Are you leveraging Business Intelligence and a BIO?
The analytics of mortgage data has become so critical to profitability that the role of Business Intelligence Officer (BIO) is becoming key for many mortgage and banking operations. Their impact on the top line can rival a good originator when social media and internet are highly leveraged. This position actually has a measurable ROI! If you are considering this role, or have this person already, it’s critical to include more than the core sales and operational metrics to arrive at the results that set the course of action. Quality and compliance risks need to be an integral part of the cost containment analytics. The LOS requires supplemental software to ensure this role has the data necessary to find the leading indicators. Business intelligence software should be combined with tools that identify and report on the front line errors and missteps in the process where the real solutions are found.
There are several resources available. As you shop around, you may find it takes 2-3 solutions to get everything you need to know from sales, customer service, quality and performance. Look for a company that is deep in technology and mortgage expertise. The systems should be well tested and allow you to customize its features. Easy to use and customizable dashboards for each level of management are now minimum expectations for all software solutions. The dashboards after all are the eyes into the intelligence.
Don’t let something like the horror of TRID implementation scare you away from implementing new software solutions. Good software companies have easy integration and support that can make this painless. Remember, these solutions are not invading your process; they are collecting what is happening in your process and providing new information to make better business decisions.
Much of the data in the LOS and post closing reports, for example, are lagging indicators. True BI and having a BIO to check and analyze the data, provides you with real time data and the ability to develop leading indicators to see the future in capacity, quality and financial conditions.
The other advantage of a BIO is their autonomy. The role, in its truest form, should not be focused solely on one area. They can combine all information from all sources and find balance between finance, sales and quality issues. For example, if PCQC data is not viewed with overall performance ratings, risk can appear magnified. On the other hand, if finance is the only focus, the profitability doesn’t reflect whether quality is where it needs to be.
A BIO can take silos of information from managers and software solutions and help drive effective decision making that aligns with plans for growth and profitability.