Joe Welu Of Total Expert On The Future Of Money and Banking

An Interview With David Liu

Empathy. Understanding the experiences of your customer is key. Finances are a serious topic for everyone, so being able to relate and empathize with the consumer is paramount.

The way we bank has changed dramatically over the last decade. It was not too long ago when you had to wait in line in a bank to deposit money. Today things are totally different. You can do your banking without ever walking into a bank. In addition, the whole concept of money has changed. In the recent past, money usually meant bills and coins. But today, the concept of money has expanded to include digital currency and NFTs. What other innovations should we expect to see in banking in the short and medium term?

To address this, we are talking to leaders in the banking, finance, and fintech worlds, to discuss the future of banking and money over the next few years. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joe Welu.

Joe Welu is the founder and CEO of Total Expert, the fintech software leader that launched the first customer experience platform purpose-built for modern financial institutions. Since 2015, Joe has led Total Expert’s vision, culture, and growth to nearly 300 employees today. The company powers CRM, marketing, and customer engagement for more than 150 companies — from leading community banks and credit unions to 15 of the top 25 U.S. banks and lenders. Total Expert’s growth has skyrocketed since its inception. The company has been honored on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, HW Tech100 list, and was named the №1 CRM platform by STRATMOR Group.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in this industry?

When I started Total Expert, some of my inspiration dated back to my childhood. One of my earliest memories came when I was five years old, when the bank foreclosed on my parents’ family farm. The defeat I felt from my parents stuck with me from a young age. Years later, I got to see the change and impact from a positive perspective when my parents were able to purchase a home with the help of a local banker with whom my grandfather had a strong relationship. The memory of my parents’ joy when they got their new keys is part of what pushed me into my career path today.

Before founding Total Expert, I spent ten years working in real estate. Over those years, I learned about the unique challenges facing the mortgage industry. Financial institutions were struggling with industry-specific issues that no existing CRM platform or industry technology was helping to solve. I was drawn back to that memory of my parents buying a home, and the way they were able to finally do that was through a relationship. It’s that human connection that motivated me to start Total Expert, the first and only enterprise-grade customer engagement platform purpose-built for regulated financial services organizations.

For the first few years when I started the company in 2012, we worked out of the basement of my real estate office. I had enlisted the help of my first programmers from Craigslist to develop the platform. Ten years later, Total Expert is now partnered with the leading financial institutions across the country and powering customer journeys for 25% of total mortgage production in the United States.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Homeownership and the housing industry as a whole have such a profound impact on GDP and the economy. I worked in real estate during some of the most uncertain economic times this country has faced in decades, and it became clear to me how fundamental homeownership is for people’s lives. This industry doesn’t just impact the economy; it impacts our human experience. My first memory of my family farm always comes back to me. It was that story that sparked my interest in housing and the personal relationships that make the experience of homeownership possible for so many Americans. I feel privileged to be able to help loan officers and advisors better support their customers through the exciting financial milestones that come with owning a home.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Through amazing people, anything is possible.”

Total Expert wouldn’t be here today without our incredible team. I’m proud to lead a people-first company that values collaboration and innovation, and I’m humbled that our customers trust our platform to help them create customers for life.

Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

Now more than ever, the changing market is pressing financial organizations to keep their customers engaged and meet their unique needs. Our team recently launched Customer Intelligence, a first-of-its-kind technology that empowers banks and lenders to truly understand their customers and use insights to connect with them at key moments of opportunity.

The technology uses intelligent automation and consumer insights to inform lenders of the behavior data they need to connect with consumers throughout their financial journey — for example, when a borrower lists their home on a multiple listing service or when a lender pulls credit for a mortgage on someone in their database.

We know that borrowers are more loyal when working with a financial institution that can anticipate their needs. By equipping banks and lenders with messaging and campaigns based on a specific customer’s unique financial situation at any moment in time, Total Expert can help them drive growth and enhance the home buying experience by putting the customer and their anticipated needs first.

How do you think this might change the world?

Customer Intelligence helps banks increase financial literacy and become the best partner they can be by putting the customer first and understanding what’s important to them. Purchasing a home is a stressful, yet exciting, part of life. We’ve developed technology that can lessen that burden and promote financial health for everyone involved.

What most excites you about the banking or payments industry as it is today? Can you explain what you mean?

Turning an industry that was once only based on transactions and making it human first.

