We’ve all been there. You can be a big high street name or a small niche player, but at one time or another, a lender will invariably have taken the flak for poor service standards.
In the current cut-throat lending market, it’s obvious that high levels of service standards are crucial – and it does not take long to realise you have a problem since if these are ongoing, intermediaries will vote with their feet.
Yet, no one lender has found the perfect offering. The mainstreamers may at times devote more resources to their direct operations and so alienate intermediaries. Recently, for example, a number of lenders have experienced difficulties when there has been a rush for fixed rate deals.
Some lenders which have invested heavily in technology have found this is not foolproof and systems which have promised to be revolutionary have developed glitches, leaving intermediaries frustrated and unable to do business.
This is one topic that never goes away. From reading the trade press, it seems that every week a different lender is castigated for their service standards, whether for delays, inaccuracy or faulty systems.
Although fortunately we have not made too much of a habit of it, Platform too has been in the firing line in the past.
Invariably, we have had issues stemming from launching a product range which exceeds expectations in terms of take up.
You can launch deals all year where take up is steady and then suddenly one will hit the spot exactly– so much so that demand can be overwhelming. It will not take long before news of this reaches rivals and very often the media too.
Dealing with criticism
In terms of dealing with criticism in the press, there is no point denying that a situation does not exist.
You will be able to deal with it much better if you put your hands up and say you realise there is a problem and explain how you are tackling it.
Indeed, a lender can learn from servicing errors. For example, you can plan to handle peaks and troughs better and before a product launch, look at resourcing.
It has been well documented that there are shortages in experienced staff, particularly in the specialist sector. This makes it all the more important that lenders invest heavily in training and have enough
decision makers available.
If you work for a company which is in the news for having problems with its service standards, it is not pleasant and can affect morale. This is why it is all the more important to make sure the team feels valued and that those in senior positions stop hand-wringing and take decisive action to put matters right.
Some lenders will look at outsourcing and this may provide either a short or longer term solution – but there is no point simply paying for this if they do not have the experience or authority to make decisions or if the lender loses control of processes.
Providing consistency
If there is one thing that matters to brokers, it’s consistency. Binding decisions are vital and increasingly, there is insistence on speed.
The specialist lending sector has shown that it is capable of producing same-day offers and this is set to increase. But, no matter how much we benefit from automation – such as with credit checks – there are still always going to be manual processes in the mortgage industry, at least in the short to medium-term.
Typically you will need involvement from an experienced underwriter if it is a complex case perhaps involving a heavy adverse case or where there is a higher loan-to-value. What matters in these cases is ensuring you have the people who are well trained and responsive.
It sounds old fashioned, but being a good all rounder counts for as much as innovation.
There is also the issue of cheap rates and service standards issues. Of course a lender has to be competitive. But, there are cases where some have decided to cut rates to win business and then this becomes a vicious circle.
If they are making less profit then they have less to invest in service and nothing else to offer. They soon get found out and if there are continual problems then being the cheapest will count for little and the consequences will be severe.
Communication
It is vital that lenders speak directly to packagers and brokers to see if they are making the grade.
We conduct an intermediary satisfaction survey every six months and also a key role for business development managers is to talk to intermediaries in the field and find out what they want – and where there is dissatisfaction. It is good news in our industry that intermediaries are prepared to be frank – otherwise the exercise is meaningless.
This is a market where there is a lot of talk among lenders and brokers about who is coming up with the goods – and who is struggling. I certainly would not knock any company which experiences short-term problems, but the key is to learn from such experiences.
There is no room for complacency for any of us. We are all going to face gripes about service to some degree – so while it’s tough for everyone, it’s also a question of picking yourself up, taking a cool look at what caused the problem and doing your best to make sure you don’t fall down again.
