Deciding what to automate
Automation has become a foundational tool for maximizing profitability in mortgage lending for Mann Mortgage, and for the industry as a whole. We want to make sure that we’re getting the most bang for our buck with automation, and we prioritize making changes that will have the biggest impact on the greatest amount of people first.
Before a real automation plan can be put in place, you need to understand your workflow and identify the points that could benefit most from automation. Work closely with your team, look closely at individual and department level processes, and then start with the tasks that are going to create the most efficiencies, as a whole.
Getting underwriters onboard
There was some hesitancy on the part of our underwriters to adopt automated tasks at first, but as we dug into the reasons behind that, we found that it was based on a lack of trust in the technology. We set up ICE Mortgage Analyzers™ to run in the background, and then compared the results from those to the work that the underwriters were doing by hand.
As our underwriters have gotten more experience with Income Analyzer and Credit Analyzer, they’ve been able to be reassured that the calculations of these tools are spot on. They have even been picking up on mistakes the underwriters were making, when compared to completing those tasks manually, which has really built that trust in the system.
Now, underwriters that have been working with the eFolder for years are saying they don’t want to go back. They can manage documents much faster with automation tools, and that frees up their time to focus on exceptions and special cases. That efficiency is what has sold them on automation, and now our whole team is more open to it.
What’s next
With the automation we have in place now, we’re expecting a 30% lift in underwriting. That's a good start, but we’ve got our eye on what we can do next to continue that momentum. We’re working on setting up our systems of scale where, when we add a new branch, we don’t have to hire more staff on the operations side. Automation helps us to scale consistently and do more with the same amount of people.
The next high-impact processes we’re working on automating are centered around allowing loan officers, underwriters and processors to check the status of a loan within our communication systems, like Microsoft Teams and Chatbot. There will be automated options there to have pre-qualification letters, credit updates, etc. Sent out with the touch of a button, from right within those apps. That keeps the flow of information moving along without having to move into other platforms or be interrupted by distractions. All of this will increase that sense of ease and continuity in our workflows for both our staff and our borrowers.
Learn more about Mann Mortgage’s automation journey.
See the story