Previous Growth is the goal, but in mortgage operations, it can quickly become the problem. In this conversation, Rudy Zabran, COO of Consolidated Analytics, joins Allison LaForgia to break down what it really takes to scale despite market uncertainty, in a high-cost environment without introducing operational breakdowns.
Zabran began by emphasizing that growth and execution are inseparable. “Growth and innovation. They’re not disconnected from execution. Ultimately, they rely on the executional framework,” he said. “If you can build a sales engine, but if you don’t have the execution discipline to get things done, you create backlogs. And backlogs are not a great customer experience ever.”
Drawing from his background in sales and marketing, Zabran highlighted the importance of aligning operational efficiency with business expansion. “I don’t view the two as disconnected. I think they’re very much in line,” he said, pointing to the need for operations that “can support the scale” driven by leadership and commercial teams.
When it comes to scaling, Zabran pushed back on a common misconception. “I don’t think growth creates the operational cracks. It certainly reveals the operational cracks,” he explained. “You can’t just continue to throw bodies at problems . . .you can’t just adopt technologies to stack on top of technologies and think it’s going to solve things. You need repeatable systems.”
That tendency to over-rely on technology is something he sees frequently across the industry. “There’s a natural tendency oftentimes to want to stack technology on problems,” he said. “It kind of creates this swivel chair mentality . . . the goal is connected intelligence, not just technology for the sake of technology.”
Instead, Zabran stressed that technology must align with how organizations actually operate. “If it’s not connected to the way that we work . . . if it doesn’t reduce friction . . . it just creates more breaks in the process,” he said. “You implement some new piece, and it just creates new handoffs… adding additional confusion.”
Avoiding that trap requires intentional design. “If you’re automating an imperfect platform, you’re just increasing the speed of confusion,” Zabran noted. “A thoroughly planned and thoughtful operating mechanism, operating structure is critical, and that’s the technologies. It’s the people process. You know, it’s a sales process. They all need to work in tandem.”
To improve visibility and decision-making, Zabran is also focused on capturing real-time feedback from employees. “What we don’t get [from annual surveys] is . . . what’s happening on the ground today,” he said. “It’s the people on the floor that can tell you how things broke.”
By implementing LLM-driven pulse surveys, his team is uncovering insights that traditional reporting misses. “[We’re] surfacing more tactical information to the top of the organization,” he explained. “Now we can more tactically address issues without just looking at dashboard reporting.”
Looking ahead, Zabran sees a clear opportunity for lenders willing to prepare before volume returns. “Am I actually taking the opportunity right now… to build these things into our organization, or am I going to scramble when volumes at the door?” he asked.
Ultimately, sustainable scale comes down to preparation, not heroics. “You can’t scale based on the heroic effort of an individual,” Zabran said. “There’s only so much coffee . . . so much adrenaline . . .at some point that breaks.”As he put it, “Investing in the technology and the process, and really being mindful about how you build it, I think, is of critical importance when you’re considering scale, and it’s an opportunity for lenders right now.”
