Quicken Loans has once again received the highest customer satisfaction score on the J.D. Power & Associates annual originator survey. But even though the lender is a technology-driven call center business, other originators can replicate what it does, the person in charge of the survey adds.
Customer satisfaction with the industry’s origination process has improved for a third year in a row, as consumers are rating the application and closing areas higher, according to Craig Martin, director of the financial services practice.
The overall satisfaction score for the industry is 771, up from
Quicken’s score is 841, with BB&T a distant second at 798 and U.S. Bank third at 783. In 2012, Quicken scored 817.
The initial reaction others in the industry have is that Quicken is online and it is all about the technology, he says. While technology does help, why Quicken remains in the No. 1 slot is its culture and its operational focus on the customer, Martin continues.
On its end, Power does not concentrate on the technological aspects, but rather how responsive the company is to its customers, how well informed those customers are and how well things are being communicated to clients. Quicken does a very good job of being proactive with the consumer and keeping them informed.
The origination process should be about removing as much worry from the consumer as possible, he says. There is always going to be doubts and second-guessing, but Quicken makes the process go smoothly and it communicates well. And being responsive is part of the company’s culture, he says.
That is the differentiation point between Quicken and its competition. Many of the best practices that the company has can be replicated. The key for originators is to shift their policies and procedures to be customer-focused, he states.
It is not that other firms aren’t focused on the customer, but at many large companies, compliance and other areas are given a greater share of attention.
It will be interesting to see if Quicken remains at the top once the shift to where purchases make up the majority of originations is completed, Martin says.
Meanwhile, the worst scoring companies are three which have been at or near the bottom for several years: Bank of America, with a 734 score, and PHH and Flagstar, each with a 724 score.
B of A did show improvement from its 2012 score of 696 but it is dealing with past challenges and those have affected how consumers see the brand, he says.
PHH is a challenge for this kind of survey because the company does private-label originations as well as originations in its own name.
Still there has been improvement in the industry as a whole, but it will take time for these companies to rebuild consumer trust, Martin notes.
Power measures customer satisfaction in four areas: application, the loan representative, closing and contact.
Refinancings have been clogging originators pipelines over the last few years and some firms were overwhelmed, Martin says.
Now companies are processing applications more efficiently and they are doing a better job of providing customers with how long it will take to turn the application around. But another factor is rising rates, which have reduced application volume especially when it comes to refis.
However, refi customers gave the industry a higher score than purchase customers, 775 versus 765. This is likely because those who are getting refis are more familiar with the mortgage process, Power says.
The survey respondents from the past 12 months were broken out 65% refi, 35% purchase.
The score from first-time homebuyers is 772, while the score from repeat buyers is 757. Still, fewer first-time buyers, 61%, feel they have had the product options explained to them in a clear manner than repeat buyers or those refinancing, 74% and 81%, respectively.
The small percentage of consumers who have access to electronic closing documents gave an 830 score for the closing portion, while the 84% who used paper documents at an in-person closing gave a 772 score.
Right now it is a good time for the customer in shopping for a mortgage lender, and the big differentiator will be the customer experience and communication. So there is the opportunity for companies to move the discussion away from rates, he says.
Better service and a better experience will get the consumer into your shop in 2014, Martin says.
