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53 Rich Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for PenFed, shared his thoughts on the challenges his firm has faced in light of the pandemic. "Our goal in the last three years was to create an awareness around the unique position that I think that we were in—we had a huge member base and had built brand loyalty for consumers within consumer lending and deposits, but those same consumers didn't know us as a mortgage company," Smith said. "So, how were we going to build that awareness? Even in a low-rate environment where we just talked about it's easy to sell mortgages, easy, but brand loyalty still exists amongst consumers for certain companies. We started looking at data and asking, 'Where are our members going?'" Serving the mortgage space for just a short period of time and then being hit by the pandemic may have rattled some firms, but PenFed maintained its focus and the outlook is a positive one. "A lot of companies grew very rapidly over the last few years, adding a lot of capacity. Now, as an industry, we're fighting over this shrinking pie and you're seeing lots of organizations laying people off," Smith explained. "e way we designed our business, we built a lot of variable capacity and slack into the system, so we haven't had to reduce staff, thankfully. We continue to be able to grow and take market share, and we were the only mortgage company in the top 50 to grow in the first quarter versus the fourth quarter. Will that continue? You know, we're facing a lot of headwinds to make that happen. I feel like we're in a pretty good position based on our size and the size of our portfolio to continue to grow and take share. ere's a lot of opportunity for us to grow within our own member base, within people who know us. When I think about tailwinds, that's really the one I know we can count on if we continue to focus on improving the customer experience." When it comes to driving more business, Smith shared a marketer's perspective and what his goals are to keep the pipeline full, no matter the outside forces impacting the marketplace. "e perception surrounding marketing within many organizations is changing," Smith said. "Probably too slowly, but still, it is changing. Marketing really does drive strategy and I have told similar things to my team many times—our job inside the organization is to educate the organization. We lead with insights. I came up as a direct marketer mostly—that's where I got my start. In direct marketing, you learn to embrace data insights. I think that's how you earn your seat at the table from a strategy perspective. Show up with the insights, show up with the data, bring the information forward that nobody else has. Marketing becomes a valuable resource because we are the voice of the customer, the source of the information, the eyes in the field." DAN SOGORKA, CEO, Sagent As CEO of Sagent, Dan Sogorka oversees a homeowner-first servicing platform seeking to modernize loan servicing for America's top banks and lenders. "As the industry has reacted to macroeconomic shifts, regulatory changes, and tech advancements on the origination side, the consumer hasn't been at the center of their home-owning life cycle—until now," Sogorka noted. "At Sagent, we saw an opportunity to differentiate ourselves through an intense focus on the homeowner by giving them the tools they need to manage their loans, and help them manage their unique financial situations and—most importantly—connect with them as human beings in good times and bad." e necessity of adapting to changes in the marketplace is nothing new. Sogorka notes that his company has had to navigate the constant speedbumps that have been thrown in the path of servicers over the past few years via tech enhancements in the servicing space. "Times are certainly changing for the mortgage industry, specifically on the servicing side," Sogorka said. "Over the last couple of years, after the initial passage of the CARES Act and counseling borrowers through the early days of the forbearance process, servicers jobs' have been straightforward. Now, it's getting a lot harder, and we're helping them prepare by providing cloud-native, open-API technology that helps banks and lenders control their tech spend and helps borrowers control their financial situations. By maintaining a fintech development mindset, we can continue to help servicers drive engagement (and retention) with homeowners in new and innovative ways." Despite the many tech advances that emerge from changing times, Sogorka is confident that through the age-old process of the human touch, both servicers and their customers will arrive at an end point mutually beneficial to all parties. "e servicer will continue to evolve into a 'trusted advisor' in this space—not the 'gotcha' person that the homeowner views with skepticism and distrust," Sogorka said. "We pride ourselves on helping our customers connect with their borrowers and show how they can help. Unlike in previous cycles, today, we have quality borrowers, quality data, and, most importantly, quality systems in place to help our customers guide their homeowners through periods of financial uncertainty and arrive at the best outcome for everyone involved. at means more stability for homeowners and lower servicing costs and higher margins for servicers." Eric C. Peck has 20-plus years' experience covering the mortgage industry, he most recently served as Editor-in- Chief for e Mortgage Press and National Mortgage Professional Magazine. Peck graduated from the New York Institute of Technology where he received his B.A. in Communication Arts/Media. After graduating, he began his professional career with Videography Magazine before landing in the mortgage space. Peck has edited three published books and has served as Copy Editor for Entrepreneur.com. "As the industry has reacted to macroeconomic shifts, regulatory changes, and tech advancements on the origination side, the consumer hasn't been at the center of their home-owning life cycle—until now." —Dan Sogorka, CEO, Sagent

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