Thirty years is not a relationship

Imagine coming across a Hinge profile with the just-right bio and photos. You match, and both agree to meet. The conversation over coffee is fine, but as the check arrives, you realize this match isn’t so interested in you as in “closing” the date. Subtle, unmistakable and it takes the relationship in a very different direction. Doesn’t this sound like getting a mortgage? The industry has spent decades optimizing the profile – the rate sheet, the loan estimate, the digital point-of-sale experience – without much thought about whether any of it builds trust. Rate is the swipe-right mechanism: It attracts attention, generates volume and builds the funnel. What it does not manufacture are the signals that turn a transaction into a relationship. Until recently, it frankly didn’t matter. Volume covered for the absence of relationship when rates were low, and lenders were swimming in transactions. Why plan for the future when the “seven-year itch” crops up by year two? The industry optimized for the close – the honeymoon period. Alas, that era is over. With volumes compressed and competition intensified for a smaller pool of borrowers, the industry is discovering it built its entire cust...