Challenge
Our client, a market leading bank, was facing an increasingly competitive home-loans market, as the big four and other lenders aggressively targeted market share. Internal analysis pointed to an increase in home loans runoff, whereby customers were paying off and closing their home loan accounts without taking new home loan with the bank. To support ongoing home loans marketing initiatives, the Home Loans team required a detailed understanding of the triggers to selling a property, the motivations and actions of customers in choosing a subsequent home loan, and when and how they could assist customers in their sale and purchase process.
Approach
To map the customer journey and pinpoint ‘stay or go’ moments of truth, as well as identify opportunities for the brand to develop stronger relationships, an extensive series of in-depth interviews were undertaken with former home loan customers who had recently sold their property, paid and closed their home loan account, and taken a subsequent home loan with another lender.
Results
The research found that to reduce Home Loan run-off, the bank needed both strategic and opportunistic initiatives to re-engage customers. Further it was recommended that the organisation create ongoing conversations with customers to drive product engagement and to reduce perceptions of finance ubiquitousness. An opportunity was also identified to disrupt the power and influence of brokers and agents, by leveraging bank expertise and guiding and advising customers, easing the stress and apprehension associated with purchasing a home.