While COVID forced mortgage businesses to close offices and work remotely, historically low interest rates sparked a generational refinance boom that had lenders scrambling for new hires – many of them new to the industry.

The sudden need for easily accessible, high-quality training is the first of four “urgent concerns” identified by WFG’s Executive Roundtable (ERT) comprised of industry thought leaders and decision-makers.

In a new HousingWire post, Dan Bailey, SVP of WFG Lender Services and WFG Enterprise Solutions, details how customer surveys and ERT members’ own experience produced the list of concerns, and what WFG is doing to address them.

According to Bailey, “WFG’s lender clients and their borrowers identified training, collaboration, process efficiency and communication as the four major pain points.”

In response, he continues, “we developed the following programs aimed at increasing collective knowledge, fostering collaboration, streamlining processes and enhancing communication.”

For training – “WFG developed a comprehensive training program running the mortgage origination gamut … through which we partner with customers to assess knowledge gaps and identify relevant training topics, then create training courses available in-person, remote or self-taught.”

For Collaboration – “In addition to ongoing work with the ERT we conduct routine surveys … and participate and engage in industry-related events, panels and group discussions that [inform] the development of far-reaching solutions, and look to build strategic partnerships with complementary service providers to promote uniform practices that reduce errors and streamline processes.”

For Process Efficiency – “WFG’s process optimization program is founded upon a program of partnership where collectively we painstakingly analyze the mortgage process [in order to] deliver a comprehensive plan for implementing prioritized process improvement initiatives. The program then initiates routine touchpoints to assess the effectiveness of completed initiatives.”For Communication – “WFG has invested in telecommunications systems, platform integrations and new products that streamline the collection and distribution of transactional data. We all work on different systems, different handheld devices, in different time zones and at different times of the day. WFG has developed a series of communication standards aimed at promoting communication among transaction participants that promote the exchange of transaction-specific information, provide insight into the mortgage loan pipeline and clarify outstanding requirements.”