Running a successful commercial mortgage company requires all processes, from lead generation to closing a loan, to run smoothly. You need purchasing and integrating software that helps improve efficiency, as well as software for an origination system and an accounting system.
Before you know it, a commercial mortgage company might have acquired six different programs for six different departments only to find that those programs and departments aren’t sharing their data and working symbiotically. These six different programs might help make each department a little bit more efficient, but they don’t help the business work together more efficiently. When mortgage companies realize that the data from the six different programs is not being shared, they want to consolidate those programs into one space.
That is where customer relationship management software (CRM) comes into play. Best known as a product developed by companies such as Salesforce, CRM is a technology that allows your business to forgo paying for those six different programs. Instead, it would pay for one CRM software system that consolidates the necessary functionality into one software program the entire team can access. CRMs are a great tool to dramatically improve your company’s efficiency by giving you an all-in-one software that can streamline processes for marketing, lead generation, pipeline development and many other aspects of the company.
However, there is not a one-size-fits-all CRM package for commercial mortgage operations. The packages are built individually to meet the needs of each company. The complexity of choosing the right CRM package for your business and then implementing it correctly is why there is an entire industry of consultants helping clients navigate this process.
This is expensive software for your business. According to the technology media site Tech.co, pricing for CRM products can vary from $7 per user, per month for a basic product to as high as $300 per user, per month for enterprise-level products.
These programs also come with a lot of options, so the probability of your company overpaying for functionality it does not need is very high. Commercial mortgage businesses must come into the process prepared, knowing what the issues are for their company and how they hope these software systems can play a role in solving that problem. Here are a few tips to help your company navigate the complicated CRM process.
Personnel issues
Before seriously considering signing up for CRM software, such as the programs offered by Salesforce or one of the many other companies, you must understand that the programs can help fix a flawed process, but they can’t fix flawed personnel. A company with issues that stem beyond streamlining processes should not focus on purchasing a CRM program, but on the operation’s underlying problems.
An employee unwilling to follow up on leads prior to acquiring the software will not do so because you bought an expensive new program. They will continue to not follow up while the new program you implemented increases your overhead.
Before investing time and money into researching and signing up for such a program, corporate executives should ask themselves, “Is tech looking to solve a process problem or an underlying business problem?” If the answer is the latter, then the company needs to fix those underlying business issues before signing up for expensive software. CRM systems help good businesses be better. They don’t make a bad business good.
Take the time
Customer relationship management software has become an unbelievably robust tool that can improve many parts of your business, from marketing to sales. With so many options, finding the right combination of tools for your business can be overwhelming. The Big CRM companies offer hundreds of options, including artificial intelligence (AI) programs. A plethora of different products means more potential benefits, but it also increases opportunities for waste.
Take your time, and don’t let outside forces pressure your business into spending more money on features the client may not need. The questions every company should ask when beginning this process is “What is the problem we are trying to solve, and what features will help fix that problem?”
Once a company’s leadership knows what features might work, they should sign up for that feature and test it out. It is best to start slowly on the right product and license tier before expanding features. Wait for a feature to score an initial success that can be proven with data. Once it is clear how a program is helping your business, you can ask the same questions about another CRM feature.
Any CRM company is going to try to sell a potential client shiny and expensive products such as AI and machine learning. These tools are great and have incredible potential, but don’t let a representative upsell your company into a high-priced program before your business has established a solid foundation with more general CRM software. Company executives can easily tell when a CRM program is working for them. It is when they stop thinking about it every day and simply start seeing it as an extension of their business.
Avoid the familiar
Familiarity is comforting, and as creatures of habit, it is easy for people to get used to old and inefficient processes. This tendency may cause commercial mortgage operations to spend a lot of money on a CRM system to integrate programs that are exactly like the old programs.
This makes no sense because the client is investing in CRM software in the first place because their old processes were not working. Don’t fall into the comfort of familiarity. Your operation is investing money into CRM software to streamline your processes, so let the bad ones go. Have meetings with the team to discuss why old processes didn’t work. Use this information to avoid those pitfalls when integrating a new CRM system.
Ensure success
The right CRM software can profoundly impact a company’s bottom line. Successful implementation can improve an employee’s reputation at their business or make a consultant a lot of money.
This leads to the potential pitfall of an employee or consultant making promises during the implementation process that they cannot deliver. It is common for an employee or consultant to promise they can implement a functional CRM software package in a week, only to spend months trying to make the system work. That is why it is crucial companies extensively vet whoever is implementing their CRM software.
Every company wants to spend the least amount of money for the most amount of work, but corporate leaders must ensure what is being promised can be achieved. Improper vetting will cost an enterprise much more than just paying someone who will do the job right the first time. Many consultants are trying to make a name for themselves by learning about this type of software, but don’t let them waste your company’s money by learning on the job.
Any CRM professional should be able to show a working demonstration of what the client expects them to build or how they implemented a similar CRM program for another company. The client should ask the professional to, for example, show a working loan and customer profile if those are the systems being implemented.
When hiring a consultant, ask them for recommendations that the company can contact. It is important that the consultants being hired fit with the company culture. CRM professionals who do not value the same things your company does will struggle to create a software system centered around your company’s needs and perspectives. You are investing a lot of money into a CRM program, so take your time and ensure the people you are hiring to implement it know what they are doing.
● ● ●
Implementing the right CRM software can be a massive boon for your commercial mortgage company. The program can help streamline multiple critical processes under one consolidated software that gives every department access to each other’s data. However, the number of options can be overwhelming, and implementing the wrong program wastes time and money.
Identify the problem you are trying to solve, take time implementing new features and vet the person implementing your CRM software. Take these steps, and you will unlock a proven, effective tool for helping companies grow.
