One of LodeStar’s core values is Clarity.

For over ten years, LodeStar has been offering clarity to the mortgage industry by demystifying the closing cost disclosure process. We’ve written elsewhere about the integrity of our data and the pains we take to ensure our data is accurate and transparent. Our commitment to that core value of clarity, however, is about more than just offering accurate, crystal clear closing costs.

It’s about offering impeccable customer service to our client users, who have done us the honor of making LodeStar’s Closing Cost Calculator a vital aspect of their lending process. That quality of service, which has been a hallmark of LodeStar’s operations from day one, starts and ends with the Customer Success Team.

Among LodeStar’s absolutely irreplaceable team members, Jess Alexy is an absolute rockstar for the Customer Success team.

A typical day for Jess starts with looking over the support tickets that came in overnight from lender clients. She’ll first sort these by the urgency of the need, then get to work.

Some client issues can be resolved by responding with links to relevant articles from LodeStar’s Support Center. Some need more targeted support.

Often, Jess’s task is straightforward: the lender notices that the fees set up in LodeStar aren’t matching up with the title agent’s fees, so Jess reaches out to the title agent to see what’s going on. Once the fee is clarified, necessary adjustments are made.

Other times, Jess’s task is more complicated or time-consuming. Some lenders, usually new clients Jess is onboarding, need a whole spreadsheet of origination fees set up in their custom LodeStar environment. These fees can differ by loan type, lender branch, or channel (retail, wholesale,etc.). That takes a long time to implement.

Some tasks are simple, but hyper-specific. For example, some of LodeStar’s clients want the title policy split so that it displays on the seller, instead of the buyer, side.

One recurring task for Jess and the rest of the Customer Support team is evaluating support tickets that request evaluation of a possible tolerance cure. These tickets come in when the lender suspects the quote generated within LodeStar’s system is inaccurate for one reason or another.

If the fee in question is a transfer tax or recording fee, the ticket gets passed to the Data Team for evaluation. If the fee discrepancy may have resulted from a setup or product issue, the ticket goes on to the Product Team to check whether LodeStar’s Closing Cost Calculator is set up and functioning properly.

If the fee in question is a title agent or related fee, Jess takes a look at it and reaches out to the title company, if necessary.

In the unlikely event that LodeStar’s quote was inaccurate, we honor our fee guarantee and issue a bill credit to the client.

It’s worth reiterating that in 2024, LodeStar issued only 1 cure for every 16,500 quotes. That means our Closing Cost Calculator is only wrong 0.00616% of the time.

In addition to resolving support tickets and putting LodeStar clients in touch with the right team to help them out, Jess helps new clients get their originators trained to use our system. This means keeping new clients on track with testing and training deadlines, making sure all of their title agents are set up in our system (if we don’t already have them in our database), and touching base with clients to make sure they’re comfortable using our software.

Most of the onboarding process happens over email, but Jess and other CS Team members do offer training calls with new clients to walk them through our system, field questions, and provide any necessary clarification along the road to go-live. While every lender is different, ideally, a client goes fully live within 30–60 days of signing a contract.

It bears repeating that no two lenders are alike. Whether they’re facing a complex issue or a simple one, every client deserves personalized attention to address their needs. That’s what makes LodeStar’s Customer Support team so unique: People like Jess (real humans, not just AI chatbots) are available to take a look at each ticket as it comes in, and connect clients with the people who can solve their issue.

Every once in a while, Jess finds herself at industry conferences where she meets LodeStar’s happy clients face-to-face. Sometimes, clients even present issues to Jess in-person, where she can sit down with them and provide what few businesses can: in-person, personalized support with the person who can address the issue then and there.

Those few lucky souls who happen upon the privilege of experiencing LodeStar’s CS Team in-person always walk away with smiles on their faces and expectations that were beyond exceeded.

Clarity isn’t easy. It doesn’t happen automatically. It’s something that requires hard work and expertise—which is why Jess Alexy and the rest of the Customer Success Team set LodeStar a cut above other fee providers. Because at the end of the day, a business is only as strong as the bond of trust it forges with its clients.