The mortgage market is poised for a strong end to the year, buoyed by competitive interest rates and product offerings.
While this presents opportunities for advisers looking to grow their business, they also face the challenge of meeting a healthy level of enquiries. The good news is that technology offers innovative solutions that streamline processes, increase efficiency and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.
Here are three ways tech can empower advisers and enhance the customer experience.
Getting customers the best rates
Advisers play a critical role in navigating the complexities of the mortgage market for their customers, often sifting through countless product offerings that may be outdated in a matter of days.
Advisers can access technology such as ‘rate watch’ tools, which automatically notify them when a lender adjusts its rates. With real-time insights at their fingertips, advisers are better equipped to keep pace with a market that is evolving around the clock.
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These tools can significantly enhance the quality of service customers receive, offering them the most competitive rates for their circumstances. L&C’s Rate Check service, for example, alerts customers four weeks after securing a mortgage if a better deal becomes available.
In the last three months alone, customers using Rate Check have saved an average of £1,983 on their new mortgage deals.
Consumer Duty requires advisers to prioritise their client’s interests and deliver positive outcomes. These tools not only empower advisers to make good on this responsibility, but they also make their jobs easier by streamlining access to the best deals.
Keeping the conversation going after hours
Communicating with clients is, of course, one of the most important and time-consuming aspects of an adviser’s role, so it’s vital that firms explore where tech can help streamline this process. While the introduction of AI-powered chatbots was met with a mixed reception, chatbots are now able to answer up to 60% of customer queries.
Chatbots can improve the customer experience by communicating in their preferred language and breaking down the complexities of the mortgage market into easy-to-understand terms. Customers can access these services at their convenience, while advisers are free to focus their efforts on complex client needs that require a hands-on, personalised approach.
While chatbots might seem like a small cog in the machine, they help ensure that advisers have the time and resources to deliver their expertise where it is really needed.
Leveraging social media
And, lastly, social media has firmly embedded itself in the mortgage industry. In fact, 68% of advisers planned to integrate social media into their 2024 strategy, opening up a more direct channel of communication with aspiring homeowners. Integrating social media with AI-powered analytics also enables advisers to identify trends, monitor competitor successes and expand the pool of prospective customers they are reaching.
Today’s pool of first-time buyers is often comfortable with, and may even prefer, communicating through social media. It’s important that no group feels sidelined during the mortgage process, so staying in tune with generational preferences is a critical part of the job.
The value of quality advice in securing the right mortgage product can’t be understated and, as an industry, we want to provide the best possible service. Looking ahead, this means embracing technology and its benefits.
From specialised ‘rate watch’ tools to making greater use of social media to build stronger rapport with customers, the mortgage advice process is evolving. Staying ahead of the competition and providing an exceptional customer experience requires keeping pace with these technological advancements.
