Hired by Quicken Loans as a loan processor 17 years ago, Heather Lovier has enjoyed a variety of roles throughout her career. Today, she is the executive vice president of Client Experience Operations—a role that’s near and dear to her heart. In this exclusive interview, Lovier discusses how she is spearheading the movement to ensure that every Quicken Loans client has an amazing experience, every time.
Real Estate magazine: What is your No. 1 goal in your current role?
Heather Lovier: My main goal is to embody our “ISMs,” which are the fundamental principles that shape and drive our culture at Quicken Loans. Because they are the philosophy that supports who we are, it’s critical that I, and our entire Client Experience team, uphold our ISMs—whether we are interacting with mortgage clients or our team members.
RE: Tell us a bit more about the company’s ISMs and why they are so important.
HL: Our ISMs are truly the fuel behind our culture and guide our actions and decision-making every day. There are 19 ISMs, ranging from “Do the right thing” to “Every client. Every time. No exceptions. No excuses.” They are truly engrained in everything we do; we talk about them and reinforce them constantly. Some of our other ISMs include “We’ll figure it out,” “Obsessed with finding a better way,” “Responding with a sense of urgency” and “Yes before no.”
RE: What’s involved in the process that comes with ensuring every client has an amazing experience?
HL: One thing we pride ourselves on is returning phone calls, texts and emails within 24 hours. If this goal is not met, an email is sent to the senior leadership team, the team member and me, asking why the client was not responded to in a timely fashion. If a team member is too busy to follow up, they know they can always count on one of us to reach out. It’s important for us as an organization to make sure we’re responding to all clients with a sense of urgency. We don’t want any client to feel as though they are just another number to us—because they’re not.
RE: What happens when a client doesn’t have a positive experience?
HL: We take a lot of pride in the high level of client service that we provide consistently, but when we experience the rare issue in the process, we have a dedicated escalation group that works closely with our clients to get things back on track quickly. Not only is this group responsible for coming up with resolutions, but they are also empowered to make decisions and act on them, depending on what the client needs. We also have a project called Operation Heart, which provides an outlet for team members to reach out to clients and engage with them on a more personal level.
RE: Why is it so important to ensure that the client experience is a good one?
HL: A mortgage is a personal and infrequent event for our clients. In many cases, this will be the largest financial transaction a client makes in their life. As a result, we know that we have to bring our “A” game every day. That’s why our client service, and the positive experience we give our clients, is so important to us. A win for us is when a client goes out and shares what an awesome experience they had getting a mortgage or refinancing through Quicken Loans. That’s what energizes our 18,000 team members every day—and that’s what helps us continue to grow as America’s largest mortgage lender.
RE: What’s on the horizon as we head toward the future?
HL: In addition to constantly looking at how we can make the process smoother for our clients, we’re always trying to create a faster process so that clients know with certainty when they’re going to close. We’ll continue to provide visibility into the process for our clients and partners, as well as the real estate professionals we work with. This will provide clarity into what’s going on at all times, ensuring that we’re all on the same page.
If you are interested in receiving one of Quicken Loans’ ISMs books, please send your name and mailing address to AgentRelations@QuickenLoans.com.
For more information, please visit www.RealEstate.QuickenLoans.com.Â
Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at paige@rismedia.com.
