When people think of mortgage lenders, they think of what we in the industry refer to as retail mortgage lenders.  In years past, retail lenders held a daunting market share towering over other types of loan originators through a process that would originate and fund loans in-house.  More recently, other industry competitors have begun to even the playing field,  creating retail lenders’ need to evolve. 

This Article Covers:

• The central differences between retail lenders and other types of lenders
• Competitive strategies of retail lenders
• Optimizing the retail lending process through integrations

 Retail lenders, such as banks and mortgage-focused businesses, employ loan officers who issue loans directly to individual home buyers.  These lenders often take an in-house approach to originating and funding their prospects’ loans.  

Retail Loan Officers have to maintain many relationships with different needs. They must educate and nurture prospects, shepherd applicants through the process, and stay connected to borrowers for many years post close. Coupled with how critical it is for LO’s to create new referral relationships are to keep the loan pipeline full, and they need another set of hands just to keep up. 

Communication is pivotal to closing more loans in any lending organization.  For retail lenders, it goes a step further. Communication needs to feel unique and personal to establish a trusting relationship with prospective and current clients.  

A centralized marketing and content messaging process helps mortgage originators deliver personalized marketing content and educational materials that follow brand guidelines.  

System reporting is also an essential function for retail lenders as it creates visibility for the status of each potential borrower in their pipeline. 

For nearly 20 years, Surefire CRM has been the leading mortgage marketing software provider, helping retail lenders stay top of mind through different customer marketing and engagement platforms backed by industry-leading compliance. 

Surefire continues to evolve with the needs of mortgage lenders, ensuring loan originators can: 

• Provide multi-media brand integrations with customizable journeys that engage and retain customers
• Increase the number of new prospects with marketing automation that lets mortgage professionals understand each customer’s needs
• Close more loans through the implementation of customer recapture and retention campaigns
• Remain compliant by automating the administrative review of all marketing materials and campaigns
• Strengthen referral partner relationships with co-branded communication