While we all rant about the lack of customer service out there, we are still stuck to our computers and smartphones. The difference is that I think people look to their technology for information, but it's people that should be providing customer service. The trick here is finding a happy medium. Find a way to use technology to your advantage! Advertise, BLOG, market yourself - but you must have the personality and the persistence behind it to close the deal. I work for a tech company, so perhaps I'm a bit biased, but my company, LoanSifter, for example offers a plethora of products used to simplify your job as a LO. Never, however, do we sell you on staying away from customer contact. In fact, our main product, the LoanSifter search engine, was created with the intent that LO's would use it while on the phone with borrowers. You need to have a conversation before you can decide what is best for them. So why do we sell other products that allow borrowers to check pricing, qualify themselves and even apply online with little-to-no personal contact - because the market requires it. The X and Y generation demand it, in fact. These are not the types of people who stop and ask for directions, they simply google text to get their info. They use GPS to get where they're going. They text to say they're late - to say they've arrived...to do practically everything. Perhaps it's avoidance, but it seems to somehow be in their younger, slightly-mutated DNA - and we, as a society, have followed them. My suggestion is to find a way to use this technology up-front. Use it to get your business in the door. Use it tempt your possible clients into wanting to know more. And then get on that phone, and give them the best customer service they've ever seen. Show them that the technology you used is simply a tool and that YOU are the real deal!
