Supercharge Your Digital Mortgage Submission Rates

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Completed mortgage applications are the lifeblood of your business. However, too many lenders overlook how critical the borrower experience is for maximizing the application submission rate. Thankfully, there are simple actions you can take to ensure an exceptional borrower experience, minimize application drop-off rates, and supercharge your submission rates.

Here are the proven steps to higher digital mortgage application submission rates.

Trash The Tedious Tasks

Challenge:
The top complaint that prospects have about the application process is the sheer labor that it takes to complete it. Here are some of the reasons for dropping off midway:

Feeling that too much personal information is asked of them.
They don’t have the necessary documents on hand to submit.
Overwhelmed by the number of fields.
The application does not function correctly on customers’ preferred device –leaving the applicant frustrated and reducing their interest.

Solution:
Test drive digital applications from various providers. Look how well they address those issues mentioned above — if at all. Specifically, look for:

Their choice of wording. Ideally, it should be conversational, like an interview.
The ability to upload documents at a later time, ease of submission, and reduced documentation required.
A user-friendly application that utilizes drop-downs and displays a progress tracker that subliminally encourages the applicant to complete it.
An intuitive design that automatically resizes and functions the way it was intended no matter the device. It should auto-save it too!

Study the digital borrower journey from start to finish to pinpoint issues that could lead to applicant fatigue and abandoned applications. If you find any tasks are too tedious, trash them fast!

Oust Outdated Design

Challenge: Cumbersome design that is unclear and depends on legacy function. You can’t expect Applicants to stick around if they encounter any of these challenges:

Forms that scroll endlessly.
Relying on hard credit pulls.
Requesting the user for information the lender already has.
Relying on manual documentation validation.
Application overall takes too long to complete in one sitting.

Solution:

Optimize your application process for clarity, speed, ease of use, and automation. You can achieve this most quickly by employing up-to-date mortgage software that also integrates with other apps or services you use.

Champion Omnichannel

Challenge:
Digital-savvy consumers expect the same level of experience and function as they do other online services. For example, when a consumer begins a Netflix series on their tablet, they expect to pick up where they dropped off when watching from their TV. The same holds for applications started on mobile and continued on a laptop.

Solution:
Test your loan application process across several devices and operating systems. Confirm that the borrower experience is seamless across your mortgage website, mobile app, and digital 1003.

Leapfrog The Competition

Challenge:
Customers expect one-touch conversion experiences regardless of the industry, making this one of the most critical areas to address. Only those that deliver a best-in-class digital experience will be the ones to survive.

Solution:
Consider the buyer experience on the top e-commerce sites (Amazon and Walmart) and take note of the customer journey. Notice the distinct flow of browsing, buying, and checking out. Identify those best practices, and while a mortgage application works differently, you can still implement the best ideas in your application process and workflow.

Act Now

Now is the time to tame the ‘wild west’ of digital application submission rates and close more loans. By implementing these tips, you can differentiate your digital self-serve mortgage experience and delight borrowers. And by partnering with a leading technology provider such as LenderHomePage – to thoroughly improve conversion across your organization – you can turn your borrowers into raving brand ambassadors.