Preserving a brand in a world gone wild with crazed social media aficionados requires mortgage lenders and service providers to monitor and respond to online posts.
Early detection of negative comments that disaffected clients write on social media sites is fundamental to preserving a firm’s standing in the industry.
To be sure, it’s not an area that many lenders or service providers have given much thought to. The mortgage industry has been slow to adopt social media, but that may be changing.
That’s because one trade group that understands the importance of developing technologies and strategies to protect mortgage lenders’ reputation from negative social media posts is the Independent Community Bankers Association of America.
It has unveiled the ICBA Social Media Monitor, a tool designed to preserve and protect a “bank’s reputation on social media.”
The monitor searches millions of tweets, as well as Facebook posts, blogs and hundreds of other social networks for references to a mortgage company’s brand and aggregates the results into a simple daily email alert.
The results may paint a positive story, one that makes mortgage executives proud; or a negative story, one that makes their skin crawl. But whatever news is circulating through the social media soapbox, mortgage executives need to be aware of it.
They need to respond to posts, especially negative ones, explain what happened, and the steps they took to fix it through social media, so everyone can read it. They can offer the client who posted the negative comment an email or phone number he can use to contact customer service to discuss the situation.
The aim is that the bank on the receiving side of the criticism is made aware of their client’s experience, can explain itself online, and fix the problem with as little delay as possible. More importantly, it can analyze the issue and take steps to prevent the problem from happening again.
Like it or not, social media junkies will write about their experiences buying a mortgage or with their servicer. It can’t be prevented, but comments have to be monitored to avoid dinged-up corporate reputations.
Upset clients can write about what they perceive is poor customer service immediately and can do so without a filter—through social media. Too often, they won’t take time to gain perspective much less calm down. Instead, they can express their opinions, frustrations, and anger while the transaction is happening with a cell phone and social media destination of their choice.
But, the financial organizations they are writing about if it is aware of the post can respond and do what it can to resolve the situation. That’s why a tool like ICBA’s monitor holds so much promise: Lenders, servicers, service providers can address clients criticism in real time, heading off controversy and correct inaccurate information.
Good news helps them sell their services; bad news forces them to explain the criticism, without getting defensive. Either way knowing what is being written is critical to preserving brands.
With the proliferation of iPhones, iPads and sites such as Facebook and Twitter, every client has the ability to comment on his mortgage broker, loan originator, or servicers in real time.
Remember, however, that social media monitoring is not just the preserve of the marketing department, or the public relations department. It works best when the entire organization—or at least most departments—can monitor what is being said that affects them.
The aim is to ensure that there is awareness across an organization of what is being written about them. They can create key words that will track and generate responses that pertain to their responsibilities within the organization.
Clients have more ways then ever to express their experiences with lenders and service providers. Firms with long-term vision, however, adapt to changing times, implement new technologies with enthusiasm, without losing touch of clients’ attitudes toward their services.
ICBA Social Media Monitor helps ensure that never happens.
Matt Strickberger is the managing partner of OnPoint PR and Consulting LLC, a public relations firm that represents lenders, servicers, technology companies and others. He was editor of Mortgage Technology magazine from 1997-2000. If you have comments or suggestions for future columns, email him at mstrickberger@onpoint-pr.com.
