Prospective borrowers who don’t qualify immediately can get pretty tired of LOs calling to ask if their situation has changed. But what if you only called to deliver good news?
Somewhere in practically every mortgage professional’s CRM is a file folder of prospective customers who’ve asked not to be contacted. Maybe they’re leads who didn’t qualify the first time around, and they’ve been called so many times – just to see if their situation has changed – that they’re tired of hearing from bankers and LOs.
In the past, those consumers were pretty much dead leads. But what if it never got to the point where they asked to be taken off the contact list, and the time invested eventually paid off?
“The practice of mass marketing to consumers, just to deny them when they call, is a technique that belongs in the past,” said Scott Lidberg, president and founder of Unify CRM. “It is frustrating to borrowers – but it is also frustrating to mortgage professionals who are truly trying to help. With the access to information we have today, this should not be the case. We can provide most everyone with a more enjoyable experience.”
And providing that experience can make the difference between a dead lead and a sale, said Alex Kutsishin, co-founder and chief marketing officer for Sales Boomerang.
“What if the mortgage industry adopted a philosophy of only delivering good news?” Kutsishin said. “Our goal in the mortgage industry is being a conduit to the American dream. As the conduit of the American dream, we should make the experience as enjoyable as possible for every person who needs a home loan – especially the ones who get denied on their first attempt. They’re the ones who need to have the most enjoyable experience. They need to be treated like valuable customers – because they could ultimately become valuable customers.”
Sales Boomerang connects directly into any existing CRM or lead management system. It acts as a tracking and alerting system that keeps tabs on leads and alerts originators when a previously unqualified customer becomes qualified. That means there’s no need for originators to keep calling previously unqualified leads to check up on their situation. That means LOs only need to call leads in order to deliver good news – that they’re now qualified.
“Wouldn’t you like to be the one who shares the good news with your prospects – rather than some other guy they meet months from now?” Kutsishin said. “That means you need to change the way you communicate with your prospects and customers from the start. Imagine saying something like, ‘I know we couldn’t get you that loan today, but if you stick with us, we’re going to be able to tell you when you’ve got equity in your house, or when you’ve reached that target score of 640.’”
With the ready availability of information – and the plethora of options – Kutsishin said that the mortgage industry needs to evolve from a transactional business to a relational one.
“I think the mortgage industry is going to go the way of the car industry,” he said. “With the car industry in the past, its salespeople were known as a little deceptive and perhaps dishonest – until the internet made information so reliable, so accurate, that the industry went the way of creating a more friendly experience.”
A savvy car salesman now focuses on creating a relationship with the customer, Kutsishin said.
“They’ve understood that you can no longer treat people like they need to be sold something,” he said. “You want them to feel comfortable and welcome. They want to be your friend.”
Sales Boomerang allows originators to create that relationship with the client, Kutsishin said – especially the client who doesn’t qualify right away.
“Those people would be so grateful if you continued to do the work even before they became a client,” he said. “Tell your customer that they’re not going to get random calls and email asking if their situation has changed. In fact, the exact opposite is true. You’ll let them know as soon as something positive happens. Imagine how happy that customer would be walking out of that office knowing that you’re going to work for him because you are invested in the relationship.”
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