TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1501025
June 2023 » thefivestar.com 5 June 2023 M T E C H ZILLOW OFFERS NEW CHATGPT PLUGIN FOR REAL ESTATE SEARCHES Z illow has announced the launch of its Zillow ChatGPT plugin, which gives users a new way to discover real estate listings. Users who enable the plugin feature can use conversational language to ask about specific property listings or share the types of for-sale and rental homes they are interest- ed in, including location, price range, and bedroom and bathroom count. The Zillow plugin then retrieves relevant information from Zillow's database of real estate listings. "Generative AI is changing the way peo- ple search for information. At Zillow, we've been embracing AI and machine learning starting with the Zestimate in 2006, and later, introducing personalized recommendations and natural language search—which means we're well-equipped to help customers search and find homes in this new way," said David Beitel, CTO for Zillow Group. "As the first major residential real estate marketplace to bring advanced, AI-powered search to the home-shopping experience, we understand its immense potential, and we look forward to developing more tech innovations with OpenAI technology in the future." Zillow launched natural language search queries on its apps and sites in January, and this new ChatGPT plugin is the latest example of how Zillow is using technology to make it easier for customers to find and get into their next home. AI capabilities show up throughout Zillow's products and services, most recently, in advancements in the neural Zestimate, computer-vision-powered rich media experiences and AI-generated immer- sive floor plans. The Zillow ChatGPT plugin is currently in its alpha phase, providing an opportunity for Zillow to refine and enhance the experi- ence based on user interactions. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has implemented safe- guards to minimize inaccuracies and prevent inappropriate responses, but users should keep in mind that at times the experience might not work exactly as expected. TOTAL EXPERT ANNOUNCES PLATFORM ENHANCEMENTS T otal Expert has announced new capabilities that provide financial institutions with visibility into lead funnels so they can quickly pivot marketing and engagement strategies. New analytics and reporting functionality provides insightful views of campaign results, loan production, and loan demographic data to support pipeline and lead manage- ment. By bringing together loan activity and marketing communications, customer-facing teams can use visuals to more effectively track leads and centralize data across siloed systems. Real-time results allow users to assess campaign performance—following conversion rates from application volume through to funded loans. "These features are helping us discover which campaigns and individual emails are most effective and engaging for our audience," said George Chapin, Senior CRM Marketing Manager at CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC. "Plus, we're saving a lot of time by having these metrics right at our fin- gertips instead of spending hours gathering them ourselves. We expect this to help us make better decisions faster, leading to more engagement and higher success rates in our marketing efforts." Updates to the Customer Intelligence solution include the new Rate Alert, which lets lenders know when a past customer could benefit from a lower interest rate, uncovering refinancing opportunities as rates drop. Since launching Customer Intelligence in 2022, Total Expert has surfaced insights and automated customer journeys that have led to more than $9 billion in loan applica- tions; many of these loans stemmed from re-engaged leads and former customers that had fallen through the cracks. "This market is still unpredictable, and our role is to continue to innovate and sup- port our customers in achieving their pipe- line and growth goals," said Bill Parker, CTO of Total Expert. "Our latest release gives our customers powerful tools and visibility into what's working so that they can find more op- portunity and drive deals in any market." AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE TECH REVOLUTION The following companies are advancing the digital mortgage process, helping chart the course for advancements in the pursuit of an all-digital experience.