TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/152295
on the web "We're delighted by this approval and expect this to open up potential relationships between our existing clients and Fifth Third's correspondent division," said Tim Anderson, director of eServices for DocMagic. "This will also create opportunities for existing Fifth Third correspondents to take advantage of DocMagic's free eSign technology and our industry-leading compliance services." "You have to assume that most people applying for a mortgage are employed, so they're obviously spending a bit of their workday on their mortgage application." —Rick Allen, Mortgage Marvel Mortgage Returns Makes Marketing Easier Lenders will be able to make direct connections through latest technology from the Missouri-based company. M ortgage Returns, a St. Louis-based provider of customer relationship management (CRM) technology and marketing solutions for the mortgage industry, announced its spring release, which includes features to help lenders drive purchase business by marketing to customers, prospects, and referral partners. The solution's new marketing enhancements give lenders the ability to communicate with their contacts through one-to-one marketing pieces that include specific details about the contact's account. "The mortgage industry is expecting rates to rise, and our clients need new tools to get the next purchase from past customers," said CEO Jim Blatt. "Our analysis shows that one-to-one marketing is three times more effective than traditional mass marketing at driving retention and new business." In addition, Mortgage Returns enhanced reporting features to allow clients to view the results of their marketing efforts in real time, including return on investment and customer retention metrics on individual marketing pieces. "Many automated marketing systems claim to be a CRM, but only the most sophisticated can actually measure and track customer retention, prospect conversion, and the effectiveness of referral relationships," Blatt said. "Our solution enables our clients to clearly see how one-to-one marketing improves customer retention over time and increases revenues. More than 9,000 originators use our system to develop lifelong relationships with their customers." ON THE WEB More Americans Applying While At Work Study shows that more people are looking for homes on the office's dime. A majority of people applying for mortgage loans online are applying during work hours, according to a recent survey by MortgageMarvel.com, owned by D+H Mortgagebot, a consumer lending technology company based in Mequon, Wisconsin. After reviewing more than 650,000 online mortgage applications sent to more than 1,100 lenders last year, Mortgage Marvel found only 15 percent of applications were submitted on weekends. A majority of those submitted on weekdays—60 percent—were submitted between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., prompting Mortgage Marvel to assume many applicants are applying while at work. "You have to assume that most people applying for a mortgage are employed, so they're obviously spending a bit of their workday on their mortgage application," said Rick Allen, COO at Mortgage Marvel. "In fairness though, many applications come in over the lunch hour, and it's also likely that people are doing regular work outside what we traditionally consider to be normal hours," he added. Furthermore, most mortgage applicants only take about 30 minutes to complete their applications. "People appreciate being able to complete an application on their schedule at their pace," Allen said. About 62 percent of applicants complete their entire application in one session, while the remainder start the process and then log in on a separate occasion to complete it. Allen reasons those who complete their applications over multiple sessions are either interrupted or need time to gather all the information required on the application. "We expect the number of online applications to continue to grow for many years to come," Allen said. The M Report | 9