Mortgage Broking Report: Customer Experience and Satisfaction

This report delves into the intricacies of mortgage broking, emphasizing the critical role of customer service and satisfaction. It begins by outlining the importance of attentive listening and effective communication to understand customer needs and expectations. The report then explores the specific behavioral competencies required for delivering exceptional customer experiences, such as the ability to read customers, maintain a calming presence, and employ persuasion skills. It highlights the significance of continuous improvement in service quality and the impact of regulations in protecting customer interests. The report also provides a detailed guide for mortgage brokers, covering steps like identifying customer needs, prioritizing service delivery, informing customers about available choices, and assisting in the selection of the most suitable options. Furthermore, it addresses actions to be taken when customer needs cannot be fully met, emphasizing the importance of seeking feedback and maintaining customer rapport. Finally, it underscores the need for prompt service and expert assistance to enhance customer satisfaction. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the mortgage broking process, emphasizing the importance of customer-centric practices in the financial services industry.

Running head: MORTGAGE BROKING
Mortgage Broking
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Authors Note:

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Table of Contents
Answer to question 1:.................................................................................................................2
Answer to question 2..................................................................................................................3
Answer to question 3..................................................................................................................5
Answer to question 4..................................................................................................................5
Answer to question 5..................................................................................................................6
Answer to question 6..................................................................................................................8
Answer to question 7..................................................................................................................9
Answer to question 8................................................................................................................10
Answer to question 9................................................................................................................10
Answer to question 10..............................................................................................................10
Answer to question 11..............................................................................................................11
Answer to question 12..............................................................................................................11
Answer to question 13..............................................................................................................12
Answer to question 14..............................................................................................................13
Answer to question 15..............................................................................................................14
Reference..................................................................................................................................16

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Answer to question 1:
a) Attentive Listening:
Five points that should be kept in mind to ensure that the communication delivers on
customer needs, expectations and priorities are as follows:
The first step in any kind of communication involves the listener to listen to needs of
the customer carefully. When the receiver of the information pays enough attention on
the words of the customer giving the message there is no room left for assumption and
the receiver becomes capable enough to understand the needs of the customer clearly.
Patient listening enables the receiver to understand the expectations of the customer
from the engagement and also is able to prioritise the needs of the customer.
b) Proper knowledge of the context:
If the entire communication with the customer is needed to be fruitful one of the
prerequisites of it is that the person receiving the information from the customer has
decent conceptual knowledge about the problem presented by the customer. The prior
and requisite knowledge of the matter enables the receiver to perceive the actual
needs of the customer in a better way and it also helps him to mitigate the queries of
the customers efficiently (Pearson 2017). It also increases the belief of the customer
on the firm that it is capable of delivering the kind of service the customer is
expecting from it.
c) Continuity in communication:
The process of communication with the customer should be continuous in nature. It
should be a one-time occurrence rather the receiver of the information must keep in
touch with the customer throughout the period of delivering the service.
d) Good comprehension skills:

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The customer delivers all the information to the employee with the assumption that he
is able to understand the situation presented by the customer to him. Hence the person
communicating with the customer directly must have very good comprehension skills
in order to understand the issues of the customer just the way the customer wants him
to understand.
e) Feedback:
Both the parties involved in the communication process must obtain feedback of the
other party to ensure that the message has been delivered and understood by the other
party in the way it was intended.
Answer to question 2.
The Specific behavioural competencies required to deliver outstanding customer
experience at all times are as follows:
a) Ability to read customers:
It is not always possible for the customers to be physically present to express their
needs and expectations to the firm, they may use written communication or telephonic
communication to deliver their issue. In these scenarios the person receiving the
message should have good knowledge of basic principles of communication
psychology enabling him to read the customer’s emotional state at the time of
delivery of message (Martin 2018). It enhances the personalisation process as you
cannot provide personalised service experience if you don’t understand your
customers judiciously.
b) A calming presence:
It becomes utmost important that the staff dealing with the customers directly should
be able to keep his clam in any hair hosting situation. The customer service

