Judi White, a senior loan officer with H&R Block Mortgage Corp., puts herself in the client’s shoes. “If it were me, I would expect to have the loan closed in a timely manner, and I would want as little change as possible from the conditions originally quoted. And trust, above all, is what the client should take away from every interaction,” Judi says.

“I also try to find a common interest with each of my clients.One of my clients, Rick Sander, has a son who plays

baseball, like my son. We became acquainted talking about the positions they play and different teams in the area. Recently, I helped the Sanders refinance their home.”

Rick enjoyed this personal approach to client service. “Our experience dealing with H&R Block Mortgage was A-number 1. Mrs. White and the customer service associates were easy to talk to and very willing to meet our needs,” Rick says. “It’s exciting to know that we can add on to our home now and make enough room for our family,” says Betty, Rick’s wife.

	"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. I always put myself in a client's position and try to give the kind of service I would want."
	Judy White | senior loan officer, H&R Block Mortgage Corp.| Irvine, Calif. | associate since 1997

Our goal at H&R Block Mortgage is to extend the relationship that a client has established with a tax professional, and to expand it to include mortgage and financial services. In this way, we strengthen our client relationships and build client loyalty, says Tim Owens, senior vice president and chief operations officer, H&R Block Mortgage. A client retention analysis validates this conclusion. This study compared a group of H&R Block tax clients who had contact with mortgage services to a like group of Block tax clients who had no contact with mortgage services. “The analysis compared clients with varying degrees of interaction—those contacted by loan officers, those who applied for loans, and those with funded loans. In every case, tax client retention was higher among those who had an interaction with H&R Block Mortgage,” Tim says. “For those with funded loans, we had about a nine percent increase in retention. This study shows that clients value an expanded relationship with H&R Block.”

Training programs help build a bridge between H&R Block’s tax and mortgage professionals. “I enjoyed conducting tax professional loan assistant training and working with seasoned tax professionals who’d been with the company for 10 or 20 years. The program instills trust between tax and mortgage associates, which means they can work together to partner with the client,” says Teresa Cepicky, senior loan officer, Atlanta.

H&R Block Mortgage is a client-friendly environment. “We are committed to find the mortgage product that best serves each of our individual clients,” says Stacy Steckler, senior loan officer, Tampa, Fla.