Sue Woodard on why the customer is the real hero

This week, HousingWire’s Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler interviews Total Expert’s Sue Woodard to get her unique perspective on the current state of mortgage technology.

Here is a small preview of the interview with Woodard, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Sarah Wheeler: We had such a crazy year in 2020 as the pandemic fueled a ton of changes in mortgage tech. What are some of the biggest changes from your perspective?

Sue Woodard: I would say a couple of different things. You know, first of all, there’s been a lot of focus on technology around the user interface, as it was kind of the sole priority and focus. However, there’s really a lot around putting together the right tech stack and putting around the back-end mortgage technology that really fuels a great customer experience. So, we’re seeing a stronger focus on making sure institutions are looking behind the scenes to make sure the foundation is there, and the right tech stack is there to enable their unique way of doing things. And a big part of what it’s about is to really unlock a more 360-degree view of the customer. There’s a lot of data silos that still exist, not just in our industry, but so many financial institutions. I think it’s all about putting all the information and data together, so you don’t have siloed teams or siloed data, and the end result is just creating a great customer experience. There’s been a lot more focus on what is the right tech stack to get data together and provide a great customer experience.

The Housing News podcast explores the most important topics happening in mortgage, real estate, and fintech. Each week a new mortgage or real estate executive joins the show to add perspective to the top stories crossing HousingWire’s news desk. Hosted by Sarah Wheeler and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.