Is Centum 2.0 a crystal ball into the future of the Canadian mortgage industry?
Centum is gearing up to launch a new online platform with the expectations that it not only maximizes output, but that it becomes a recruiting tool unparalleled in the industry.
Centum 2.0., slated for a November 28 launch, will have more user- and mobile-friendly interfaces, and monitor deal analytics in real time. Under the tutelage of new President and COO Chris Turcotte, Centum is attempting to break away from the fray and position itself as an industry innovator.
“On the back end, we’ve done a complete CRM package,” said Turcotte. “It tracks where you’re submitting your deals, the progress of each one of your files, you have a really powerful CRM that will communicate with your clients at certain milestones in the transactions automatically and seamlessly in the background, but the big thing is the analytics of your business. Every time you log in you’ll have a snapshot of your business.
“At any given time you can log in and see how many deals you have in pre-approval status, how many you have submitted to the lender for approval, how many you have committed from a lender – it’ll given you a snapshot of where all your files are at. To be able to log in and see where every file I have is at in real time is huge. No more manual labour.”
Centum went a little dormant over the last year and stopped recruit — and it’s no coincidence that Turcotte has been in his role at Centum for 11 months. The company quietly developed Centum 2.0 but also wanted to gauge the rest of the industry.
“We’re the little super broker that isn’t under one of the big giants, so the disruption for us is these other bigger brands have similar technologies that they are charging for, but we’re the little guy coming in with the same technology — but the latest version — a few add-ons to make it more robust than what they offer, and we’re giving it completely free to our network,” said Turcotte. “We might not be the big guy, but we feel like we’re bringing a ton more value.”
Other companies are beginning to update their online presences, but most charge fees for access. However, the mortgage industry by and large overlooks technology, particularly social media, and that’s where Turcotte sees opportunity. It doesn’t hurt that he has a tried, tested and true formula.
Turcotte’s background is in marketing and social media, and prior to his role at Centum he ran a mortgage brokerage in rural Manitoba, where up to 70% of business was derived from online leads.
He says that Centum’s online posts receive more engagement than every other brand combined, but three times over. The company made a Facebook video about the B20 regulations, and it reached over nearly 30,700 Canadians, was viewed over 6,600 times, and was shared by 140 people.
Launching in time for 2018, Centum expects its innovations and active social media footprint to become a recruiting game changer. When the company releases its analytics next year, Turcotte believes Centum will become the clear choice for brokers.
“The big differentiator is because I came from the broker channel and I was a franchisee, I’m the only brand president that’s spending an hour-and-a-half walking a franchisee through a Facebook campaign; I’m the only president of a brand whose agents and franchisees can reach out to him through social media, email, via text,” he said.
“I’m getting in the trenches and helping them market. I’ve done this business and the feedback I’m getting is it’s so motivating that they can pick up the phone and talk to brand leaders, that they’re not delivering a corporate message that their VP of marketing wrote them. We’re getting in the trenches together.”
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Centum 2.0., slated for a November 28 launch, will have more user- and mobile-friendly interfaces, and monitor deal analytics in real time. Under the tutelage of new President and COO Chris Turcotte, Centum is attempting to break away from the fray and position itself as an industry innovator.
“On the back end, we’ve done a complete CRM package,” said Turcotte. “It tracks where you’re submitting your deals, the progress of each one of your files, you have a really powerful CRM that will communicate with your clients at certain milestones in the transactions automatically and seamlessly in the background, but the big thing is the analytics of your business. Every time you log in you’ll have a snapshot of your business.
“At any given time you can log in and see how many deals you have in pre-approval status, how many you have submitted to the lender for approval, how many you have committed from a lender – it’ll given you a snapshot of where all your files are at. To be able to log in and see where every file I have is at in real time is huge. No more manual labour.”
Centum went a little dormant over the last year and stopped recruit — and it’s no coincidence that Turcotte has been in his role at Centum for 11 months. The company quietly developed Centum 2.0 but also wanted to gauge the rest of the industry.
“We’re the little super broker that isn’t under one of the big giants, so the disruption for us is these other bigger brands have similar technologies that they are charging for, but we’re the little guy coming in with the same technology — but the latest version — a few add-ons to make it more robust than what they offer, and we’re giving it completely free to our network,” said Turcotte. “We might not be the big guy, but we feel like we’re bringing a ton more value.”
Other companies are beginning to update their online presences, but most charge fees for access. However, the mortgage industry by and large overlooks technology, particularly social media, and that’s where Turcotte sees opportunity. It doesn’t hurt that he has a tried, tested and true formula.
Turcotte’s background is in marketing and social media, and prior to his role at Centum he ran a mortgage brokerage in rural Manitoba, where up to 70% of business was derived from online leads.
He says that Centum’s online posts receive more engagement than every other brand combined, but three times over. The company made a Facebook video about the B20 regulations, and it reached over nearly 30,700 Canadians, was viewed over 6,600 times, and was shared by 140 people.
Launching in time for 2018, Centum expects its innovations and active social media footprint to become a recruiting game changer. When the company releases its analytics next year, Turcotte believes Centum will become the clear choice for brokers.
“The big differentiator is because I came from the broker channel and I was a franchisee, I’m the only brand president that’s spending an hour-and-a-half walking a franchisee through a Facebook campaign; I’m the only president of a brand whose agents and franchisees can reach out to him through social media, email, via text,” he said.
“I’m getting in the trenches and helping them market. I’ve done this business and the feedback I’m getting is it’s so motivating that they can pick up the phone and talk to brand leaders, that they’re not delivering a corporate message that their VP of marketing wrote them. We’re getting in the trenches together.”
Related stories:
Using unique website content to stand out from competitors
Why social media post quality & consistency are important to your success
