Why iQor
This case study spotlights iQor’s partnership with a financial services client that led to the addition of complex back office support services to improve efficiency and quality in their auto finance division.
With deep product knowledge; a strong understanding of the brand; comprehensive training; and ongoing QA, compliance, and efficiency monitoring, iQor delivers fast and accurate back office support to help achieve the client’s strategic objectives.
Our team of dedicated CX professionals delivers task QA scores at 99.3%, consistently above the client’s target with efficiency and accuracy. This results in faster turnaround times to advance the lender’s competitive advantage in the auto loan industry.
Background
Our client is a nationwide lender of new and used automobile purchase financing. The lender wanted to maintain its high standing and grow its market share in the competitive arena of dealership-to-consumer financing.
The lender sought to improve the accuracy and velocity of dealer funding back office support services to achieve four outcomes:
- Grow its already-strong dealer network.
- Fund more consumer automotive loans through dealerships.
- Save time and money by doing the same work in less time.
- Improve efficiency and quality by completing the loan documents with fewer errors.
The lender relied on an in-house team and several back office outsourcing providers to handle income pre-verification (IPV) and loan document review, two critical loan funding services.
Results were good, but they recognized an opportunity to get even better results by adding another business process outsourcing (BPO) provider.
They were very satisfied with the 15+ year relationship and the positive results iQor has delivered in other areas of their business as a trusted CX solutions outsourcing partner. So, they partnered with us for outsourced back office services to help them achieve the four outcomes described above.
Our client set high standards for the velocity and accuracy of their programs; iQor’s challenge was to meet those standards of excellence.
Business Opportunities
Buyers, dealers, and lenders each have their own priorities when it comes to automobile lending.
From the Buyer’s Perspective
Exceptional customer service throughout the buyer’s journey comes in the form of friendly and knowledgeable staff, transparent pricing and financing options, hassle-free negotiations, and comprehensive after-sales support. A great purchasing experience can enhance customer satisfaction and build long-term brand loyalty with the car dealer, manufacturer, and lender. This relationship is made stronger through a smooth, efficient, and secure financing experience. 
From the Dealer’s Perspective
Dealers want to deliver an excellent purchasing experience to every customer who walks through their doors. Lenders that offer low payments and the best combination of velocity and accuracy help make that happen.
Lender velocity (speed and efficiency) and accuracy (quality and compliance) in processing income pre-verification (IPV) and reviewing loan documents directly impact a dealership’s ability to sell loans to buyers.
IPV is the first step in the loan application process. It’s used to verify the applicant’s income before a formal loan application is submitted. Dealerships need quick turnaround of IPV requests from the lender’s back office support team to hold the customer’s attention and keep the sales process moving forward.
Once the dealer has completed the paperwork and delivered the vehicle, the lender must review loan documents for accuracy. Oversights like date of birth mismatch or lack of proof that the buyer was offered insurance could put the dealership at risk.
In some cases, a flaw in the loan documents may require the dealership to ask the customer to come back to resolve the issue, potentially prompting them to pursue financing options elsewhere.
From the Lender’s Perspective
Competition among auto lenders is fierce. Every buyer has a bank or credit union that wants their auto loan business, as does the dealership that sold them the car.
Every dealership has multiple sources for loans:
- Lenders aligned with the vehicle brands they sell.
- Major national lenders (like our client).
- Lenders seeking low-risk buyers.
- Lenders seeking high-risk buyers.
- Local banks with third-party lending programs aiming for local residents.
- Local credit unions.
Lenders count on back office support services from in-house and/or BPO teams to execute the IPV and loan document review processes and maximize their win rates. Teams must execute these processes at a level of accuracy and velocity that satisfies the buyer, dealer, and lender.
In collaboration with our client, iQor set out to execute at the same or better rates of velocity and accuracy as the existing support providers within 90 days of launch.
Back Office Solutions
Having partnered with this client on numerous CX programs for over 15 years, we marked an expansion of our back office support with this funding program.
iQor leaders supporting the auto lender’s programs average eight or more years of experience with the lender, possessing extensive knowledge of the lender’s auto loan products. In fact, a common saying among the lender’s employees is, “If you don’t know the answer to a question, ask iQor.”
This tenure results from iQor’s employee-first customer service culture anchored in our seven iQorian Values that guide our interactions.
iQor team members enjoy an excellent employee experience that translates into longer tenure, more growth, and deeper knowledge in support of the brands we serve through ongoing initiatives such as:
With long-term program tenure, iQor’s team began from a position of deep product and brand knowledge to implement a three-prong solution to consistently meet the auto lender’s goals for velocity and accuracy.
- Recruit and train.
- Measure.
- Coach and motivate.
