How Can Your Contact Database Sustain Your Mortgage Pipeline?

A properly kept list of past mortgage clients will include plenty of resources to help loan officers remain in contact through relevant marketing that will help, rather than frustrate, recipients.

Primarily, a loan officer’s database will store deal-related information, including the client’s loan product and purpose; property address; loan rate, term and amortization; LTV; closing date; occupancy and more. The database should also provide a record of others involved in the transaction, including co-borrowers and deal team members.

Beyond the deal, a client database can include personal information, most commonly the client’s birthday. Most CRMs will give a loan officer the ability to collect customer details in notes (which may not be searchable) or through custom fields. As the relationship grows, loan officers can collect personal information like favorite sports teams, hobbies or goals.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Personally identifiable information (PII) is not typically stored in a CRM. This is information that could be used to identify an individual, and it is protected by law. Examples include social security numbers, driver’s license numbers and bank account numbers. PII data does NOT include information that can be found through public records, such as birth date or address.

A contact database can also include records for prospects who have not completed deals yet. When available, their records should include details on the type of transaction that may interest them — first-time purchase, trade-up purchase, refinance, investment or second home purchase. It’s also helpful to know the timeframe in which they hope to finance (if relevant) and something about their credit rating, even if only on an excellent-to-fair scale.

How can a contact database be used for mortgage lead generation?

A strong mortgage CRM like Surefire by Black Knight transforms a simple contact database into a mortgage lead generation engine and, eventually, a full mortgage pipeline. This is accomplished with a combination of automated monitoring and audience segmentation, followed by powerful marketing. Together, these tools help loan officers identify opportunities on behalf of their clients so they stay both relevant and top of mind long after a loan closes.

Depending on settings and integrations, a mortgage CRM can automatically monitor databases for properties listed for sale, credit pulls, changes in equity and credit improvements, among others. Surefire’s most popular database notifications are for birthdays, loan anniversaries and opportunities to lower rates.

After an opportunity is identified in the contact database, one of three things occurs (or sometimes a combination of these occurs):

• The loan officer receives a notification and is tasked with following up.
• A rule triggers an automatic communication with the contact – perhaps as an automated text message.
• A rule triggers a workflow, or series of communications, typically delivered as mortgage email marketing.

Though opportunity alerts like these will generate leads within a database, savvy loan officers will also look for opportunities to reach out to certain groups or types of borrowers. Dynamic database searches enable a one-time set-up for easy communication with a segmented audience later. The “dynamic” aspect of the search means that each time the loan officer deploys content to the group, the CRM will adjust it for the current database. New contacts who meet the criteria will appear as part of the list and ones that no longer fit the group will be removed, as appropriate.

For example, a loan officer may want to reach out to all borrowers who closed on an FHA loan more than two years ago so they can take advantage of growing equity to refinance and eliminate mortgage insurance. A dynamic search group identifies contacts who meet the requirement as of the date the list is pulled. In another six months, the same group will look different. Borrowers who refinanced out of an FHA loan will no longer appear, and those who closed more than two years ago from the new date will now be on the list.

When mining a contact database for mortgage lead generation, the key action is “contact.” A robust mortgage CRM should provide multiple ways for the loan officer to contact the potential borrower in a way that is personal, targeted and relevant to that borrower’s situation and preferences. Surefire’s timely library of marketing content makes it easy for mortgage companies to send branded materials, whether they select mortgage email marketing campaigns or casual automated text messages.

What comes next?

Here’s the best part of all — after reaching out to contacts for the right reasons over an extended period, they’ll not only come back for their next deal but also refer their friends and family.

A modern mortgage CRM can track critical loan milestones automatically and provide custom mortgage marketing materials that help the borrower complete the loan process faster and more confidently. With pre-configured workflows ready right out of the box, loan originators can eliminate much of the burden of mortgage pipeline management and achieve a higher loan conversion rate. 

Efficiency isn’t the only selling point for a mortgage CRM, either. The best mortgage pipeline management tools also feature branded educational content that can be automatically created and distributed with just a few clicks. For example, embedding interactive mortgage calculators in digital marketing communications allows consumers to weigh the potential benefits of your loan products based on their unique financial situation. 

By distributing ongoing financial guidance and establishing themselves as trustworthy housing finance experts, loan officers and brokers are more likely to earn repeat and referral business that can sustain their mortgage pipelines. 

And THAT is how a properly managed contact database sustains a full mortgage pipeline for a loan officer’s career. For a closer look at the most powerful mortgage-focused CRM and marketing engine in the game, request a demo of Surefire by Black Knight.