Category: Press
Going Digital: Assurance Financial Partners with Blend to Simplify the Borrowing Process
To meet rising consumer expectations, Assurance Financial is catapulting themselves into 2019 with new technologies that will make the borrowing process faster and easier for the consumer. Beginning in January, the Louisiana-based mortgage company will partner with Blend, a mortgage application software that digitizes the application process.
“This new technology puts us at the front of the mortgage industry. We can now compete with big name lending companies by offering a convenient way to apply while still focusing on the local level service we have always given our borrowers. We are going into the digital space with a high-tech but high touch approach,” said Kenny Hodges, Chief Executive Officer at Assurance Financial.
Utilizing Blend will allow Assurance Financial to expedite the loan process and create less leg-work for the consumer, because borrowers will be able to easily apply for a mortgage product from anywhere they have internet access – even their mobile devices. Currently, the average home loan takes over 30 days to secure, with Blend, there are fewer steps on both the borrower and the lender side, which leads to faster funding.
Assurance Financial is done with the old days of lending where borrowers spent hours at the loan officer’s office filling out paperwork, and every small change had to be faxed back and forth countless times. With Blend, Assurance Financial will lead the industry in user-friendly lending that is easy to use and understand.
Katherine Campbell, Director of Marketing at Assurance Financial | January 31, 2019
Clever branding brings Blend to life in the form of Abby, a 24/7 digital loan officer assistant helping Assurance Financial shave days off processing and expand into new markets, no physical expansion required.
At Assurance Financial Group, efficiency, growth, and customer satisfaction are inseparable. In a mortgage market that, according to COO Steve Ward, has “never been more competitive than it is right now,” success depends on careful stewardship of these three metrics.
“The way we acquire a customer and meet their needs through the loan process journey is top of mind,” CEO Kenny Hodges told Blend.
To address efficiency and customer needs, the Assurance Financial team decided to boldly leverage creativity by partnering with Blend. Taking advantage of Blend’s white-label platform, a 24/7 loan officer assistant named Abby was born.
Whether on Assurance Financial’s home turf of Louisiana or elsewhere across the country, each applicant has 24/7 access to an intelligent digital assistant, powered by Blend’s data-driven lending platform. To put it another way, Assurance Financial successfully achieved efficiency, growth, and customer satisfaction, backed by Blend. Thanks, Abby.
“The way we acquire a customer and meet their needs is top of mind.”
A Digital Lending Platform outshined simple POS alternatives
The decision to go with Blend came about after a thorough investigation of the lending POS market. Assurance Financial’s leadership investigated numerous digital solutions, hoping to find three integral features.
According to Ward, “we looked for a provider that a) was throwing the right amount of continuous R&D into the product, b) offered an easy experience for the customer, and c) was thoughtful about how to interact with our LOS.”
“The ability for the company we were working with to not only support us through implementation but also to continue growing the platform was very important,” Hodges added.
In the end, the product that checked all these boxes was not a simple POS. The clear winner for Assurance Financial’s team was Blend’s Digital Lending Platform.
Selection, however, is just the start. Winners in the competitive IMB market emerge from the pack through intelligent implementation and clever branding. No one knows — or does — this better than Assurance Financial.
“We looked for a company to not only support us through implementation but also to continue growing the platform.”
Implementing lending technology is just the start
“At some point, everyone is going to have this digital experience that is easy and fast. It’s expected. I decided we needed to personify what we were doing for long-term success,” says Katherine Campbell, Assurance Financial’s director of marketing and mastermind behind Abby.
Abby is a digital loan assistant. When applicants visit the Assurance Financial website, they are presented with the opportunity to either connect directly with a loan team member or begin the process with Abby.
“Working with” Abby allows applicants to proceed through Blend’s digital application, reaping the benefits of the platform’s intelligent workflow and user-friendly interface.
Hodges emphasized Blend’s flexibility in enabling such a unique implementation. “We went with a white-label product to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace. We want to personalize the experience, especially in how we transition our clients to one of our home loan experts.”
Abby creates a personal-feeling way for applicants to take full advantage of the 24/7 functionality that Blend’s platform offers.
“What’s cool is that borrowers understand that she’s ‘support-at-your-service,’” Campbell shared. “Abby is there around the clock to offer a personal touch to your lending experience.”
If at any point customers require an in-person touch — to answer a question, say, or clarify an application requirement — Blend’s platform allows loan agents to jump in with no interruption to the overall experience.
