Are you neglecting your most important tool as an originator?

With the mortgage space becoming more challenging by the day, most originators still aren’t using this tool to its full potential – and those that aren't risk getting left behind

Are you neglecting your most important tool as an originator?

Times are tough in the mortgage industry, but there’s a surefire way to see 10 to 30% lift in business year after year, throughout the ups and downs. It all comes down to managing your database, or as Sales Boomerang likes to call it, your customer base.

“The person you preapproved; the person you spoke to and educated about what it’s going to take to do the loan — all those people are in your database,” said Alex Kutsishin, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Sales Boomerang. “It’s about taking the people you already fought for and keeping them on your radar in a systematic way.”

Sales Boomerang will pass along top tips on database management and customer experience during a free webinar Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST. The company’s system connects directly into any existing CRM or lead-management system like Velocify, Top of Mind or Lead Mailbox, and acts as a tracking and alerting system that keeps tabs on leads and alerts originators when a previously unqualified customer becomes qualified.

Among other things, the webinar will show originators:

  • How top lenders use their databases in both smooth and turbulent times
  • The best way to close – and the best way to turn down – a deal
  • How you can add a 10% to 30% lift to your business year after year

“This webinar is about how right now – and probably now more than ever before – it’s important to manage your database and your customer relationships that otherwise weren’t available before,” Kutsishin said. “The most valuable asset you have it your database.”

Most of all, Kutsishin said that originators needed to realize how much potential business they were losing by not managing their database properly.

“It’s amazing how much we’ve discovered in missed opportunities in less than a year now – more than $4.4 billion in real loans missed out on,” he said. “And that’s just 35 lenders. $4.4 billion.”

And that’s because most originators simply don’t keep tabs on the potential customers in their database like they should. And when those customers are ready to get a mortgage, they end up going to someone else.

Kutsishin advocates for mortgage originators to view themselves less as advisors and more as regular service providers like mechanics and dentists. If you’re satisfied with your teeth cleaning or oil change, you stick with the same place year after year. Similarly, originators should approach borrowers as though they will be returning to work on a refinance or new purchase down the road.

“This has to be the philosophy of this industry,” Kutsishin said. “In my area, there are tons of mechanics, but mine assumes I am coming back. They will put a sticker in your window about the next oil change. We need to put stickers on our borrowers. The only way to do that is to know if they listed their home for sale or had a significant life event.”

In addition, originators can mine their list of turndowns — potential customers who didn’t make the cut for a loan. Many of them will have boosted their credit scores, found a better job or improved their financial picture in other ways. 

“The loans you funded are in your database, but there’s probably three to four times more people you didn’t fund – and you should be focusing on them as much or more than your past customers,” Kutsishin said.

The free webinar, “No Borrower Left Behind,” will be held April 18 at 2 p.m. EST. To register for this free webinar, click here.