Welcome back to “Building Up Better,” Shape’s blog series aimed to help brokers build up stronger, more profitable businesses in 2021 by harnessing the power of technology.

In previous posts, we’ve discussed in more detail the best way to generate high-quality, qualified leads for your mortgage business. But how do you deliver a high-quality customer experience that breeds loyalty and drives referrals, especially in the “new normal” of COVID-19, where more and more consumers are looking online for lenders?

The home buying and mortgage process for most borrowers are deeply personal. Good relationships are forged on trust and developing a connection, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build these in today’s remote world. As a result, consumer confidence and satisfaction in mortgage brokers are plummeting—only 42% of borrowers say they are satisfied with the mortgage process.

Let’s take a closer look at 3 key ways to leverage technology (yes, really) to build better client relationships and stand out from the crowd:

1. Know When to Automate

We cover efficiency a lot on this blog—it’s partly why we created Shape—to help lenders create more efficient workflows leveraging the power of automation. How do you measure the impact automation can have on your business? Mortgage teams that use CRMs and automation are 50% more productive, but more importantly, these tools help you retain 27% more clients than teams rooted in manual processes. All this automation adds up to one thing brokers need more of to build great relationships: time.
Lenders know that one of the top drivers of new business is referrals from your existing client base since 92% of buyers trust referrals from people they know. If you’re automating the frequent daily manual tasks sucking up your time (like following up on contracts, booking appointments, and client data entry), you’ll have more bandwidth to develop and nurture your referral network, which ultimately means more revenue.

2. Don’t Chase the Rate Chasers

Quality leads: that’s the top priority of any growing mortgage business. But in today’s wild rate rodeo, you’ll undoubtedly have “rate chasers” who will contact you only to get another quote as they do their rate shopping. They may have some intent to work with you, but likely they’re just another low-quality prospect you’ll waste valuable time on.

Just how much can these low-quality leads negatively impact your mortgage business?

“On average, bad lead prospect data costs sales departments 550 hours and $32,000 per representative. Assuming the average cost of $60,000 per year for a sales representative, not including additional payroll-related expenses, this means individuals are spending over 50% of their time and payroll working with low-interest customers.” Ouch.

Instead of wasting time on the chasers who won’t help your business or drive more referrals, opt for a CRM with built-in lead generation tools and lead scoring, which can help teams convert 30% more of their prospects. By leveraging AI lead-qualifying, your reps can focus on only top-quality prospects who are a great fit for your business, ensuring you’re building great client relationships from the very first touchpoint.

3. Break Through the Noise

In today’s digital mortgage environment, how do you compete for a legitimate lead’s attention? With endless pleas for our attention online, brokers need to get personal to help them stand out from the crowd.

Sending a welcome email to a new prospect isn’t always the best way to show who you are and why they should work with you: text lacks emotion, personality, and tone, which can leave your message ignored or misunderstood.

Instead, you can accelerate your sales cycle and rehumanize the digital mortgage experience
by sending personalized video messages. Clearer communication with quick, digestible videos means less time emailing back and forth, which progresses your deals forward. Personal videos before appointments help put a face to your name, making it harder for them to no-show you.

By leveraging videos as a part of your client and prospect outreach or drip campaigns, you can infuse much needed personality and build trust at every touchpoint.

Looking for more proven ways to build great client relationships for your mortgage business?

Join Shape Mortgage and BombBomb on Thursday, April 13 at 10:00 am MDT for an in-depth 45-minute webinar where we’ll share industry-leading tips and tricks proven to boost your client relationships and help you generate more referrals and revenue. Save your seat today!

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