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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 36 August 2023 F E A T U R E both the borrower and the servicer. "Manually tracking and monitoring cus- tomer payments for three to five years on these programs is just not realistic," Thorn said. "Working with our servicing system providers and those agencies to avoid additional manual processing is going to become critical." Of course, one complaint we hear often from the people we interview is that the servicing sector tends to often lag the origi- nations half of the industry when it comes to both technological innovation and the budgetary support to implement it. "There's a lot of technology and effort put into the origination space, and that's neither unusual nor strange," Thorn said, noting that when it comes to servicing tech, "there's no silver bullet out there unless you're going to just stick to one type of loan and that's it." Rather than aligning multiple different applications for her team's purposes, Thorn said, "We are focused on getting back to using our core servicing system and getting that upgraded to a place where it is doing its job without needing all these applications around it. We are working to simplify it to where I don't have a huge diversity of different products and investors across the portfolio. That automati- cally helps you simplify what you need from a technological standpoint." For Thorn, another key to navigating this maze lies in simply listening to the borrowers and ensuring customers are being given what they truly need, as well as being interacted with in the manner they prefer. Thorn explained, "We may divert some of our technology budgets to digital, online, or IVR (interactive voice response) because that's how customers want to interact with us. Customers don't always want to pick up the phone and talk to a customer service rep. They want automation, they want to see that activity, so that has been driving discussions about how we can provide that service and technology." 'Communication and Authenticity' W hen looking back on her three decades in mortgage, Ann Thorn ticks off a few important lessons. Maintain a sense of humor. Be patient and don't sweat the small stuff. But the more we dig into this topic, the more we come back to a few key tenets: building strong teams and communicating authentically. Teambuilding has been at the heart of much of her most-important work since joining Wells Fargo two years ago, and Thorn reiterates it as one of the most useful skills she has acquired throughout her career. "Building great teams is key to success and ensuring succession planning," she said. When it comes to communicating with that team, Thorn recommends that you "keep it simple and communicate authenti- cally. As a leader, I want to ensure that I've got trust in my team, they have trust in me, and we all have trust in the bigger organization. That, to me, is about good communication and authenticity. A lot of it truly comes down to talent and people." This is also where we circle back around to Thorn's observation that in mortgage servicing, there's always a next crisis. And when that next crisis arrives, in whatever form it does, Thorn is adamant that it will be the strength of your team, and their ability to communicate and collaborate, that will carry you through to the other side. "One of the most critical things to me is how you lead through crisis and how you're going to act in those crisis moments," Thorn explains. "When there's a fire drill or a COVID pandemic, how do you lead your team through that, whether that crisis lasts a day, three years, or anywhere in between? Because in mortgage servicing, there is always a next crisis." "During those moments, who do you look to?" she continues. "You want to look to your leaders, the same as I did with my leaders, and know, are they supporting me? Are they helping me solve my problems? Are they helping me strategize and put a plan together? Or am I out on an island, all by myself? That makes a difference." Magazine INTRODUCING The Five Star Institute's premier trade publications, DS News and MReport, have joined forces to become MortgagePoint. This new publication brings you the same exclusive news, features, interviews, and commentary you've come to expect from Five Star—now taken to the next level and all in one place. MortgagePoint is your one-stop shop for coverage of the full spectrum of mort- gage, from originations to default. Scan the QR code to sign up and learn more. THE INDUSTRY'S MOST VALUED PUBLICATIONS JOINING FORCES