Three Missed Marketing Opportunities for Mortgage Lenders

Those of you who have read my occasional blogs will be familiar with my ongoing frustration with my mortgage lender.  I wrote in the past how little they seemed to know and appreciate me for my many years of business, and seemed unprepared or unable to reward that loyalty in any tangible way (i.e. with money!).  Well I finally broke free from them about a month ago.  I used a broker and found a new lender who was prepared to give me a much better deal, saving me thousands of dollars in the process.  But wait … fast forward to a couple of weeks ago as I prepared to send my first payment to the new mortgage holder.  I got a letter in the mail explaining that my mortgage had been sold to … you guessed it … my previous lender.  Small world!  The irony is that not only did they lose my business before, but they had to pay to get it back again.  How hard would it have been to give me a slightly better rate and keep my business in the first place?

So here I am again and, in the spirit of starting afresh in 2011, I am going to give my lender another chance by asking them to do a few simple things. 

First, please realize that you have tons of information about me which you should be using to customize and focus our conversations.  I shouldn’t feel like somebody who just walked in off the street – the classic example being the “welcome” (should have been “welcome back”) package I got recently.  You know me, so why don’t you recognize me? 

Second, please behave like you appreciate my business and be prepared to do something meaningful to recognize that.  For example, asking me to take customer surveys to demonstrate that you “care” is meaningless to me.  Like most people, I want a better financial deal and more efficient service, pure and simple. 

Finally, if I do go to the trouble of filling out a customer survey, help me to understand how it will make my life better by not simply thanking me for my input, but showing me how it will be translated into specific actions on your part.  Too often I think that companies treat these kinds of surveys as an end in themselves, not the means they should be to help make their processes better. 

So I start the year hopeful that the leopard will have changed its spots.  I will keep you posted as I see evidence in either direction.