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Halifax customer service delights
Date posted: Jan 10 Posted By: Nick Moules Comments: 0
It had to happen eventually.
Somehow it seemed wrong to talk mortgages for a mortgage administration company and not have a mortgage myself. So, not being content with a student loan, I decided to take-on some serious debt and buy my first property.
Contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t find the house buying process too traumatic (perhaps it was because I wasn’t trying to sell a house at the same time?). The site developer and mortgage broker delivered excellent services and the staff at the Halifax couldn’t have done more to help. They are also one of just a couple of lenders ready to lend to first time buyers moving to new build or developed apartments – something that surely has to change to get the next generation of owners into the market?
Overall, I cannot sing the praises of the Halifax highly enough. Not only did the transaction go smoothly and communication prompt and easy to understand, but shortly after moving in to my new place I was pleasantly surprised to receive a hamper from the Halifax welcoming me to my new home.
As well as soap, biscuits and a toolkit (it’s as if they know I’m useless at DIY), my goodie box also contained a bottle of wine and chocolates. Happy days!
Needless to say, when a customer satisfaction survey landed on my doormat a few days later, I was more than happy to give them full marks. If ever an organisation had gone that extra mile to please a customer, it was the Halifax.
But a mortgage is for life, not just for Christmas. Over the course of the next 25 years (or 5-7 years, more probably) I have no doubt our budding relationship will endure a few testing moments. The prospect of rising interest rates are about as appealing as the new series of Dancing on Ice and, if I manage my mortgage with the same efficiency as my car tax, insurance and servicing, there may well be the odd administrative ‘dropped ball’ on my behalf.
The truth is that it’s during those moments that the true quality of an organisation’s service is really exposed. Get it right and a strong client relationship can be made even stronger. Get it wrong and not only can a valued customer be disenfranchised, but they may share their disappointment with other prospective customers.
As someone who works for a mortgage admin servicer, it was interesting to be on the other side and see the results of quality customer service – and I did experience a feeling of being valued. It is something that is talked about a lot in financial services and I did previously wonder whether just receiving a competent service would suffice, and in truth it would have done, but I’ve probably told five or six people about the hamper already, so pretty effective PR to boot.
My Halifax bottle of booze has been drunk and the chocolates reduced to a pile of wrappers on the lounge carpet. After the most positive of starts, our real relationship is about to start.
