Creating Process Wizards

Audience: Loan Servicer or Collector, Upper Management, Loan Servicing/Collections Managers, Administrator

Introduction

Process Wizards are customizable guides that lead users through a process of actions. These exist entirely in the software, and they serve the functions of helping your users through a process, reducing human error, and improving the security of your loans accounts' accuracy. These guides can be created by those with admin-level access; and if that applies to you, you also get to determine which of your personnel get to use them.

In this article, we'll explain how to create wizards yourself, how to use them, and how to assign them to your personnel. Then, we'll cover some common uses and questions about process wizards.

How Process Wizards Work

Process Wizards, like the name implies, guides users through a complex process. They do this by allowing you to create instructions on what a user should do during a specific situation. The Wizard will take the user to the part of the software you determine they need; and if you'd like, you can add text, video, and audio instructions to the page. Let's look into how Process Wizards are created.

Creating Process Wizards

To begin, you'll need to ensure you're assigned an Agent User Role that grants you access to the settings in your account—otherwise, you likely won't be able to create Wizards yourself. If your Role allows it, navigate to Settings > Loan > Process Wizard. Here, you'll be able to view, edit, and delete the Wizards created for your account.

To create a new Wizard, click 'Add' in the top right corner. On the creation page, you'll be presented with several options, but begin by giving your Wizard a name and a description. Keep in mind that the description you provide your Wizard will be displayed to your users. You'll also determine the 'Status' of the Wizard; active Wizards will be displayed as an available option to your users while inactive Wizards will not.

In our example, we'll create a Wizard that helps users log a credit or debit card payment.

Next, you'll determine the Category and Role the Wizard will be assigned to. Wizard Categories are used solely for organization. These simply help you determine how you'd like your Wizards to be bunched together. If you'd like to create or edit Wizard Categories, navigate to Settings > Loan > Labeling > Wizard Categories.

Rules & Validations

Rules and Validations are used in tandem to determine whether a user can (and should) open a Process Wizard. They both use Clojure statements that tell the system to check for specific criteria. For example, our example Wizard may use the following statement for its rule:

(or (= loan-status "Application") (= loan-status "Open") (= loan-status "Closed"))

This example Rule tells the system that our Process Wizard can only be opened if the loan's status is either "Application", "Open", or "Closed". If the loan's status is anything else, the user won't be able to open the Wizard.

Validations are similar to Rules, but they differ slightly. Validations also use Clojure statements, but they run after a Rule has already passed. Unlike Rules, Validations don't have to be required, so you can set them as a way for your users to use some discretion—they may be allowed to open a Wizard, but should they? Our Wizard will use the following criteria for its Validation:

(> status-payoff 0)

This Clojure statement says the loan has to have an outstanding balance. We'll set this one to be required, too.

Here's a breakdown of the differences between Rules and Validations:

Action Workflows & Checklists

Within Action Workflows is where you're going to provide your users with instructions on how to complete the process the Wizard is aiding them through. Workflows do two things: take users to a specific page in the software, and provide instructions on what to do on that page. To create a new Workflow Step, click 'Add' on the right side of the page.

The Workflow Step creation window is broken into a few sections. At the top, you'll give the step a title and select where in the software it takes the user in the 'Page' dropdown. Next, you can use the text editor to create written instructions for your users. If you'd like, you can also use LoanPro's Context Engine Variables here. To do so, simply click the 'Help variables' text. If you'd prefer to upload video instructions, you can upload a file to the Workflow at the bottom of the page.

Some users prefer to add an additional layer of instruction in the form of Checklists. These are configurable checkboxes that can require a user to check to move forward in the Process Wizard. Checklists aren't required, and their inclusion is up to you.

Once you've finished configurating your workflow, click 'Save' to complete it. The number of Workflow Steps you decide to include will depend on the process your Wizard is helping a user through. We've added two steps for our Wizard.

Using Process Wizards

With your Wizard completed, it's time to use it on a loan. You can use your Wizard by navigating to a specific loan and selecting the 'Wizards' category on the left panel. Here, you'll see all of the Wizards that have been granted for use via your User Role and assigned Process Wizard Group. To open a Wizard, select 'Open'.

If the loan you've selected passes the criteria you've set in your Rule and Validation, you can start the Wizard.

Once in the Wizard, you'll notice the pane of categories on the left of the page has been replaced by the Workflow you created. The user will not be able to access anything other what is granted in the Wizard. And to exit the Wizard, the user will either have to complete the process or abandon it early.

Common Uses & Questions

Since Process Wizards are customizable, there is nearly no limit to how you can implement them in your lending operation. However, we often see users implement Process Wizards to ensure processes with multiple steps are followed correctly and accurately. For example, many lenders follow a lengthy process in the instance that a borrower determines a loan was acquired fraudulently. This process may include receiving a fraud notice, determining the loan's fraudulence, and possibly charging-off the loan. Any missteps could pose a risk to the business, so easy-to-follow Wizards prove to be a necessity.

Some users also determine that they'd like to create User Roles that allow access only to Wizards themselves. If this is something that would help you and your team, we recommend reading our Process Wizard Roles article.

Depending on your role, you may be wondering how Process Wizards apply to you. Here's a breakdown:

Can I rely fully on Process Wizards to ensure my personnel are doing things correctly? As much as Process Wizards will help your team, there will need to be a bit of involvement from you. The combination of good training and robust Process Wizards can nearly eliminate any chance of error, however.

I've created Wizards, but I don't see them when I open a loan. Where are they? Your Agent User likely hasn't been assigned a Process Wizards Group that grants you access to those Wizards. If you're an admin, you can check this by navigating to Users > Agent Users > selecting your Agent User profile > Profile and Access.

What’s Next

Now that you've created your Process Wizards, you'll need to assign them to your personnel via Wizard Groups. This is an important step, as it provides your personnel access to the Wizards you create. We suggest heading to the linked article above next to learn more.