Preferred Rate Mortgage Validates Remote Productivity, Cuts Costs and Boosts Earnings Potential with ActivTrak

Mortgage lender uses workforce analytics to confirm remote work success and optimize operations

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As the mortgage industry evolves, leading lenders are turning to workforce analytics to guide strategy and improve performance. Against that backdrop, ActivTrak today announced that Preferred Rate Mortgage, a customer with more than 700 employees working across the country, used ActivTrak's workforce intelligence platform to confirm remote productivity, streamline workflows and expand access to talent across the country.

Preferred Rate turned to ActivTrak for insights that could guide technology decisions and create a more efficient operating model. The workforce intelligence platform gave leadership the evidence needed to make strategic decisions with confidence, leading to lower costs, stronger recruiting and higher employee earning potential.

"Without ActivTrak, we would be operating on some back-of-the-napkin calculation or assumption rather than making decisions based on actual workforce patterns," said Chris Lekousis, Co-Founder and VP of Operations at Preferred Rate Mortgage. "ActivTrak gave us the evidence to confidently shift to a mostly remote model that boosted productivity and expanded our ability to recruit talent nationwide."

Confirming Remote Work Success

With clear visibility into work activity, Preferred Rate confirmed that employees maintained strong productivity and accountability while working remotely. This helped leaders to reduce dependence on physical office locations and expand recruiting beyond local markets. As a result, the company added producing loan officers at a pace 32% higher than competitors, while keeping overall staffing steady.

Optimizing Technology Investments

ActivTrak insights also revealed technology issues that slowed employees down and limited their earning potential. Leaders used these findings to address system latency, streamline workflows and ensure employees could work more efficiently with fewer interruptions. ActivTrak usage data also supported smarter software investment decisions by identifying which tools delivered value and which could be consolidated or eliminated.

Strengthening Workforce Planning

ActivTrak also became central to strategic workforce planning. Shared visibility into work patterns allowed Preferred Rate's HR, finance and operations teams to align on capacity needs and resource allocation, giving leadership the agility needed to handle the mortgage industry's volume fluctuations. "We can lose more business by being ineffective and not having enough runway and bandwidth to account for the ebbs and flows in the market," Lekousis explained.

"ActivTrak changes the conversations we have across the business," Lekousis added. "I'm able to quantify productivity and utilization with real data, and it's been pretty glorious being on the winning end of those discussions."

Advancing a Transparency-First Culture

Preferred Rate plans to extend ActivTrak access to individual contributors so employees can view and understand their own productivity data. "Transparency is one of the core tenets of our culture, and I want to make sure that carries through as we bring employees into the process," said Lekousis.

Preferred Rate's approach highlights how workforce intelligence can inform decisions across multiple business functions while supporting both company goals and employee success.

"Chris and his team prove what's possible when you use data to understand how work actually happens," said Heidi Farris, CEO of ActivTrak. "When organizations have clear visibility into workforce patterns, they can make bold decisions about their operating model with confidence. Preferred Rate didn't just optimize around the edges — they fundamentally transformed how and where their people work."

To learn more, read the Preferred Rate Mortgage case study.

About Preferred Rate 

Preferred Rate is a nationally recognized mortgage lender dedicated to making the home buying process simple, transparent and stress-free. With more than 300 mortgage specialists and tens of thousands of individuals and families served, Preferred Rate offers a wide range of home loans and specialty financing options tailored to each borrower's needs. Its team of experienced loan advisors provides expert guidance at every step, helping customers secure the right loan for their budget and long-term goals. To learn more, visit https://preferredrate.com/

About ActivTrak 

ActivTrak helps organizations improve performance and optimize productivity. Our workforce intelligence platform transforms work activity data into actionable insights, providing the only complete solution with employee monitoring, productivity and performance management, and workforce planning capabilities that deliver measurable ROI. More than 9,500 customers trust ActivTrak's award-winning technology which has been recognized by the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, Inc. 5000, TrustRadius and G2. ActivTrak is backed by Elsewhere Partners, Sapphire Ventures and Francisco Partners. To learn more visit: https://www.activtrak.com/.

SOURCE ActivTrak