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representatives must have the quality to remain cool even with a heated customer and
act like a rock for them as they might be facing some really bad time owing to their
current financial issues.
c) Persuasion skills:
The customer service representatives often receive more queries about the product or
service offered by them than complaints or apprehensions about the products or
services provided by the firm. This is actually an opportunity to project the
prospective customers with the kind of services that will suit their interest best. The
firm however must exercise refrain from pushing the products not suited for the
customer rather they must not lose the potential customers too (Jones and Lawson
2015). Hence the importance of persuasion skills becomes very important in creating
value for the customers through the services offered by the firm.
d) Tenacity:
The customer service representatives must exhibit sheer interest and motivation in
solving the issues of the customers. They must keep in mind that the customers are
human too and the effort that they put into their work will give compounded results in
the future. They must be ready to go beyond their ‘status quo’ if required to deliver
the customer with the best quality of service possible.
Answer to question 3.
In order to improve the quality of the service provided by the firm to its customers, it
must endeavour to improve relentlessly. This ensures the achievement of two objectives,
firstly, ensuring the retention of the existing customers and secondly maintaining a
competitive edge over the competitors. The business environment is very dynamic and the
customers are faced with new issues every day. If the firm does not improve the quality of
service it provides to its customers by making the necessary changes by taking steps like

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employee training, market surveys and research activities it won’t be able to cater to the
needs of the customer satisfactorily (Davis 2015). This would result in company losing its
present customers and at the same time will not be able to attract new ones.
Answer to question 4.
The importance of regulations laid down by the laws with respect to the ways in
which services are provided to the customers by the businesses is very significant. It is often
found that the businesses are concerned with their own profits more than solving the issues of
the customers resulting in businesses providing customers with such advices which prove to
be detrimental to their interests in the long run. The customers approach the businesses for
some professional advice and solution when they are in some financial problems (Lui 2016).
The businesses must exercise professional ethics in providing the customers with the
solutions that will help in mitigating their problems. In order to ensure that the businesses
earn profit by creating value for the customers and not by manipulating them the regulations
laid down by the laws have a very significant importance in today’s business world.
Answer to question 5.
The guide that I will be using as a mortgage broker to provide quality service to my
customers will include the following points:
Identification and clarification of customer needs and expectations:
In order to provide quality service with respect to solving the problems faced by the
customers, proper understanding with respect to their needs and expectations must be
developed. This will enable us to provide the requisite advice and suggest the service or
product that is best suited according to the needs presented by the customers (Brown and
Davis 2015).

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Assess the urgency of the needs:
In order to ensure timely mitigation of the issues of the customers we must prioritise the
needs of the customers according to their respective urgencies. The most urgent needs must
be given more attention compared to the relatively less urgent ones. This enables the
businesses to provide the customers with the services and products that cater to their needs in
manner which is efficient and effective with respect to timeliness of the delivery of the
product or service.
Determine priorities for service delivery:
The needs of the customers must not be generalised and they must be assessed
individually. The priorities of the customers vary significantly depending upon their
respective goals and objectives. In order to deliver the kind of service the customers expect
from us we must make sure that the businesses must take into account the priorities of the
individual customers (Bird et al. 2016). The customers always look for personalised
experience especially in case of availing services of financial nature. In order to meet their
expectation of a personalised experience we must make sure that we deliver the services in
accordance with the priorities set by the customers with respect to their needs and goals. This
will help the businesses to establish their name in the market as a customer oriented financial
service provider.
Inform the customer about the possible choices:
The customer seeks the help of a financial advisor or broker only when they are not
familiar with the possible solution they have at their disposal with respect to their financial
issues. It is the duty of the financial broker or advisor to provide the customer with the
requisite knowledge regarding the choices he has for solving his current financial problem

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(Ali et al. 2014). This will make the customer feel as if he is making the choice himself
instead of having to take the obvious and routine approach implemented by everyone else
around him. This further re-establishes the trust between the broker and the customer as the
customer is assured about the competence of the broker with respect to solving his problem in
the future by making available various options to him.
Assistance in the selection of the preferred option:
Even after providing the customer with all the options available to him the job or
responsibility of the broker is far from finished. It is his duty to guide and assist the customer
in making the choice which is most suited for him. There may be many technicalities
involved in the choices presented before the customer which may be beyond his
comprehension. In this kind of situation the role of a financial advisor or broker becomes all
the more important because of the fact that in absence of requisite information the customer
may end up making a poor choice which may not be able to give him the optimal solution he
expected for. As a financial advisor the broker is in knowledge about the returns that various
choices would provide to the customer hence, he must help the customers in making the most
appropriate choice based upon his individual goals, needs and objectives.
Actions to be taken in case of inability to satisfy the needs of the customers:
The businesses must also have a guideline which specifically provides them with the
steps that can be taken in case they are not able to cater to the needs of the customers. Some
of the steps may include reimbursement of the part of the fees taken from the customer and
taking up the case from the beginning. The businesses must make sure that steps must be

