With the Thanksgiving holiday less than a week away, that means the official start of the holiday season is upon us. Not to say the “unofficial” start of the holidays seemed to commence well before Halloween wrapped up with its final scares of the year – in mid-October, you could see the festive commercials streaming through your viewing devices, the sounds of jingle bells filling the air. While I’m a huge fan of the holidays, I still wish the stores could wait until early November to start promoting their holly jolly sales and bargains.
One such retailer is Amazon. I believe everyone is familiar with them and, most likely, customers of their wide variety of services. I’ve seen some holiday advertising from Amazon but not a lot – in my opinion, they are an established go-to online retailer for early and last-minute shopping. But have you stopped and looked at Amazon lately? The former online bookstore now deals in retail (both consumer and business), web services, pharmaceuticals, video, music, games and much, MUCH more. And the kicker is that not only do they deliver a wide variety of products and services, but they do so efficiently, effectively and affordably.
Looking at Amazon from afar, it kind of reminds me of the Land of Oz – so many great things happening with happy consumers throughout, all coordinated and directed by the great and powerful Oz himself! And even after we discover that Professor Oz is just like you, there is still a great aura of mystery and magic around him and the Emerald City. How does he do what he does? How does it all happen in such a pleasant fashion despite the chaos and uncertainty that new visitors and a certain wicked witch bring to the party?
I ask those same questions of Amazon, although I’m hoping they’re not plagued by sorcerers who employ flying monkeys to do their unscrupulous work for them. Today’s economy and administration can be unpredictable and bring with them a veil of uncertainty. Yet, Amazon continues to grow its services and speed of delivery. Fortunately, I was privileged to receive some insider knowledge that illustrates the overarching focal points by which Amazon abides.
A few weeks back, I attended a business-to-business summit that discussed navigating business uncertainty and building brand trust, and the keynote speaker was a solutions architect from Amazon. The keynote presentation was filled with useful and interesting insights into the workings of Earth’s largest online retailer, most of which focused on how the company navigates uncertainty. Below are a few of the actions the company consistently takes to minimize the impact of uncertainty – as you will see, all of these are applicable to your credit union mortgage business:
- Invest in a strong culture. The credit union culture and way of doing business are well-known and respected. Be sure you’re always embracing and celebrating that culture – it’s what your members deserve and expect.
- Collect data. In today’s digital environment, data on industry trends, mortgage indicators and, most importantly, your members, is available from a variety of sources. Proactively search and attain this data through industry leaders, partners and associations, as it can provide the direction you need to be a great mortgage lender.
- Prioritize speed and agility. With the digital age in which we reside comes the expectation of speed. Today’s homebuyers want instant information, answers and results. Be sure your systems and processes are designed to be agile and adaptive to the changing wants and needs of your members.
- Minimize risk. Risk in the mortgage industry is ever-present. Having a solid knowledge of the home loan regulatory environment is critical to meeting any risk head-on. I have said many times that the members of the Compliance Team at myCUmortgage are the unsung heroes of our business, as they not only make sure our processes meet regulations but also take steps to ensure the same for our partner credit unions.
- Trust data to make decisions. In uncertain times, numbers don’t lie. While there is much to be said about acquired instincts and gut feelings, the data tells the true story. Identify your “numbers” people on your staff and take advantage of their skills – identifying data trends could be the difference between success and failure.
- Automate. A year ago at this same summit, I learned a lot about AI, or artificial intelligence, and how it can be practically applied to today’s business operations (check out my post to learn more: I’ll Be Back). If you haven’t started employing AI to help your credit union perform easily automated tasks, you need to get on it! For starters, AI can remove many of the menial tasks you and your team need to complete, giving you more face time with your members.
- Inspect often, escalate early. Pay close attention to your processes and systems so you can identify issues before they become full-fledged problems. This seems simple enough, but it’s easy to become complacent when everything appears to be working fine. And if an issue is identified – no matter if it’s major or minor – act fast to remedy it. As I mentioned above, speed is of the essence.
The keynote also highlighted the benefits of working backwards. When creating and launching member-facing systems and materials, start the creative process in the member’s shoes and work your way backwards through development. This way, the items that are most important to members are always front and center, and everything is adapted to meet their needs.
What steps are you taking to ensure you are meeting your members’ mortgage needs during uncertain times? Please share your thoughts, ideas and insights below. As we can learn from Amazon, no matter what the world places in your path to success, there are simple and practical ways to navigate those obstacles.
In this season of thanks, let’s remember to be thankful for our members and each other. On behalf of all the experts at myCUmortgage, have a Happy Thanksgiving!