7 Reasons for Poor Digital Mortgage Adoption (and How to Prevent It)
Chelsea Mize
Bringing new technology into the fold is always a risk, but even more so when margins are tight. You want to find the right digital mortgage platform for your team; but you also want your team to actually want to use the new platform. You don’t want to risk low adoption and appear like you don’t truly understand your team’s wants & needs.
Finding the right digital mortgage software is just half the battle. Getting your team on board & feeling confident about your new tech is crucial to positive ROI.
The earlier into your digital mortgage journey you start thinking about adoption, the better. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the primary reasons for low digital mortgage adoption.
1. You didn’t make adoption mandatory
The easiest way to transition your team to their new digital mortgage platform is to make it mandatory and close up your old system (if you were previously using a similar tool).
Successful software deployment requires upper management to decide on an adoption strategy early on and see it through to fruition.
The most reliable strategy to foster adoption and quickly see positive ROI is to make adoption mandatory.
It might feel severe, but don’t let the fear of a negative response keep you from pulling the trigger on mandatory adoption, as it is perhaps the single-most indicator of long-term success and adoption with your new tool.
2. Employees don’t think they are tech-savvy enough to excel on the new software
Employees may be hesitant when a new software tool is introduced because they have no way of knowing if they will be as successful on the new platform as they are with their current process.
As Calestous Juma, Harvard professor and author of Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies, notes, people don’t just fear technology because it’s new. They fear it because it poses a threat to their identity.
Juma says:
“People’s cognitive attitudes toward the technology predict the extent to which they adopt the technology after short exposure to it… Attitudes are much easier to change than habits because they are socially contagious. Thus, communication that encourages a positive cognitive approach to new technologies — for example, through emphasizing specific benefits of specific aspects of the technology — can increase the likelihood that people will accept the technology.”
Focus on the benefits of the new platform, highlight success stories, and nurture positive sentiment about the new software to encourage adoption in your team.
3. The software is difficult to learn
When it comes to software, a robust feature set often means a more daunting learning curve. The right digital mortgage software will balance a pleasant user experience (UX) with simple, intuitive design and all the features you need. A software with intuitive design drives adoption and makes training hassle-free, which in turn will drive enthusiasm and acceptance on your team.
4. Employees are too distracted to focus on onboarding & training
As you shop for vendors, be sure to time your purchase and implementation plan around your busy season so your team won’t be distracted when they onboard.
Employees don’t want to stop using existing tools or processes when they’re handling peak seasonal volume. Be patient and wait until they have the time and clarity to focus on learning a new tool.
5. Lack of comprehensive (and ongoing) training
Implementing new mortgage technology should not, and cannot, be a one-off event. Comprehensive, ongoing training is essential for high adoption rates. Your team can’t get the most out of your digital mortgage technology investment if they don’t fully understand how to use it. Make sure they have all of the training, resources, and support they need to become power users of your new tool.
Training is a central pillar of continuous improvement, but the right kind of training done when needed is more effective than poor training done frequently.
That said, be sure to work with your digital mortgage vendor to develop an ongoing training strategy to ensure everyone in your organization feels confident and competent at your new digital mortgage software.
5. Not tracking pre- and post-implementation results
When it comes to any new technology, the proof is in the performance data. A successful software deployment will considerably improve key performance metrics and leaders should leverage these improvements to highlight the effectiveness of the software and share those results with their team.
Tracking (and sharing) pre- and post-implement can help strengthen adoption considerably. To do that, you need to be proactive before implementation to establish those oh-so-important baseline metrics and then monitor those numbers over time to see the actual impact of your digital mortgage software.
And don’t forget to go beyond the data. When communicating performance improvements to your team, use specific, personalized anecdotes from their other team members. Hearing how their co-worker has excelled in the new platform can encourage other team members to feel more optimistic about the technology and approach the software with renewed vigor.
6. Not gathering feedback from your team
The new software implementation process does not end after launch. You also need to confirm that everyone’s happy with their new system and able to get their work done.
After your team has had a few weeks to work in the new platform, be sure to gather feedback from your larger team to take their temperature and, if need be, schedule new trainings or work with your vendor to procure any training documentation or resources to answer any questions your team might have.
7. Expecting immediate results
Change doesn’t happen overnight, and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you expect to see instant results. Per your implementation plan, expect to track usage and positive process impact for 1-3 months (minimum) before you make any judgments in terms of positive ROI.
“Mostly, employees think in short-term and if we look at it in the short-term, then yes — it might e a little bit more challenging to start using the new system. However, if managers stay true to their plan, the old habits will gradually change and your team will become a lot more efficient in their work.” — Karola Karlson, Scoro
That being said, with the right digital mortgage vendor, positive results may appear quicker than you think. For Maxwell clients, the positive impact is almost immediate. Your only barrier to entry is getting your loan officers and lending teams trained and using the platform; once they’re in, you can expect a near-immediate boost in turn times and efficiency.
Conclusion
As the old adage goes, failing to plan is planning to fail, and that could not be more true when it comes to digital mortgage software implementation and adoption.
Software implementation can seem daunting because it, by nature, demands your team to alter your business processes. The best mortgage software is built with intuitive, behavior-driven design that minimizes process impact, but the best software in the world still requires your team to make small changes to incorporate it into how they work.
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For more on how to seamlessly implement digital mortgage software and encourage adoption, check out our comprehensive “Digital Mortgage Implementation & Adoption Guide.” (No form to fill out; just one click to download the PDF.)
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