Photo courtesy of Cross Country Mortgage

Andrew Marquis
Senior Vice President, CrossCountry Mortgage
Age: 45
Industry experience: 22 years

While customer satisfaction remains high for mortgage originators, customers are increasingly dissatisfied with their mortgage servicers, according to a new study from J.D. Power.

Despite efforts to deliver more effective communications, just 31 percent of mortgage servicer customers gave an excellent or perfect rating to their servicer for messaging that got their attention. Just 32 percent of customers give their mortgage servicer a high overall communication rating. Andrew Marquis, senior vice president at Cleveland-based CrossCountry Mortgage, thinks the issue may be that originators have set the customer service bar too high.

Q: What is your reaction to seeing that mortgage originators are receiving high levels of customer satisfaction, but mortgage servicers are receiving lower levels? Why do you think this is the case?
A: On the mortgage origination side, I think consumers want [and usually receive] a prompt response. If they’re inquiring for a mortgage, we have a lot of tools in place where they can apply immediately. They can upload their documents. I work a ton of hours, so I get back to people at all hours of the day. I think people really appreciate that communication.

I think what happens sometimes is that [originators] set this precedent of answering [customers] at all hours of the day, [and] when it comes to servicing and they have questions, servicing responses tend to be slower. I don’t think they have the same access to servicing that they have to origination.

Q: When it comes to responsiveness, or promptness of a response, do you feel that there can be tools that can be utilized to maybe reduce that wait time? Do you feel that there’s areas for mortgage servicers to grow and become more responsive?
A: I think that area absolutely could grow and they could put more technology in place. They have chat tools and they have email boxes and they have phone numbers, but I find that when clients call the phone number, they get put into that loop where they press this button and press that button and then eventually get disconnected and they have to call back again. There’s got to be a way where servicers can answer these questions or they can better connect with the consumer to address the need in a less confusing manner.

Being in the business, I understand how escrow accounts work, I know how to make payments. There’s a lot of information that people in the know take for granted. But I think if you went to a servicer they’d say, “Well, did you read the frequently asked questions on the servicing website?”

I do see a lot of those frustrations of like “Hey, my insurance didn’t get paid, and you guys forced insurance on me, how does this happen?” They don’t realize that maybe the attorney at the closing didn’t mail the check to the right insurance company, or the taxes went up. And how come? I think it’s become more of an issue because costs are higher. Property taxes keep going up, insurance keeps going up year over year. Then on top of it, we’ve been in a higher rate environment for two to three years, so between all of these inflating costs, and then less service-related attention, it creates frustration. “I’m not getting the answers, my payment keeps going up, what’s going on here?”

Q: Do you think customer satisfaction will either improve or maybe continue to worsen due to market conditions?
A: I think we’re in improving territory now. Without getting all political, I think that rates are going to start to come down a little bit. Because the rates have been high for so long, inventory has improved, so we’ve seen more of an equilibrium in the market, which is a big win for buyers. I think that we’re moving in a better direction.

I just wonder what starts to happen with some of those other costs, insurance, taxes, and just other living costs. It’s been a kind of a rough patch in the market for the last three years, but I do think it’s slowly improving.

Q: When you look back on the increasing role of technology, just how important is it for mortgage companies to invest in technology to increase customer satisfaction?
A: I think it’s critical, and it could be very beneficial to the consumer and to the whole experience to invest more in the tech and build it up better. I guess the question I have is, what is the return on that investment? If they’re creating tech that gives people the ability to be more timely with their payments, or maybe the tech reduces their servicing staffing costs, that’s what I think you have to look at. Where does the servicer make a return on that tech investment, and why are they doing it?

Marquis’ Five Favorite New England Summer Vacation Spots

• Edgartown, MA (Martha’s Vineyard)
• Stowe, VT
• New Hampshire Lakes Region (Squam Lake and Lake Winnipesaukee)
• Kennebunkport, ME
• Newport, RI