TheMReport

32 | TH E M R EP O RT FEATURE Y our mortgage loan officers learn more about their custom- ers throughout a single transaction than any other financial services provider. From contact information to credit score to annual income and spend- ing habits, loan officers have all the data necessary to create a comprehensive composite of their customers—not their ideal custom- ers but their actual customers. But there's a problem. Most companies have so much data they don't know what to do with it. So, it sits there collecting digital dust. The availability of user data has the power to give market- ers and producers greater access to consumer insight than ever before—but only if they know how to find it and leverage it to deliver the right message at the right time to the right person. How can your organization— and your loan officers—turn growing mountains of data into insights and revenue? The immediate opportunity for organizations is to first focus on aggregating and analyzing the data at their disposal, which often lives in various silos unconnected across the organization. Only from here can an organization's loan officers begin to develop insight-driven campaigns that provide consum- ers with the high-tech, high-touch experiences they crave. Aggregate Y our producers use many technology solutions across the lending process: CRM, LOS, POS, and product and pricing engines to name a few. The problem that starts to emerge as you add to your technology stack is that they don't communicate with each other. The data in one system is not available in another, creating silos between marketing and sales that lead to duplicative work and hin- der your ability to reach custom- ers consistently. In fact, according to STRATMOR, one year ago, 50 percent of lenders didn't have an enterprise Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, which doesn't mean they don't have big data—but that they have many sources and their data is hard to use. Enter the open API. APIs allow two different software solutions to communicate with each other and share data. Open APIs use a common language or struc- ture to promote universal access. An open API demonstrates a commitment to your continued growth in an evolving industry and offers you greater flexibility as you build out the right technology stack to suit your unique business requirements. Not all software solutions in mortgage have them, but it is becoming increasingly common and is a must if you want your data to flow seamlessly between your solutions so you can access it to influence behav- iors and increase profits. Analyze A ccording to research from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and RedPoint Global, 43 percent of 250 market- ers surveyed agree they are not lacking data but are missing the ability to transform that data into real-time action. Being able to interpret data correctly is critical to generating actionable insights to apply to marketing strategies that will impact business results. Many marketers and produc- ers struggle to work with data because it's easy to get lost in the numbers. Where should your producers focus their attention? Which numbers will help them demonstrate their contribution to the company's bottom line? It helps to take a strategic ap- proach when you interpret data by tying it back to your business goals and initiatives. Actionable insight also requires context and clarity. Loan officers will only move forward on in- sights if they can appreciate why the data they're being presented with is important and what they stand to gain if they act on it. Loan officers care about two things: increasing their productiv- ity and closing more loans. They want to know how much they've closed, how much they need to close, and what they need to do to meet their goals. Providing them with insightful data ensures action, not unwarranted objec- tions and skepticism. Adapt A ctionable data in hand, loan officers and marketing administrators should be using it to build strong, personalized marketing initiatives that gener- ate revenue. According to recent Epsilon research, 80 percent of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers a personalized experience. When creating personalized mes- saging, it is essential to resonate with your target audience at an emotional level, too, according to a Forbes article by Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester. In his article titled "Emotions Fuel Your Brand's Putting Data in Motion How can your organization—and your loan officers—turn growing mountains of data into insights and revenue? By Joe Welu

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