To do that, we need to leverage data-driven insights to initiate action and engagement that forms real relationships. Our platform creates a comprehensive customer profile made up of customer behaviors, zero-party and third-party data to deliver insights. Those insights help lenders and banks anticipate customer needs, trigger higher quality conversations, and develop deeper relationships. When financial institutions embrace technology that automates processes and starts to eliminate pain points, their staff can focus where they’re needed most: keeping the customer at the center of it all.

What most concerns you about the banking or payments industry as it is today? What would you suggest needs to be done to address that?

One issue I’ve seen is the process in which financial organizations approach digital transformation. Financial organizations tend to be somewhat siloed and often use different tools or technology, so when they’ve struggled to approach digital transformation holistically. The financial institutions that are finding success are looking at a narrow slice of their business — a specific customer journey — to drive impact. Once they do that, they can tackle the next slice. This is where we see our customers addressing transformation: using the success of one slice to guide the rest.

How would you articulate how the concept of money has changed in recent times? Is it really a change? How is it still the same? Can you explain what you mean?

As consumers, the increased number of opportunities to spend money has undoubtedly changed the concept of money. We’re surrounded by temptations for spending our money; social media and personalized marketing have made it difficult to be financially responsible. The rise of e-commerce and fintech has also added complexity to personal financial health.

Despite these factors and developments, financial health is still imperative to wellbeing. To keep customers engaged, financial institutions must maintain a human-first business model that educates, engages, and advises customers every step of the way. Understanding each consumer and their financial health can deliver much-needed support in a world where it’s hard to always be responsible.

Based on your vantage point as an insider in the finance industry, what innovations should we expect to see in banking in the short and medium term?

We’re going to see banking and finance embedded into more industries and specialized financial products targeting niche areas. Life events like preparing for college or teaching your child about financial responsibility have already begun triggering innovations across fintech, and we expect that to continue in the years ahead.

How has the pandemic changed the way banks interact and engage with their customers?

It depends on the bank. Early on, some banks were just reacting and employing the technology to keep up with customers’ immediate needs, like mobile checking and increased check deposits. Now, consumers are much more comfortable financing online. As branch traffic declined, banks have had to rely on digital communications while maintaining high-quality relationships. Banks need to ensure that they’re engaging and communicating with customers in ways they now prefer.

In your particular experience, how has the pandemic changed the way you interact with, and engage your customers?

The pandemic may have slowed down our ability to meet with customers face-to-face, but it certainly didn’t slow the needs of our customers. Like most organizations, we had to rely on digital communications to maintain our relationships, but it also demonstrated how critical our platform could be for ensuring a personal touch when engaging and communicating with customers remotely.

In my work in the telecom space, I’m very interested in the importance of user experience. How much of your interactions have moved to digital such as chatbots, encrypted messaging apps, phone, or video calls? How has this shift impacted the user and customer experience? What challenges do these apps present when used as a customer engagement tool?

While so many things are now digital, we can’t neglect the importance of in-person communication. Like everyone else, throughout the early stages of the pandemic, we relied on phone and video calls to maintain that in-person dynamic with our customers and teams. And through our customers’ experiences, we’ve learned that living digitally provides a lot of distractions for consumers. When our customers can leverage data and insights to understand their customers, they have a better chance of breaking through and engaging beyond basic marketing.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Modern Finance, Banking and Fintech industries?

• Customer obsession. In order to succeed in these industries, you must be obsessed with the customer. Thinking about them at every stage of business is the only way you can ensure a human-first versus product-first strategy. You can’t solve a problem that doesn’t exist for your customer.
• Appetite for learning. The fintech industry is fast-paced and always evolving. If you get too comfortable, you could miss a lot. Constantly learning about new perspectives and industries will keep you on your toes. If you don’t have an appetite to learn, you may find yourself in a situation ripe for disruption from someone who does.
• Empathy. Understanding the experiences of your customer is key. Finances are a serious topic for everyone, so being able to relate and empathize with the consumer is paramount.
• Agility. The industry is quick. You need to be able to think on your feet, prepare for the unknown, and work with confidence to keep up.
• Continuous focus on the future. Fintech companies are changing the future of money and banking. If you’re only thinking about the present, you’re already falling behind.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I feel very passionate about financial health and wellness. CNBC recently reported that 64% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck. My mission is to use Total Expert to help financial institutions across the country use our platform to educate their customers and help them be financially responsible when they are making the most important financial decisions of their lives. I want to inspire others to use technology to deliver better experiences and outcomes for consumers.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can keep up with Total Expert and our team on our website and our Linkedin. You can also follow me on Linkedin or find some of my conversations with leading fintech industry voices on the Expert Insights podcast.

Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.

Thank you so much for having me!