The Root Causes of Technology Failures

It seems that the mortgage industry has a love/hate relationship with technology. Mortgage professionals are quick to tout the benefits of technology, but when it comes to brass tacks, they are wary of implementing new technologies, mainly because these projects don’t have a successful track record. As a result, new technology has been slowly adopted in the form of spot solutions within the mortgage process, these implementations are often executed ineffectively. Thus, many technology projects fail during execution or shortly after. But why?

In general, implementation failures can be attributed to one of the following:

• Poor or incomplete specification of requirements
• Assumptions by technologists on the meaning of the requirements

Creating a concrete definition of the requirements for a tech implementation project and monitoring that project based on those defined requirements is imperative. Try building a house with no blueprints and only half the necessary materials. It’s not going to turn out well.

After determining concrete requirements, many projects are handed off to the IT department; it’s an IT project after all, right? This is where these kinds of projects can really go off the rails.

Oftentimes, the IT department wasn’t involved in the decision-making process, providing them with little to no insight into the strategy behind the implementation. Without this critical information, IT has little choice but to define a successful implementation as “software up-and-running” versus “effectiveness at achieving the technology’s intended purpose.” It’s then only a matter of time until the project becomes dismissed because it couldn’t perform, when in reality, it never had a chance to succeed in the first place.

So how can you avoid the all-too-common technology disaster? We’ve broken it down into 10 key principles that will ensure that your business can adopt technology without daily chaos. These principles and the path to mastering technology within your business can be found in our white paper, Why Technology is So Difficult, available for download here.

Arbor Bank Breezing Through Closings

The Omaha World-Herald released an article this week featuring Arbor Bank’s recent mortgage closings with Pavaso. The World-Herald highlights Dale and Darla Langendorfer, seasoned homebuyers, who completed the signing of their mortgage documents digitally, without leafing through paper or even touching a pen. In under three minutes, the Langendorfer’s signatures and initials were placed 48 times across a 75-page stack of documents using Pavaso’s platform technology. Can it get any easier than this?

Arbor Bank is using Pavaso’s Digital Close Enterprise^SM to deliver all closing documents to consumers and fully complete their closings online. There’s no doubt that homebuyers like the Langendorfer’s much prefer this method to the traditional paper closing process. We’re so happy to see Arbor Bank offering their customers the ease and simplicity of a digital closing. The World-Herald also mentions that Arbor Bank is the only Lender in the metro-area to offer this technology, clearly positioning Arbor Bank as the go-to Lender for homebuyers. Great job, Arbor Bank! We look forward to sharing in many more future successes!

You can read the full article from the Omaha World-Herald here.   

A Tale of Two Processes

In the past, the process of buying a home was remarkably simple, and made a lot of sense for the type of world we lived in. In that world, a homebuyer worked with their local real estate agent, bank and title company, and knew them as they were part of their community and daily lives. Things became more complex and less personal as home buying grew beyond local boundaries and technology exponentially advanced, but the process didn't really change. Today, the industry is left with a process that is unfit to efficiently perform the activities and obligations involved with buying a home.

Enter Pavaso.  Our vision of a new process is one that utilizes technology to improve efficiency, accuracy, communication and collaboration. It's not meant to replace people.  Rather, it's meant to help them overcome the challenges of today's marketplace.  In a time when TRID has complicated the entire industry further, a new process that can simplify the transaction and can be easily implemented within a business is the key to so many of the issues you're facing and have yet to encounter.

Our latest white paper analyzes the industry’s current business processes, the issues facing businesses today, and how to transform these issues into competitive advantages. Dive into more detail on how to bridge the gap between the old and new world and set your business up for success in this white paper available for download here. 

Stop and Shift Your Thinking 1 Degree

With all of the change within the industry, businesses are now facing new issues never before experienced that need solving. Without a solution, your business has no way to align with the new rules set by the CFPB. No consumer focus, no compliance, no revenue. After all, if you decide to change nothing in your business, you might as well hand over your clients to your competitors who will. But with so many issues to take into account, how can your business cover all of your needs without paying for multiple spot solutions? All it takes is a simple change in mindset.

In this video straight from the desk of Pavaso CEO, Mark explains how shifting your thinking 1 degree can allow you to view your situation in a new way and discover that all of your issues can be solved in one single location. Mark describes what makes Pavaso’s platform so powerful, and why this change is necessary to your business’ survival.

I Can't Believe They Did That

We’ve discussed previously that technology should be seen as investment. However, because some businesses aren’t sure how to evaluate and strategically select a technology, many simply look at the price tag. The cheapest option is the best option, right? With the amount of change coming to this industry, your business needs a technology that has the ability to customize to you, and scale to any situation depending on circumstances, and evolve to continue to serve you and meet your needs in the future.

In this episode of Mark’s Minutes, Mark explains why he is concerned when potential customers make decisions based solely on price. He guides you through what expectations you should have for technology and reveals his warning and suggestion on how to evaluate its full long term value, instead of the short term costs.

Extended Benefits Beyond the Closing

There are a variety of tech companies out there that can each provide different benefits pre-closing and some throughout the closing process. However, what value can they add for both you and the consumer after the closing is complete? Are there long term benefits to using their platform? We’ve previously talked about how keeping consumers engaged post-closing can be useful for your business and continue your relationship with the consumer for future marketing purposes. But how can we keep these consumers engaged? Provide them with added benefits and value.  

In this episode of Mark’s Minutes, Mark explains what makes Pavaso different in the value it provides before, during and after the closing for not just your business, but the consumer as well. Mark describes a few of Pavaso’s current solutions created to continue engagement with consumers beyond the closing and throughout their homeownership lifecycle.

My Personal Closing Experience

As we’ve talked before on the issue of closings within the real estate industry and how to best deal with them, the process of buying a home still sucks for a consumer. The papers, the legal jargon, the waiting, and the confusion all lead to dissatisfaction and frustration for the consumer. Does this experience for the consumer impact your business in any way? You’ve been doing it the same for years and no one’s complaints seem to change anything. However, now with the CFPB on the lookout for non-compliance and the availability of a consumer complaint portal, your reputation may now be at risk.

In this episode of Mark’s Minutes, Mark briefly describes his personal experience on his recent home closing, and why consumers are upset. He then continues to walk you through the ideal home closing for a consumer, which can be offered by your business today. Pavaso’s solutions protect your business’ reputation and offer consumers a world class experience that allows you to stand out beyond your competitors.