When Technology Fails…Somebody Actually Has To Think

It took me two and half hours to take an Uber from Manhattan to JFK airport last week. The reason? My Uber driver had moved to NYC four days earlier and he relied entirely on his Waze app to navigate. And Waze does NOT work in Manhattan (too much traffic and too much data, and it is always five seconds too slow). My driver literally drove in circles for over an hour before getting off the island; it would have been comical… if I was not in the car.

In contrast, NYC Cab drivers know not to rely on Waze and instead rely on their extensive knowledge of Manhattan and traffic patterns. Their training trumps technology every time. This is why I prefer cabs over Uber in NYC.

I beat this dead horse often, but I am going to do it again b/c this is such a great example. Companies and businesses that rely too heavily on technology often drop the ball.

This is especially true in the mortgage world where everyone touts their technology as a cure-all for all of the bottlenecks and frustrations in the mortgage approval process. Fintech lenders in particular have hired hordes of engineers to cultivate technology to replace loan officers and back office staff.

But, it doesn’t work.

Purchase transactions are too complex, and they invariably need highly trained and intelligent people to spot issues, coordinate parties, and fend off delays. This is why fintech lenders are not able to garner purchase business.

Every company in every industry is trying to cut costs by replacing highly trained people with technology. It works in some cases, but with anything involving complexity or surprises, extensive training is necessary.

At JVM, we love technology, but we will always bear the cost of extensive training and extra smart people b/c we know it is necessary to foster the best possible client experience.

Jay Voorhees
Founder/Broker | JVM Lending
(855) 855-4491 | DRE# 01524255, NMLS# 310167