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structured or focused in bringing back the customer back to them even when they could not
cater to his needs. In order to do that, they must reaffirm the trust of the customer on them.
Seek customer feedback:
It is important that the business ensure that the customer is asked for their feedback
with respect to the quality of service that has been provided to them. This helps in two ways,
firstly, the customers feel that their need is a priority for the broker and secondly, the broker
will be able to learn from the present experience and frame his services and products
accordingly. If the experience of the customer was not satisfactory, the broker will look into
the reasons for which the service was unsatisfactory, work on improving them, and try to
deliver an improved and satisfactory service or product next time.
Seeking appropriate assistance
In order to provide better customer services the mortgage broker will seek assistance
from expert whenever it is necessary.
Provide Prompt service to the customer
In order to increase the customer satisfaction it is important that the service is
provided within a definite time limit. Therefore providing prompt service to the customer is
important for providing better customer service.
Establishing and maintaining rapport with customer
In mortgage business it is key to develop networking with customer for the enhancing
the business. The networking with customer is possible if good relationship and rapport is
maintained.
Actions in case complaints

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In case of any complaint, it is important to resolve the matter immediately. The
complaint should be heard and then corrective measure should be taken so that there is no
scope for future complaint.
Assistance in case of specific needs
In case of any specific needs of the customer, appropriate assistance should be
provided so that the customer satisfaction could be maintained at all times.
Proposing cross-selling opportunity
The customer could be offered cross selling opportunity if needed.
Reviewing customer satisfaction
It is important that from time to time appropriate action is taken for reviewing the
customer satisfaction. It is an important step for identifying any shortcomings so that the
customer service can be improved.
Using feedback for improving customer service
The process should be developed for receiving feedback from the customer. The
feedback could be used for improving the service with the customer.
Answer to question 6.
In order to improve the service delivery to the customer the following recommendations
are being made:
a) Understand the needs of the customer:

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The foremost task is to understand the nature of the problem that the customer is
facing or the kind of service he is expecting from the broker. Based on the
understanding developed from the analysis of the communication with the customers
requisite service will be framed and delivered.
b) Select the service as per the customer’s needs:
Only such product or service must be made available to the customer which will be
able to mitigate the issues faced by the customer in the most effective and efficient
manner.
c) Obtain feedback and work on the inputs received if negative:
It must be made a compulsory procedure to take the feedback from the customer after
the service has been provided to them. In case the feedback is negative it must be
ensured that necessary steps are taken to ensure non repetition of the issues that
cropped up this time.
Answer to question 7.
The three types of objections are:
a) Price objection: This is the most common objection faced by the brokers. The
customers generally ask for the optimum service and at the same time expect that
premium service will be provided at cheaper price.
b) Authentication objection: sometimes after explaining the service and its usefulness for
the client. Then the client comes up with the objection that he is not authorised to take
that decision (Lilianfels 2014).
c) Objection regarding the need: Many times the customers take all the information
regarding a particular service and later on complain about its need or utility for them.

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Answer to question 8.
The four types of personality that the brokers have to encounter are as follows:
1) Interested customers: Customers who are having a positive image about the services
and curious at the same time.
2) Impulsive customers: These are the types of customers who make their decisions quite
impulsively and without giving much time and thought.
3) Price conscious: These are the kind of customers who are interested in the product
offered but won’t buy it at its full price and require discounts.
4) Loyal customers: These are old customers who have stayed loyal to the broker
through thick and thin and have immense faith over him.
Answer to question 9.
The five prescribed method for successfully establishing networking for mortgage
broker business are:
 The networking should be about creating an authentic and genuine relationship of
trust with the client;
 It is helpful to hold volunteer position for developing a strong business networking;
 It is important to have a proper follow up plan for the referrals for quick and efficient
reply.
 Should become resourceful so that query could be solved immediately;
 The call should be made so that people could gain from the services provided;
Answer to question 10.
The four different sectors in the finance industry are as follows:
a) Banking sector