December 2008

Building long-term rapport and return business
VDP underpins extensive CRM program. By Kalan Vuksanovich

Client: Mortgage Architects Campaign: CRM (customer relationship management) Program Agency: The FSA Group Creative Director: Anne McLauglin Copywriter: Anne McLauglin Account Executive: Mike Arnold Here is a cross-section of just a few of MA's CRM program components based on variable data printing from FSAG's HP Indigo printers. (From left to right) debt consolidation services letter for holiday bills, customer thank you card, compliments magazine sticker, and also (bottom right) the CRM program's complex production schedule.

These days, mortgage brokers must “cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’” to ensure the safety of homeowners’ assets. With the overwhelming number of media messages forecasting economic gloom and doom, smart brokers are communicating regularly with their client base to alleviate uncertainty, and Canadian firm Mortgage Architects (MA) is no exception. There, VP of Marketing Kelly Neuber works tirelessly to repudiate customer anxiety and establish top-of-mind awareness for her company’s 350 independent brokers, who operate in all ten provinces—placing mortgages for consumers.

For compliance purposes, mortgage brokers must affiliate themselves with a licensed firm. MA distinguishes itself from banks by equipping its brokers with a wide array of products from a vast resource of lenders, rather than providing a mere set of operating procedures and systems for them to follow. Neuber explains, “Say you went to TD Bank for a mortgage—you’d just get a TD mortgage. Our brokers have access to over 50 lenders, including TD, Scotiabank, CIBC and all the other independent lenders. Our brokers can shop around and provide a lot of choice and selection for the consumer.” Ultimately, MA focuses on matching each customer with a plan that is ideally suited to their needs.

Business challenge
Given the extensive variety of mortgages available through MA, a typical customer is anyone in his or her mortgage years; a period that Neuber says ranges from “whenever a person seeks a first-time mortgage, right up until the last time he or she needs mortgage financing.” Today, the age gap of mortgage holders is widening. “People used to really focus on paying off their mortgage but that’s not the case anymore,” she stresses.

The key for mortgagers is to attract and acquire clients within their preliminary mortgage years, after which, it is more likely that these customers will return for assistance with subsequent properties and referrals to family and friends.

At MA, referrals are an important component of return business. “You have to have a certain minimum volume before you can join us as a broker,” admits Neuber. In return for performance, MA provides incentives to its elite complement of brokers as well as optional administrative supports to help brokers achieve their peak performance. “With a lot of mortgage brokers, it’s just about getting the next deal in the door and then [figuratively speaking] that customer is gone. Once your mortgage has been written, you’re gone,” she stresses.

To ensure clients would return to MA with their ongoing needs, Neuber was seeking a way for them to remain in touch with their brokers over the long term.

In early 2006, she enlisted help from Markham Ontario’s FSA Group (FSAG), a company specializing in variable based printing, data entry and logistics. The goal was to construct an integrated, personalized B2C communications program that would maintain contact with clients throughout their entire mortgage cycle. “MA wanted to be talking to these customers on more of a one-to-one level,” explains Mike Arnold, an account executive at FSAG. “It [MA] did not want to send a standard admail looking piece.”

How it works
Together, MA and FSAG developed a program whereby a client is mailed different, personalized “touch points” such as letters, thank you cards, and magazines, at regular intervals throughout the life of the mortgage. Since the average term is three years, it made sense to develop mailers that maintained friendly contact without initiating many hard sells. The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program was launched in late 2006 and this intricate program is currently in its second year of operation.

Individual brokers subscribe to the service. Once a customer has been “signed up” for a mortgage, the subscribing broker assesses whether a specific client is likely to generate future business. If the client has this potential, his or her name is added to the CRM mailing list. From there, the customer is sent a series of personalized pieces that span the entire three-year mortgage term.

As part of the program, new customers receive a sleek, colour printed 5”x5” thank you card in a non-windowed, invitation-style envelope within about a week of the sale. The card sports the digitally printed signature of the broker, along with all the relevant contact information. Although this piece may appear simple, it isn’t. FSAG is responsible for printing thousands of thank you cards for MA’s 350 brokers’ clients. That’s 350 digital signatures which have to be printed and mailed to each broker’s respective new clients every two weeks.

Customers also get a free, poly-bagged home décor magazine every quarter. Each label is personalized and also provides the name of the respective broker: “Compliments of Bill Brown, Your Broker from Mortgage Architects.” Neuber underscores the wow factor of the piece. “That thing [magazine] gets handed around like crazy,” she says. Arnold adds, “Hopefully, it sits around the house on the coffee table, or it might sit around at a doctor’s office—anything to have the broker’s name front and center.”

Business ask
After clients have been enlisted in the program for one year, a more direct sales piece, “The Business Ask Letter” is sent out. This one page 8”x11” letter is personalized with the client’s name, and the digital signature of his or her broker. Typically, it talks about refinancing options. “All the other touches are just nice, warm and fuzzy,” notes Neuber. “This one gets the phones ringing.” For example, during the third week of January 2008, the letter was timed to coincide with people’s post-holiday credit card statements. Its headline, “Do you need a personalized pay-down plan for your holiday bills?” attracted real attention. The body copy featured information about MA’s debt consolidation services. During the three-year term of the CRM program, two of these letters are mailed to customers.

Other “warm and fuzzy” touch pieces include three seasonal post cards, nine seasonal e-cards, and six newsletters. All together, 33 touch points can be mailed over the three-year period. When this series ends, the program can be extended by two years. This will yield ten extra waves (two more Business Ask Letters, two seasonal post cards, plus six additional e-cards).

Currently, there are over 24,000 names on the internally derived mailing list. Each piece is personalized to a specific broker and sent to the appropriate client at the appropriate juncture in his or her mortgage. Thankfully, the HP Indigo printers used by FSAG make a rather complicated printing process quick and easy. These printers use ink rather than toner for pinpoint colour matching. Once data is fed to FSAG from MA’s CRM lists, it is formatted by computer software, printed in both French and English, and then shipped.

While results obviously vary among brokers, there have been tangible returns in the first two years of the program. For example, 11,400 of the 24,000 plus names in the CRM program represent new clients. It is believed that these customers were generated between the fall 2008 magazine run and that of the previous quarter alone.

At a more microscopic level, individual brokers have benefited immensely. Neuber recalls, “One broker wasn’t on the CRM program, and then he asked us for the [Business Ask] letter. I think he paid $2,200 and he got $40,000 of revenue out of it.” Although still early in its evolution, MA’s CRM program is already yielding interest and significant benefits for its brokers and their clients.

Kalan Vuksanovich is an Oakville-based freelance journalist.