Consider these stats on mortgage customer follow-up:

• Over 90% of consumers want to hear from their mortgage professional after closing (Source: Maritz Research survey)
• The optimal contact frequency, say consumers, is every 2-3 months (Source: Maritz Research survey)
• Consumers are twice as likely to recommend a broker who follows up with them after closing (Source: CMHC)

Yet, despite these facts, only 46% of originators contact their clients after closing (CMHC, 2012).

That is millions in repeat customer volume right down the drain.

It’s hard enough to win a client in the first place. To maximize revenue, any top broker will tell you that you need a dependable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Too many brokers ignore that advice because they’re intimidated by the technological complexity of CRM. And we can empathize with that (after toying around with our own firm’s [VERICO] “Dynamics” system, which is powerful but very complex).

To its credit, however, VERICO has recognized that not every broker has an IT degree. In turn, they’ve invested heavily in a new platform called BrokerBase. It’s one of the simplest CRM programs we’ve seen to date.

BrokerBase has lots to like:

• It’s free
• It includes the broker’s logo and branding (and lender’s logo, in the case of partner lenders)
• It automatically integrates with D+H (pulling all necessary customer data)
• It automatically imports past clients
• It automatically calculates anniversary and renewal dates
• It creates a 10+ page personalized “Mortgage Plan” with mortgage strategies (one of the slickest we’ve seen…and something you’d expect from an RBC or TD-calibre lender)
• Client mailings come from the broker’s own email address (so clients can reply directly)
• The agent is cc’d on all client communications

But here’s the main benefit: It’s easy to use. (When VERICO said it would be easy, we didn’t believe them.)

But it is. Basically all you need to do (after signing up) is click this button for each client and verify his/her address.

The “trigger” (to start emailing clients) is simply the submission of a deal through D+H Expert.

The email templates are all pre-built for the broker. (BrokerBase doesn’t coordinate snail mail campaigns, one drawback for some people.) And those templates are surprising. We expected them to have hokey, generic sales-type language, but they don’t. They come with professionally written, conversational and engaging content.

The secret to keeping everything easy? Minimize the required choices and settings. (If you want a highly customizable CRM program, this is definitely not it.) Every broker wants his/her marketing to look a certain way, but the trade-off is precious time and know-how. Those trade-offs actually keep brokers from using CRM at all.

“Perfection is an impediment to progress,” says VERICO Chief Operating Officer John Kelly. “Maybe 5 to 10 people out of a room of 200 brokers” diligently use a CRM program, he adds, largely because of the perceived difficulty of setting one up. BrokerBase tears down that obstacle once and for all.

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Side Note: If you have your own preference for a simple and effective CRM tool that’s easy to set-up, don’t hesitate to list it in the comments.

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Rob McLister, CMT