Why is it important for Appraisal Management Companies to know their customers?

We all know that it’s much easier, and more profitable, to keep an existing customer than it is to land a new one. But let’s face it, customers have life cycles. Recently, I read an article discussing research that shows most North American companies lose half of their customers every five years. So what’s the secret?

The keys to keeping our clients in the mortgage industry happy are:

1. Knowing what  motivates them.
2. Understanding  what is important to them.
3. And providing  what they want most.

After determining these three answers, we are able to create service that gives them what they want at a value that is acceptable while remaining compliant.

Yes, as an Appraisal Management Company, we are governed by many regulations and requirements, but that does not mean that we are not competing on service and quality. This is still very much a service driven industry. Though it’s harder to enter the appraisal management sector than ever, there is still some very stiff competition out there.

How do you retain customers and increase profits?

1. Listen to your  customer’s feedback and act upon their suggestions. Our whole      structure has been built off of our clients suggestions. Without their feedback we would not be where we are today. Feedback on service,  communication, quality control, technology, time frames, etc. We listened  and acted and as a result have been able to build trusting and long  standing relationships with our clients in the mortgage industry.
2. Confirm the  criteria for success. What’s most important to all of  the people involved in your business and does your definition of success  coincide with that of everyone else?
3. Know your  customers. To  be able to best serve your clients, you need to understand their strategic  direction, how they operate, and who makes their decisions. There are so  many sectors in the mortgage/lending industry from servicing, to credit  unions, to reverse mortgage companies. Does your team know these different companies and what their goals are?
4. Ask Questions. What is your client finding to be a challenge at this time? Do you offer products and  services that will prove to be solutions to these challenges? One prospect  we’ve engaged with recently had a challenge with their current management  company because they had no staff appraiser employed and no way to handle conflict resolution. After explaining our “AppraisalLiaison™” service to      the prospect and how our staff appraisers work hand in hand with the  appraiser and the client to resolve a problem file, they were not only  excited about the service, but now trust that we are going to help to  solve any challenges they are faced with moving forward.

At Nationwide Appraisal & Settlement Network, we work with a number of different lending institutions and we believe it’s important to understand their business in order to better service them. In the 3^rd quarter of this year, we established divisions within our corporate structure that will assist these client types from order placement to final submission of an appraisal report.

In addition to our operations team who facilitate appraisal needs for our Mortgage Banker, Portfolio Mortgage Lender, Correspondent Mortgage Lender, Direct Mortgage Lender, and Wholesale Lender clients, we have developed and implemented three divisions to facilitate the needs of very specific client types. Those divisions include Reverse Mortgage, Hard Money, and Mortgage Servicing. We believe that the incorporation of these divisions will help to promote a better understanding of the products these clients offer to their borrowers.

The team members in each division act as a resource to the borrowers, the appraisers, and the clients by having a strong understanding of what these clients do and what our role is with each of them as their Appraisal Management Company.

Like I mentioned earlier in the blog, knowing your clients business is important in retaining their business. If it means educating and training your staff on the different sectors of the industry and coming up with new ways on better service options for your clients, then do it. Knowledge is power and the appraisal management industry could use a few more good guys.

For more information on our divisions, please email info@Nationwide-Appraisal.com. We look forward to hearing from you.