How can mortgage firms support customers and staff with the ‘new normal’?

July 18, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

Although many of the restrictions that formed part of the lockdown response to Covid-19 are now being lifted, flexible and home working for non-essential office workers will be the norm for the foreseeable future. How can mortgage firms support their staff and customers in this situation?

When it comes to customers, one step that firms should take is to ensure that they are kept in the loop about changes to mortgage products or any other related services offered by your company. Many customers will have lost their incomes due to the pandemic and will be worried about mortgage repayments. Make sure it is easy for them to get in touch with someone who can assist, for example an advisor or your helpdesk, and make applying for schemes like payment deferrals simple for them.

It is not only your customers that you need to be thinking about as you try to adjust to the post-pandemic reality though, as the wellbeing of your employees is also important. If people are working from home more often, even as the lockdown ends, you can use tech communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams to ensure they stay in contact and avoid isolation.

Furthermore, if there is less work, providing employees with opportunities for continuous personal development training will help maintain morale. Following the lead of those providing CeMAP training courses that moved online during lockdown, many other courses are now available virtually. Employees can be encouraged to take advantage of these.