Recruit and Train
iQor’s value-driven culture and flexible work environments in secure work-in-office and work-at-home settings powered recruiting efforts to ensure consistent delivery of staffing compliance. We recruited agents for the funding program’s back office support startup teams from a pool that included new agents as well as iQorians who had already proved their ability to produce at a high level for our client. From the start, our onboarding experience welcomed and engaged new employees through our culture, values, and policies.
The iQor team worked in collaboration with the client from Day One to understand training requirements, become subject matter experts, and partner on facilitation methods and content to drive the best performance outcomes.
Our award-winning training team worked with the lender to design a curriculum to address critical program needs, integrating collaborative learning experiences that accelerated time to proficiency.
iQor trainers undergo a four-level certification program to hone the skills needed to succeed in a fast-paced active learning environment. Equipped with these skills and the technology to deliver quality training, both in-person and virtually, iQor’s certified trainers deliver compelling and intuitive active learning facilitation at scale, guiding participants through a collaborative learning journey. Skills assessments help guide trainers to further support agents in areas of need.
This comprehensive training experience ensures agents have the knowledge and skills to complete all the processes involved with income pre-verification and loan document reviews with efficiency and accuracy.
New recruits receive onsite product training before beginning a nesting period. During nesting, agents spend part of the day handling calls and the rest of the day in training based on the calls they’ve handled. New agents must spend at least 90 days working onsite before they qualify to work at home (WAH).
Measure
Our client uses an internal system to assess performance in the loan document review process. This applies to their in-house team as well as outside BPO vendors. Performance appraisals comprise two categories:
- 80% of the performance assessment measures quality and compliance (accuracy).
- 20% measures efficiency (velocity).
Accuracy
The lender checks the accuracy of the back office support team’s review of 15 specific items in loan documents. For each item, they assign a grade based on the accuracy of an agent’s review of that item. They calculate a quality assurance (QA) score—the ratio of positive grades to the total number of documents reviewed—for each of the 15 items. All 15 individual QA scores are used to calculate a composite score.
Velocity
Two velocity measurements are recorded: total points per hour (TPPH) and conversion percentage.
1. Total Points Per Hour
Agents receive points for every item they review. The number of points they receive, divided by the number of work hours for the month, equals their TPPH score.
The average of all TPPH scores for all agents is the total TPPH score.
2. Conversion Percentage
Conversion percentage is the percentage of loans assigned to iQor that get funded by our client.
Our back office operations agents focus on generating IPV (income pre-verification) approvals quickly to allow agents to go through the remaining tasks and expedite deal funding.
Reporting
The client shares performance metrics with all loan funding back office services providers each week. A monthly business review includes the QA, TPPH, and conversion percentage for that month and the two previous months. The reporting denotes each provider’s performance in relation to the minimum score required by the client and to the stream (the average of all provider scores).
The reported data tells each provider how well they’re doing as a unit and how well each of their agents is doing.
Coach and Motivate
iQor supervisors review the individual QA, TPPH, and conversion percentage scores. They coach agents in specific areas to help further improve their performance.
iQor supervisors meet with the client’s QA team each week to review progress and keep lines of communication open.
iQor launched a weekly motivational program to reward agents who score 100 on all 15 items. This program is in addition to the original agent bonus plan.
Results
One year after the program launched, iQor, with support from the client, is helping the lender close more loans and create more loyal customers.
Accuracy Exceeds Client Goals
- Rework Percentage: While a certain amount of rework is expected predominantly due to a lack of documents for POI (Proof of Income) tasks or for peer review, the amount of work iQor must rework is consistently lower than the target and significantly lower than the monthly stream score (the average score of all providers).
- Agents consistently achieve 99.3% task QA scores, exceeding the client’s 98% goal.
Velocity Outpaces Client Goals
- IPV: iQor consistently exceeds the service level agreement (SLA) requirement to reply to income pre-verification requests in less than an hour.
- TPPH: iQor consistently exceeds minimum target and stream scores for the number of items reviewed per hour.
- Conversion Percentage: iQor consistently outpaces the stream average and client goal by up to 40% for the percentage of loans assigned to iQor that get funded by our client.
Since partnering with iQor as one of their back office support providers for auto loan funding, our client enjoys:
- Higher QA scores that consistently reach or exceed their target.
- Improved velocity that helps convert a higher percentage of qualified applicants to borrowers.
Sometimes a client wants to bring a fresh pair of eyes and a new sense of purpose to a program. Expanding the role of a BPO they’ve come to know and trust in other CX programs may be their best course of action. That’s often the case when a client-BPO relationship is a true partnership, as our relationship with this client has been for 15+ years.
The expansion of this partnership continues as the client adds more iQor agents to the team providing back office support to their funding program.
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