Usherpa Blog - Going Beyond the Loan Status Update
Lenders who provide more (and more accurate) information to borrowers during the loan origination process achieve higher levels of borrower satisfaction, which leads directly to more repeat and referral business. But only if the borrower stays with the lender until the loan closes.
That only happens about half the time because borrowers are completing loan applications with 2-5 lenders (or more) for every loan they close. They have no problem switching to another lender who they feel will serve them better, even if a loan is already in process.
In a previous post I wrote about the importance of effective communication with borrowers during the loan origination process. The content of those conversations matters and I’ll tell you why.
Borrower Engagement
If we want to keep borrowers engaged in the loan origination process, we need to keep them informed of the lender’s progress. But those are just table stakes. If all we do is provide status updates, we’re missing out on a major opportunity.
Today, an increasing number of mortgage loan originators are waking up to the power of frequent status updates, but not just for process tracking. Many are finding that these tools are excellent and necessary marketing tools as well.
Lenders must continue to sell the borrower throughout the origination process, keeping them engaged and building a strong enough relationship to keep them from abandoning the process and going to another lender.
This is also an excellent opportunity to sell the real estate agent on the idea of introducing the lender to more clients. There is no better time to hit a partner up for new work than when a shared client’s deal is moving steadily toward the closing table.
And if this is the first deal the lender has worked on with the real estate agent, it’s important that the experience be as rewarding as possible. Lenders should use in-process marketing messages to share their philosophy for doing business with these business referral partners and build out that new relationship.
Going Beyond the Status Update
Today, most LOS software includes some form of status updates for the lender to use, though they are stock and often difficult or impossible to customize to meet the lender’s specific needs. Typically, lenders have access to about 7 points in the process where they can send out a notification to a borrower or real estate agent.
Lenders need more power than this and it’s available today in modern Smart CRMs.
We work with lenders today who have up to 14 milestones that trigger in-processing marketing, though they don’t use all of them for every borrower or loan type. Some of them are used for simple loan status updates, but many are marketing messages designed to build borrower trust, deepen relationships with business referral partners or solicit referrals from borrowers.
The most successful lenders will begin using in-process marketing even before the borrower completes their loan application. Using these tools to nurture mortgage leads increases the likelihood that the borrowers will enter the lender’s pipeline. This works particularly well for Usherpa users who use Encompass.
Some of the milestones that can trigger effective in-process marketing messages through Usherpa include:
- Lead
- Pre-Qualification
- Application is Initiated
- Appraisal is Ordered
- Loan is in Process
- Submitted to Underwriting
- Conditional Loan Approval
- Appraisal Report Received
- CD Sent
- CD Receipt
- Post Close, Thank You
Usherpa can also incorporate post-close surveys, review requests and first payment letters into the process as well.
Continuing the sales process after the loan application has been received is more important than ever before. But it’s important that the lender communicate with the borrower in the way that they prefer. I’ll write about that in my next post.
