Borrower Key Contact | Soundbite Communications

Westlake Village, CA - Proactive communication can give the upper hand to mortgage servicers struggling to dissociate themselves from theindustry's bad reputation and improve customer retention rates.

J.D. Power and Associates new Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction

Study confirms that mortgage servicers that initiate contact with customers who are in default (or worried about being late on their mortgage payments) can significantly increase customer satisfaction andloss mitigation efficiency.

The research firm here found that customer satisfaction averages 651 on a 1,000-point scale, when mortgage servicers first initiate thecontact compared to a score of 613 when customers are the ones making the first point of contact by dialing their servicer.

Furthermore, of the customers who note their servicer was helpful in dealing with their current situation, 21% say they definitely willuse that servicer again, compared to only 1% of customers who say their servicer was not helpful and plan to use them again.

"Taking care of customers in their hour of need is critically important, particularly among homeowners with otherwise blemish-free credit histories," says J.D. Power and Associates director of financial services, David Lo. "It can form lasting positive impressions of servicers and create lifelong customers."