Boosting Mortgage Customer Service with CRM

Executive Summary

While the mortgage business remains highly competitive, quality customer service is a preferred business strategy that provides mortgage originators with a competitive advantage and separates reliable mortgage companies from amateur lenders. Leveraging a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) is the key to streamline the loan origination process through efficient communication to optimize customer trust and satisfaction. Successful CRM systems are crucial in providing new/recurring borrowers and referral business with a niche and personalizing the customer experience. Mortgage originators are encouraged to use CRMs to quickly capitalize on higher communication standards, thus remaining top of mind.

Quality Customer Service As Competitive Advantage

The home-buying experience is rapidly transitioning to the digital space. Those interested in getting a mortgage to face the inevitable challenge of finding the right broker/lender, mortgage product, and pre-loan application. For first time homebuyers, these obstacles seem especially daunting.

Customer service is a significant advantage in the competitive mortgage business that serves as an important differentiator in attracting and retaining more customers, plus passively scaling their referral business efforts.

Buying or refinancing a house is stressful if there is a lack of clarity on the application process. Choosing the right broker/lender that has a history of excellent customer service is especially crucial in the case of first-time homeowners. Borrowers are recommended to work with a lender who can help walk them through each step of the process. Therefore, lenders require consistent communication with the borrower and stakeholders throughout the origination process. Lack of communication with the borrower and/or stakeholder may jeopardize the lender’s quality of service. Borrower confusion is a root problem in a mortgage company’s operational efficiency. Inefficient communication will not only risk optimal customer satisfaction, but it can risk a mortgage company’s reputation.

Great customer service experience is dependent on reliable and meaningful communication. This involves anticipating the current and future needs of an individual borrower. To proactively take on this challenge, lenders are beginning to use CRM systems.

A CRM system contains a wide array of information about past and prospective borrowers. It provides a 360-degree view of customer data that will provide lenders with instant customer insights allowing them to:

• Provide faster service to customers
• Make informed decisions – get real-time LOS data synced with CRM
• Understand how a customer prefers to communicate
• View recent interactions the customer has had with the lender
• And hold the lender accountable for properly communicating with borrowers

Using CRM in Loan Origination Process

A CRM system enables stakeholders within the mortgage origination process to become active participants in all stages. The active participation of real estate agents, attorneys, insurance agents, appraisers, other stakeholders, and the lender’s ability to collaborate allows for a holistic mortgage experience for the borrower.

CRM systems consist of key features of digital mortgage solutions that increase status transparency for borrowers resulting in high customer satisfaction. For example, notification features keep borrowers updated through loan status notifications triggered by changes in each stage of the origination process. Constant notification updates give the borrower a sense of control and ease through an otherwise daunting process. Aside from maximizing customer satisfaction, by prioritizing efficient communication and cutting down on manual tasks companies gain operational efficiency.

A comprehensive record of each borrower/loan file helps lenders with determining a holistic view of the borrower. Additionally, originators can use a CRM like Hubspot to perform audits of their communication strategies. These audits can be performed on a per loan file basis, thus allowing lenders to re-evaluate their existing communication standards for all stakeholders involved. Integrating a CRM system with a LOS provides more visibility and management of the borrower’s experience. This enables lenders to make informed decisions.

Take for example automating repetitive or redundant communication or messages. Often time originators spend most of their time resending canned responses to borrowers whenever they arrive at checkpoint in the mortgage life cycle. By automating these responses, lenders or originators will provide borrowers with more visibility into the origination process. An additional noticeable improvement a CRM can bring to lenders is creating automated marketing campaigns for refinance prospects. Now armed with customer insights, lenders can use it to tailor messages to prospects that otherwise would have fallen through the cracks or have been overlooked, thus increasing customer retention rates.

According to National Mortgage News, about 83% of Top Producers said digital mortgage technology is the key to their company’s future growth. Implementing a CRM within a digital mortgage strategy is a key element to increase the loan volume and improve customer service quality. Contact Indica Digital to help you implement the right CRM system into your current origination process.

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