STRATMOR: In Slower Growth Mortgage Origination Environment, Borrower Satisfaction Becomes Key

Superior borrower satisfaction will be essential for lenders to grow market share especially as purchase originations increase, said STRATMOR Group, Greenwood Village, Colo.

In the company’s monthly Insights report, STRATMOR Senior Partner Garth Graham noted as the mortgage industry shifts from largely being fueled by refinances over the past decade to having more of a reliance on purchase originations, many mortgage lenders will need to rethink their growth strategy.

“In a slower growth environment that relies more on purchase originations, the winners are going to be those lenders that are able to steal market share from their competitors–and the key to doing that is having a strong focus on borrower satisfaction,” Graham said.

While pricing will continue to be a factor in lenders’ ability to compete, Graham said providing borrowers with a “superior customer experience” will play a much more significant role than ever before.

“One reason customer experience will be key to competing going forward is that prospective borrowers have more convenient and widespread access to lenders’ customer experience ratings via social media and online sites that enable borrowers to rate their lender experience,” Graham said.

Graham identified “Seven Commandments for Achieving Borrower Satisfaction” to help position originators to grow market share:

–Make sure borrowers have an upfront checklist of the information they will need to provide;
–Contact borrowers well before the closing;
–Avoid asking borrowers to provide documentation already provided;
–Keep borrowers informed about their origination status;
–Close loans in the expected time frame;
–Make every effort to resolve problems; and
–Start the closing on time.

“With borrower experience so easily shared online these days, lenders striving to outpace the competition will need to intensely focus on these commandments,” Graham said.

The report can be downloaded at http://www.stratmorgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/STRATMOR-Insights-June-2017.pdf.