Assurance Financial’s team was quick to point out that Abby is not a gimmick. The ability to “interact” with a digital avatar has reaped tremendous results for the company’s bottom line.
“Abby has converted so well,” Campbell proudly noted, because Blend fits into Assurance Financial’s borrower journey, moving leads from their CRM into the LOS.
Building a massive footprint, no physical expansion required
Armed with the flexibility provided by a digital loan assistant, Assurance Financial has substantially increased its reach. The team is finding leads and winning conversions through purely digital growth.
“We’re marketing in areas where we don’t have branches — we’re just a name,” emphasized Operations Manager Scott Alexander.
Hodges added that “the acquisition numbers have been fantastic so far. Even though we don’t have boots on the ground in every market across the country, Abby helps us capture market share.”
According to Alexander, this internal commitment has had a major payoff. “Our Blend files are going through the system three days faster on average. This could not be accomplished without training and buy-in across all sales and operations teams. We made it clear that this was a long-term commitment and priority, and we definitely had a couple of leaders who stepped up to help evolve the transition.”
What’s in store for Abby moving forward?
With Abby working hard to deliver tremendous results for the team, excitement is high. Because Blend’s product roadmap is on full display, everyone at Assurance Financial can see how Abby will continue to develop over the years. They understand that the customer experience is only going to get increasingly automated and more robust.
“Ideally we’d like a one-touch file throughout the whole of processing, disclosures, underwriting, and closing,” Alexander previewed. Based on the success she’s had so far, Abby is up to the task.
No matter what industry you’re in, nor how many ways you say something, it is only in documenting and publishing a process that you can standardize it. This is not always the fun work, but it can be the most powerful.
Especially in the mortgage industry, most loans have a very typical process of moving through a system. Lead – Application – Processing – Underwriting – Funded. What could be confusing about “the way we’ve always done it?” It’s probably no surprise, but the most confusing part is getting everyone to agree on this standard process. Somehow thousands of loans are started and closed, yet in a room full of long-term employees, many do not agree with any one way to process a loan. You know how this goes….
“Well, with most loans, I start like this, but with that loan officer, I usually do that, and sometimes I just go ahead and order the appraisal, but sometimes they prefer their own, and I usually check that box, but in some cases I think it’s confusing, but really, they’re pretty much all the same process.”
HUH? There’s actually nothing standard about it. Hence training and replacing absent employees can be a longer and more expensive process than needed. And, now enters the ultimate standardization opportunity – DigMo! So, how do we take several new pieces of technology, train everyone to a rote process on them, measure efficiency, and find ROI in this huge investment? In a word: STOP. In four words: Standard Technology Operating Procedure. At Assurance Financial, we designed a procedure to ask everyone to stop and think: What is the most efficient way to use our technology for communication, collaboration, and transformation?
As the digital mortgage opportunities continue to impress and ease the burden of loan processing, it is an exciting time! However, it is imperative to bring everyone in your company along at once – whether or not they are directly involved in the technology of the moment. How many employees you have are the number of potential champions in your market who can be buzzing with enthusiasm. Also, when everyone is included then the buy-in is much higher. Even if you have only adopted a digital application tool and no other tools, ultimately, every department is going to be tasked with new technology and procedures. Getting them involved early gives them plenty of time to mentally prepare for the change.
Here’s how we did just that. Starting two months before releasing our new marketing operating system and our digital application, we held three meetings that included at least one or two people from every department. We celebrated these new investments and explained the digital road ahead. Then, we dug in and got everyone to agree (eventually) on the best practice for getting a borrower from start to finish through our company with using the new tools. We had strict ground rules that noone was allowed to say, “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Everyone had to leave “my way” at the door and only invite “best practice” to join them in the meeting.
We started with clearly defining the customer journey from end to end. We put a title as headers for each part of the process and wrote clear steps to complete them. Then we eventually wrapped it up with a published edition with “Version 1” at the bottom. We explained there would be many more versions to come, and we would keep up with that number on our intranet. We then printed them on nice paper, ordered fun tchotchkes for promotion, and shipped it in a box to all of our locations. Stickers for computers so they don’t forget, signs for the office walls, and mousepads were included. (PM me if you’d like to see the one-page published process.) Creating some fun around the change and doing it in advance made adopting our new tools more palatable for the company. Two technologies down, FIVE more to go (at least), and the first STOP version published. Can’t wait to set my eyes on Version 12!
Katherine Campbell, Director of Marketing at Assurance Financial
Published on February 13, 2019