A novel idea

by. Tim Mislansky

One of the most frequent comments I hear or see from Credit Unions is how do we get more of our applications to close? You do all the work to meet with the borrower, provide an initial underwriting review or pre-approval and then the loan never closes.

What a waste of time and energy….but how do we fix it?

I recently read a great article by Garth Graham on the website for National Mortgage News. He puts forward a simple concept that is pure genius and a novel idea. We need to treat mortgage applications like real people and not putting them on the defensive during the process.

How do you do this? Read on….

The author believes the best way to drive up conversion is to consider how every interaction with the consumer has the chance to increase or decrease conversion of the loan application into a closed deal.

Consider how you ask your borrowers for items, such as proof of income or an explanation of credit.

Do you tell a member, “I’m going to need proof of that”? or “You’re going to have to document that?”

If I was told that it would cause me to think the person didn’t believe me and I would think hard about picking another lender.

Our goal is to loan money to people to buy homes. Not make them feel like they are part of the Spanish Inquisition.

So think about how you ask borrowers questions. Is it a conversation with them or should you go buy one of those heat lamps you can put on the borrower and make them sweat out the application process. I think you know what would be more memberlicious.

By the way, here’s the full article from Graham Garth.

continue reading »