Why is customer experience the new marketing?

AFG 31 May 2022 6:30:06 PM

Our Chief Marketing Officer, Jon Amery provides key takeaways on customer experience, and how it could prove to be the single biggest revenue lever for brokers who are wanting to grow their business.

Your customers may not be coming back as much as you think they are

In fact, on average only 21% of customers of AFG brokers who discharge a loan will apply for another loan with the same broker within 3 months. For AFG brokers with SMART, this jumps to around 31%.
Put another way, this means that approximately 4 out of 5 of your customers aren’t likely to use you a second time. It's a scary thought, but it is also very much reality.

The reason this number is so surprising to many brokers is that your experience would lead you to think otherwise. They give you 5-star Google reviews and complete positive customer satisfaction surveys that praise you for your service. However, one of the main points of Jon’s talk was that good service is likely not enough to ensure repeat business or drive referrals.

Good service is just the minimum benchmark. It means you have met your customers’ expectations. But here’s the kicker: this is the experience that customers expect from all brokers. It is also the reason that they will just as easily go elsewhere.

The benchmark to drive better repeat business and referrals is about exceeding expectations and ideally, creating customer advocates.

Why is creating advocates worth so much to your business?

Referrals from advocates are 1.5x more likely to convert
They send 3x more referrals
They are 6x more likely to come back (known as repeat business)
They are 3x more trusted than advertising

Customer experience is something you already do well day in and day out. However, we’re encouraging brokers to take it to the next level with a process and plan behind it. Crunch the numbers. Compare how much a one-time customer is worth to you versus an advocate that will come to you 2-3 times in a decade and refer a couple of people (or maybe more) every year.

Creating consistent and high-quality experiences for customers doesn’t have to be a 2-year plan but it does require developing a consistent and measured approach and planning your customer journeys like you would any business process.

The above diagram lays out what a basic customer journey mapping process might look like.

For example, if you look at the customer segment of the journey, think about how your service and support might change depending on which customer you are helping. For example, a first home buyer needs a slightly different experience than a sophisticated investor. They may need more information, explanations of terms and more of your time to build up trust and confidence. On the other hand, a sophisticated investor wants a faster outcome without all the extra time and explanation.

Finding a middle ground and offering both these audiences the same experience means that one could get too much information and the other not enough and both customers end up with an average experience. It’s a simple example which highlights the need to understand and plan a slightly different experience for distinct types of customers.

By identifying different audiences (personas), mapping their experiences and designing different experiences for each group, you are taking the first step to building highly satisfied customers.

Lastly, have a plan to delight your customers

Just like the hand-written note from your eBay seller or your favourite fruit in your hotel room, finding ways to delight and surprise your customers is one way to stand out and create a memorable and genuine experience above the day-to-day business of mortgage broking.

Finding something that’s unique is always better but here are a few to get you started: