The Deal’s Not Over: After Close Care

Your strategy, planning, execution, and overall hard work have paid off in the best of ways: you closed on a new client’s mortgage loan. That potential borrower you sourced from various avenues has officially become a customer.

That is very much a milestone worth celebrating! But it does not mean you can dust your hands off and move to the next lead. Keeping contact with your new client in the days and even years to come after they close on or refinance their home makes them feel appreciated and will keep you at the forefront of their mind.  If you are not, your competitors will be.

Why should so much attention be paid to borrowers that you have already won over? Shouldn’t more attention be paid to replicating what earned you the successful lead? You need to keep plowing forward on that initiative because if you are not earning new business, you are not growing. However, you should never completely forget your current customers either.

A mere 18% of homebuyers stay with their original lender when refinancing or purchasing a new home.That is an unsettling statistic in this competitive industry, especially considering we work so hard for every lead.  This statistic is one to keep in mind when setting up campaigns to remain in steady contact with those you successfully converted.

Whether buyers do a 15-year or 30-year loan for their mortgage, they are unlikely to go full term on it. The average lifespan of a mortgage is under 10 years due to most refinancing or purchasing a new home. Making sure that they want to stay with your organization during their big life changes is important and that takes deliberate planning.  A plan needs to be in place to have a workflow initiated after every close where your clients are contacted for various reasons ranging from asking about their experience during the closing process to general checking-in.  Her are a few ways to do so: 

Thank You Calls

These can be made directly after the closing happens as well as on the anniversary of their close to show appreciation. The simple act of saying “thanks” will go a long way when it comes time to remember your organization when considering options they will have in the future.

Ask for Reviews

These calls can be easily combined with the thank you calls in the beginning and can serve two purposes. One, it will of course generate those always valuable reviews, good and bad, these reviews will aid those doing research on which lender to use and help your team improve their efforts. It will also help once again to keep you at the front of their mind.

Rate Changes

At calculated times and as the market fluctuates, it makes sense to reach out to your current borrowers when the opportunity is there to refinance to a lower rate and potentially save them money. This works towards showing that you have their best interest at heart as well as staying ahead of competitors who are reaching out to them with similar offers.

Birthday Calls

Everyone likes to be remembered on their birthday, no matter their age and the simple act of reaching out to them at the time will make them feel special and appreciated.

Generate Referrals

Word-of-mouth is the most trusted form of marketing trusted by 86% of consumers. If you give your borrowers a positive and memorable experience through a difficult process, they will likely have no issue recommending you to friends and family whom they know are looking for a similar provider.

Marketing to current clients should always be a part of your marketing strategy, even if their loan is sold. But it can be just as time-consuming to follow up on the current clientele to hopefully deter them from leaving as it is to follow up on the prospective new borrowers, you are working diligently towards earning their business. So how do you handle both sides successfully? Loan officers will not always have time to follow up with each client after each loan closing or potential times for refinancing. Not that they do not see the benefits to it, they simply have other duties they should be focusing on. That is where partnering with an experienced third-party call center is a potential strategy to implement all the above ideas. Utilizing their skilled and adaptable agents to help create and follow up at these various touch points will help your organization make your current clients want to stay just that, your client.

It is important to also remember that not every consumer wants a phone call. Implementing SMS and email campaigns to reach out with the same messaging above is proven to have just as successful of an outcome as a phone call in meeting the people where they are.

Every borrower is going to have multiple loans in their lifetime, it is rare for someone to only buy one home and even if they do, the likelihood of them refinancing at one point is high. Your competitors are always going to be doing their best to get in front of them, so you need to make sure you stay in front of your customers as well. Giving a good experience through the process, showing you remember them after they become a client, and keeping in regular, steady contact with them will build a foundation of trust and loyalty that will keep them returning to your team for all of their home buying needs.