The key to happy clients, earning referrals, building a strong brand, and standing out from the competition? Creating a top-notch client experience. While this certainly isn’t the only thing loan officers need to do to excel in these areas, it’s an essential foundational element. Some loan officers allow their client experience to develop organically as a result of the systems and processes they’ve developed to work with clients. Others, however, design that experience from the ground up and let it inform the way they work. Because the client experience you provide is so important to the overall success of your business, allowing it to drive your work is a wise plan. So, what can loan officers do to create a powerful strategy for thier client experience? Here are some of the most important places to start:
Make Each Client Feel Like Your Only Client
Your client experience strategy will likely have some less-tangible points, like this one, that you’ll need to break down. While there are certainly specific, actionable things you’ll incorporate as well, there will be elements that are a bit more difficult to quantify. Making each client feel like your only client isn’t a box you can check off, it’s a thread that needs to run throughout the entire process. Loan officers need to identify the standards and strategies that will support this. This likely means showing up to meetings calm and prepared, even if you’ve had a chaotic morning and are feeling a bit flustered. It means never making your clients feel rushed. It’s keeping the focus on their concerns and their needs. It means working to accommodate their schedule and creating a sense of accessibility.
Streamline to Customize
Streamline as a means to create a foundation for yourself. Streamline to promote efficiency and free up the time and energy to customize. Create the general tools and templates that will support your work with prospects and clients. But do this so that you are then able to personalize as you build on this foundation. When loan officers get so caught up in streamlining with efficiency as their main goal, as opposed to client happiness, their efforts can backfire. It can lead to a generic experience that doesn’t wow your clients. Whether it’s having certain informational documents ready to go or automating your social-media posting, invest in streamlining your work so that you can then give a bit more to each individual client to make the process feel personal.
Quality Check
Sure, we can monitor our client experience ourselves, but it’s not always the most objective perspective. For loan officers to get a more well-rounded sense of how the experience they’re providing is translating, they need to hear what clients have to say. Seeking out feedback is a great way to see what’s working and what needs improvement. It also shows your clients how much you care about their satisfaction. Checking in on online reviews can be another useful way to get insights into clients’ honest opinions. Regularly seeking feedback and occasionally checking in on reviews combined with your own monitoring of your work can help you keep the quality of your client experience where you want it to be.
Empathize
Another less-tangible element that loan officers need to define for themselves is showing empathy. You want to create a connection with your clients, you want to earn their trust, and you want to show them that you understand their situation. A great way to do this is to keep in mind that no matter how familiar the process is to you, for the majority of clients, it’s likely much less clear. Think about what you would want. What makes other service experiences stand out for you? Maybe it’s convenience, friendliness, or a professional’s clear commitment to your satisfaction. When you put yourself in your client’s position, you instantly have the opportunity to elevate the experience.
When clients talk about their experience with you, what do they say? What do you want them to say? And most importantly, how can you ensure these line up? Focusing on creating a high-quality client experience is an essential strategy for loan officers who want to grow their business. Do you have any other tips for knocking it out of the park with your clients? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Don Riggs
VP – Retail Market Leader
NMLS 132702
303.249.8274
