STRATMOR Stresses The Value Of ‘Sharing Your Story’

In its September Insights Report, STRATMOR Group a mortgage advisory and consulting firm, demonstrates how lenders who share their stories with borrowers and teammates are better able to create strong relationships, retain leads, recruit top talent and even drive revenue.

In his article, “Once Upon a Mortgage: Building Relationships Through Storytelling,” Customer Experience Director Mike Seminari shares his own journey—from aspiring musician to mortgage industry and customer experience expert—to illustrate how taking a personal approach with borrowers can improve a company’s success. 

“Think about your company website, especially the heavily visited ‘about us’ section,” Seminari says. “If I held my hand over the logo, would I know the difference between your company and every other lender out there? You, your team members, your customers, and your partners all have stories to tell. And today, it’s more important than ever.”

According to STRATMOR data, 90% of borrowers made their lender choice based on either their own experience with the lender or the experience of someone they know and trust. Those experiences stand out when stories are shared, Seminari says.

Using stories from various industry veterans, Seminari identifies four types of stories that are important to tell:

• Origin story
• Brand story
• Customer story
• Employee story

Seminari points out that cultivating and sharing company stories is just one piece of the puzzle. He encourages lenders to also consider the role they play in their borrowers’ stories.

Seminari uses the “hero’s journey” story structure to point out where in the process loan officers should be providing valuable assistance along the way. Doing so makes the experience more memorable and worth telling others about, he says.

In a second article in this month’s report, STRATMOR Senior Advisor Brett McCracken shares his observations from recent “secret shopping” client engagements to demonstrate just how inconsistent the borrower experience is at most lenders.

In his article, “Shopping for a Home Loan: A Consistently Inconsistent Experience,” McCracken shows how building a franchise model can help lenders standardize processes and operational efficiency to create a more predictable environment for business success.

McCracken suggests several strategies to fix the problem of inconsistency, starting with taking a closer look at how branches are running to identify and acknowledge problems in the process.