I think sometimes the way we *think* something is going to go turns out to create more problems than we ever saw coming. I also think we learn through stories – both the ones that show us how to do something well and those that raise the hairs on the back of our necks as we think to ourselves, “Please don’t let us be walking into that same situation.”

This is a story about a company that doesn’t appear to have considered that, and why I like to say Perception is the Co-Pilot to Reality…

We are working with a new family – doing our usual audits, clean ups and generally getting ourselves squared away to keep all our ducks barking up the same tree. (I know, sometimes my mom jokes get bad.)

We realized that there was a rental property mortgage that hadn’t been paid in a few months. It was on autopay and had been happening without issue for years. The account pretty much stayed funded from the rental income, which paid the mortgage, taxes, utilities, housekeeping, etc. – all without needing much supervision. Unfortunately, the house hadn’t been rented in several months, which drained the cash that had built up in that property’s checking account.

The family has owned this house for a number of years and had the operating account with the local bank that also held the mortgage. As we were doing our deep dive, we realized what had happened and reached out to the bank to remedy the situation and get everything back on track. It was truly an oversight on the part of the family.

The banker was very kind but explained that last year the bank’s mortgage arm had been sold to an operating company that now handled everything mortgage-related. This was a surprise to us given that the bank’s name was the only one listed on any documents, the online login, etc.

We were redirected to the new mortgage company, which told us that they turned off any auto-pay features (which was not unreasonable). However, they also told us that someone would need to either come into a branch (in a town where the family does not live) to pay cash (are you kidding me??) OR mail a cashier’s check or money order to the mortgage company which would then post the payment within a few days. They would not accept an incoming ACH from the bank that supposedly holds the mortgage, nor would they accept a wire. To make it even more fun, they won’t accept anything other than this same form of payment for the next three months until the mortgage company deemed that the family has learned their lesson.

First off, I just have no words for a company that handles business as if we still lived in a previous decade. In my humble opinion, not accepting any form of payment other than mailing cash is close to predatory lending standards, but I digress…

The above is what led to the current situation.

The family had accounts with four separate banking institutions and had been discussing consolidating down to one to make life easier, but didn’t really know which bank to stick with, nor had they given it much thought.

Now though, not only is the family centralizing their banking relationships into one – but that small bank was crossed off the list so fast their head would have spun had they known there was a debate happening.

Technically, the bank didn’t do anything wrong. They had really been nice to work with.

But because the bank’s logo is the only thing you see when you log into the mortgage payment center and they are representing themselves as the mortgage holder, the family’s perception is that the bank is treating a long-standing customer poorly. Not only that, but they are also creating a situation that is archaic at best and predatory at worst – when they should have the ability to transfer the cash from the operating account.

Because the bank sold their mortgage operations to a third party, they now have the perception of ownership without the ability to control or influence their own reputation.

This small bank will never see another penny of this family’s money. We are even closing the operating account. There’s no reason to have it there if the bank can’t help.

Here’s the takeaway – if you are going to present yourself as a practitioner of services, you either need to own the experience, or be upfront about having a partner so you can be a part of the solution when needed.

If you decide to own it – be the best at it; don’t say “we’ll figure it out as we go.”

Because if you do, you’re likely to lose an otherwise great client – and anyone in earshot of a discussion around banking and services.

Great services get talked about; bad experiences get shouted from the rooftops. And in either case, perception becomes the co-pilot to reality.