ikbenfrits.nl
Frits is an independent player in the mortgage market with a personal approach and the convenience of online services. To achieve this, Frits compares all providers – including banks we cannot arrange mortgages with – so customers truly get the best mortgage advice for their situation. They also see all interest rates and conditions in their own dashboard.
"People want to buy a house, but not necessarily a mortgage. The mortgage market is often experienced by consumers as challenging and opaque. We want to make it easier and more transparent so people always make the right choice. WUA mapped our customer journey and delivered concrete improvement points for our website. With these insights, we improved our most important conversion by as much as 14%."
Jan-Willem de Ruiter, Online Marketer at Frits
Frits doesn't have the brand recognition of the big players. "Market newcomers often look first at their own bank," Jan-Willem explains. "But they don't give independent advice. That market should be fairer, we believe. If you want the best mortgage from the market and also understand how it works, you choose Frits."
Jan-Willem is responsible for the findability and conversion of Ikbenfrits.nl. Important KPIs are website visitors, conversion to the first free consultation, and use of various calculation tools. "We're truly data-driven. For our customers, and also for improving our website with A/B testing. We had worked with WUA before and at the end of 2023 we chose a Website Experience Deep Dive. This is a performance benchmark against our main competitors that helps us identify improvement points to strengthen our customer experience."
200 consumers looking for a mortgage
In the Website Experience Deep Dive, 200 consumers compared Ikbenfrits.nl with three selected competitors. "We start such research with a kick-off to align the scenario for the panel and competitors," explains Menno Hoek, Head of Sales at WUA. "Our researcher delivers the initial findings after fieldwork, where we visualize the initial results so the core themes can be selected for further development."
"WUA doesn't start with hypotheses but first measures real consumer behavior. This maps the pain points, then comes the deep dive and only then the solutions."
"For us, the themes were really brand perception and product offering," Jan-Willem shares. "We were surprised that so many concrete points came from the Deep Dive. You do become blind to your own website. The beauty of this research is that you don't start with hypotheses but simply map the customer experience. What do they notice? What is their perception? Who would they choose? This gave us many insights and concrete recommendations. No-brainers, deeper analyses, and real insights we didn't have yet."
From insight to action
The advisory report was presented to the Frits team in an interactive session, including the director. "We preferably do this in person and multidisciplinary, with as many people from the digital team and other stakeholders present," Menno explains. "We compare the click paths between the four researched websites, give exact consumer reactions on seven crucial dimensions, and translate this into concrete improvement points." Jan-Willem gives the homepage above the fold as an example: "We had to explain more clearly who we are and what we do. And therefore also place the video where we introduce ourselves higher on the page."
"Because Frits isn't a known name, you don't immediately know what we do. So we need to explain this clearly from the moment you arrive on the website."
"The message was clear to everyone in the organization: this is how the game really works and the ball is now in our court. We immediately went into action mode," Jan-Willem explains. "We set out the recommendations in a matrix of high and low impact, high and low effort. In the first round, we tackled the quick wins. We work with HubSpot and could easily run A/B tests ourselves to verify whether the changes really had impact. In a second round, we worked on the usability of the calculation tool."
Higher conversions and better CX
The changes delivered concrete results: 12% to 14% increase in conversion from homepage to appointment and 10% more completed mortgage calculations. "These are the concrete results we can directly link to the Experience Deep Dive. Because we work extensively with data, we could clearly establish these results. There's also indirect influence on customer experience, which we measure with NPS. The higher conversion for our calculation tool really means an improved customer journey," Jan-Willem explains.
"Frits has succeeded in making a big impact with a small team in a very competitive market," Menno notes. "We analyze the market thoroughly, but only when our insights are actually applied can you really gain market share. At Frits, they immediately saw the value of this and improved the customer experience on the most essential aspects, which led to tangible results."
"Our customer experience has certainly improved thanks to the improvements we've implemented. Consumers who get to know Frits now convert faster to customers."
Making the right choice
More success for Frits in the mortgage market also means more people are helped with the right mortgage, Jan-Willem observes. "Don't just settle for the first bank that comes to mind. That might be a fine choice, but often there are better choices – that you benefit from for years. We compare all providers in the market, including those we cannot arrange mortgages with for our customers. That's why we also work with the Consumers' Association and the TV program Radar: we are truly independent in our mortgage advice."
In the future, Frits will certainly continue using WUA's services, Jan-Willem concludes. "We're both data-driven, and it's pleasant to communicate and collaborate with WUA. The CX benchmark was really thorough and the outcomes were very hands-on: after delivery we had a concrete action plan with which we could immediately make progress. WUA is the best choice for us!"
