CEO Anthony Hsieh, together with three key executive leaders, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Walsh, Chief Operations Officer Tammy Richards and mellohome CEO Chris Heller kicked off the first of eight Town Halls that will sweep across five states in three days with powerful words for #TeamloanDepot Chicago:
“Technology is a journey; it is not a destination.”
The sentiment was echoed by Walsh, Richards and Heller as they each took their turn at the microphone to engage with the audience and answer questions. And, while each executive takes a leadership position in a different aspect of the company, together they reinforced one unified message: That the way for loanDepot to win in the long term will be to delight every customer by providing outstanding customer service and an exceptional user experience.
The key to achieving that, all four agreed, is in the creation of industry-leading technology. Or, as Hsieh put it: “Technology does not replace service. But technology is the win.”
“And know that the technology we’re creating is just going to get better over time,” he continued.
Our competitors won’t be able to catch up or keep up.”
When asked about enhancements in operational processes, Richards enthusiastically shared her team’s near- and long term plans. “You’re going to see process enhancements very soon,” she explained. “We’re continually moving processes into a more flexible flow. And we’re going to enhance the tools that the ops teams need to create greater efficiencies.”
mellohome CEO Chris Heller also took the opportunity to share his and Anthony’s vision and plans for mellohome.
“mellohome was Anthony’s idea to take advantage of what’s happening in our industry, by pairing real estate and mortgage,” said Heller. “And, with mellohome, we’re doing our share to speed up that convergence. Recent research that we conducted this summer shows that 73% of homebuyers surveyed started by researching financing first, which dramatically changes the conversation.”
Hsieh ended the Town Hall with words of optimism for the future.
“We need to make certain that we maintain our optionality,” he said. “We don’t want to build a company that is static. We’re here to build a quality company that stands the test of time.”