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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 38 June 2024 C O V E R S T O R Y Travis-Johnson said this philosophy makes the VRM team more comfortable sharing their perspectives with Murray and herself. "That's how you get the best out of your people," Travis-Johnson continued. "They feel valued and appreciated because you are listening. There's not a person or a company we work with who has never met [Keith] or seen him or heard from him. He does an exceptional job making sure that people feel valued." However, both Murray and Tra- vis-Johnson admit that recruiting from larger banks and GSEs can result in a bit of a learning curve for new team members, both because VRM is a smaller company and because of its work philosophy which asks team members to take ownership of projects and think creatively about prob- lem-solving while being constrained by a smaller budget than some of these larger organizations may have had access to. "Sometimes you have to use your current resources to just get it done," said Travis-Johnson. "It's so much easier to just hire a temp or a consultant than to do it yourself. We have learned through this culture that a lot can be done with the resources we already have. It forces you to challenge yourself." Murray agrees, noting that "We're not for everybody. Some folks like to be able to take it to the 20-yard line and hand it off to somebody else. But we say, 'No, you've got it.' Some people thrive in that environ- ment. [Cheryl] thrives in that environ- ment. Some people don't. If you want the opportunity to make change and you're empowered to do it, and you thrive in that, you can be successful here." Travis-Johnson points with pride to VRM's multi-year contracts with both Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, and Bay View (Community) and notes, "All of that is based on our performance, and that speaks to our people," Travis-Johnson said. "It feels so great when I go to conferences and people walk up to me and say, 'You have the best team.' Our company was built on customer service." Murray adds, "It's having folks that come from different segments of financial services that can all come together to deliv- er solutions to our customers." But what does being "built on custom- er service" mean in the practical sense? For Travis-Johnson, she says it starts with sitting down with customers and having a candid conversation—but without it turning immediately into a sales pitch. "We sit down with our customers. We don't try to push our products on them. Instead, we ask them, 'What are your pain points? What do you need? Let us try and craft a solution for you.' People aren't used to that. It stuns leaders when I ask that question. They sit back and they're expecting me to sell them something, and I've [countered by saying], 'You need to tell me your problem so I can fix it.' Otherwise, we don't need to do anything other than have a nice relationship, because I'm here to help you solve your problems. You don't outsource a core competency. You out- source because you lack that competency." Murray told MortgagePoint that the VRM team makes a point to "delve deep" into each of their client's businesses. "We try to understand their business as well as they do," Murray continued. "Our ability to find ways we can create efficiencies is a real value that we bring." Murray also noted the critical aspect of building trust with customers, as they see that your team can deliver, and the ways this opens further paths for communi- cation and collaboration that might have been harder to access without that trust. "Once you earn credibility with your customer ... they trust you with questions," Murray explained. "The more questions they ask, the more questions we ask, and it's a collaboration between us and our customer. As long as they feel like the sum of those two parts is more than two, we can sit together around the table and come up with something that enhances our processes. Our goal is to be their valued partner. Sometimes that comes with money and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it just builds a relationship, but if you build relationships, the business comes with it." Travis-Johnson adds, "There's nothing worse than getting an outsourcer that never calls you, never checks in, and never makes sure you're happy. You have to engage your customers because sometimes they'll have a pain point you don't know is a pain point. They'll think, 'It has to be this way,' and then you show them that it doesn't." This attentive, collaborative attitude, evident from talking with both Murray and Travis-Johnson, can make all the difference. It can make the difference between a venture surviving crucibles such as pandemics and inflation and down markets–or not. It can mean the differ- ence between just having a good idea and celebrating nearly two decades of the suc- cessful venture that arose from that idea, alongside a leader who you know has your back and shares your work philosophies. "Good service is sustainable," noted Travis-Johnson. "I think that's why we're still here and we have long histories with our clients. They believe in us, and we've demonstrated that we can deliver on what we say."