicing, and the cornerstone of Sagent’s customer experience playbook. Let’s break it down.
The key to executing with excellence
Operational excellence is a major priority for every company when it comes to existing tech stacks and future build strategies. But what does that mean for servicers and the homeowners they serve?
For homeowners, this means being able to handle things quickly on their own, at their convenience, with the option of connecting with an actual human being when more expertise is required. This self-serve and on-demand connectivity is crucial for servicers to provide timely and reliable assistance to customers.
Human interaction will always play a role in the mortgage process, and the right digital tools will drive that effective engagement with borrowers — not push it away. That’s why Sagent and other leading mortgage-tech providers never lose sight of the fact that our customers — in this case, servicers — support human beings through good times and bad.
In fact, the “experience” component is the most important part of the entire product journey, and not just for homeowners. Servicers and originators need top-notch experience to effectively serve consumers.
When we claim our solutions enable lenders and servicers to provide a world-class experience for homeowners — by extension we must excel at delivering second to none support and programming for the servicer. And as service providers, we typically only have one opportunity to create that long-lasting, positive impression, so it must be done with purpose.
The user experience begins (and continues) with you
When it comes to UX, the technology, its effectiveness, and its ease-of-use — all are crucial components. However, what truly differentiates Sagent’s platform is having your finger on the pulse of the industry and predicting customer needs before challenges arise.
Cultivating the most exceptional customer experience demands that we remain aware of the promises we make to our customers, really listening to them, and being open and collaborative — both internally and externally — so we can implement solutions and ensure we’re exceeding expectations.
At the end of the day, we’re all customers. When you approach the next iteration of your UX, imagine it through the lens of the customer — as someone just starting their journey with your product. Think about when you place an online order and are instantly gratified with tracking/shipping — use that similar approach for your UX.
Transforming the customer experience
A better homeowner experience begins, proceeds, and ends out of simplified, unified, and automated operations. This means applying all the do-it-on-your phone advances in other industries (think retail/Amazon) to the servicing space, and that’s what companies concerned about UX will prioritize.
When approaching a new UX design (with your consumer lens in sharp focus), the initial step is to establish a set of principles that will guide the design. For Sagent, we focus on our five principles (cost control, customer experience, compliance, single UX and cloud-native open-API ecosystem) when it comes to UX innovation.
These principles heavily supported our team to establish internal expectations that influenced our strategic approach and ultimately helped us to interact with servicers and create a product they want to use.
Information awareness is a big deal within our industry, as the most successful operations often come around because of beneficial collaboration. That’s why Sagent offers this customer experience playbook, for a better future together. A future where we focus on the difficult and hard tasks at hand, so you can focus on today’s wins knowing you’re also prepared to win tomorrow.
To learn more about Sagent’s customer experience solutions, go here.
