Top of Mind’s Surefire Rounds Out 2020 as the Most Decorated Mortgage CRM and Marketing Automation Platform
Jan 12, 2021Top of Mind reflects on a stellar 2020 and enthusiastically anticipates a promising 2021.
In a highly regulated industry like loan origination, compliance officers play a critical role in balancing the business needs to grow and stay flexible with the ever increasing pressures and risks associated with evolving regional and federal laws. Modern mortgage CRMs like Surefire make the internal and external audit processes easy and seamless. Reporting is key, from tracking the fair market value of print, mailing for mortgage industry compliance, and co-branding services to tracking opt-outs and following other strict marketing rules.
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The sheer volume of audit requests coupled with the varying requirements regionally and the evolution of those requirements mean that pain points for compliance officers boil down to the ease of control and reporting.
Controlling compliance related issues requires mortgage CRM software with the capability to create an approved content strategy and controls for which tools loan officers and their marketing counterparts are deploying. Key to this control is the ability to bring multi-channel marketing communication under a single mortgage compliance umbrella within the CRM. Control also requires complex hierarchical relationships for permissions ranging from loan officers, to branches (and their DBAs) as well as the corporate entity and its subsidiaries.
Mortgage CRM systems often rely on the marketing team to produce compliance reporting, but modern CRMs like Surefire allow the compliance officer specialized access to do so on demand. Compliance needs to easily report on content used in marketing campaigns including those based on one or more of email, text messages, recorded messages, phone calls, as well as print marketing. Depending on the organization, the compliance officer may prefer to use professional service offerings from the host of their mortgage CRM to produce these reports.
Compliance officers are faced with a bevy of regulations to analyze. It amounts to an overwhelming alphabet soup that can force organizations into compliance paralysis. And it is completely understandable why.
Every mortgage lender is subject to audit, both annually and without warning. During this process lenders will need to produce documentation for every social post, flyer, email, text blast, etc. during a set period requested by the auditor.
During an audit, the auditor is trying to determine whether or not any violations occurred. For example, was there a trigger term used in a social post which did not include a disclosure made accessible to the prospective borrower. If a violation is found the lender could be subject to a fines or a complete lockdown.
Lenders are required to retain records of all customer marketing communications which can include text messages, emails, social posts, etc.
To demonstrate compliance in the event of an audit, lenders must keep track of what materials were sent to whom, when they were sent and who reviewed and approved them.
For materials co-branded with a referral partner, lenders must demonstrate that each co-marketing party has shared fair market value in accordance with RESPA. And in some instances, such as text message marketing, lenders must document that consumers expressly opted in to receiving communications.
Disclosures are required in any marketing materials which use a word or phrase that advertises the terms of a credit agreement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defines these words or phrases as “Triggering Terms”.
The purpose of Triggering Terms is to clarify the terms of a loan providing consumers with the opportunity to compare offers from different lenders.
Examples of triggering terms include:
Adding to the challenge for compliance officers is keeping track of the technology tools used by Loan Officers. Changes to regulations can introduce risk. Lenders usually respond to regulation by ratcheting down what they’ll allow loan originators to do, but that approach has been known to backfire. Rules intended to reign in employees can exacerbate the same risks they are intended to prevent.
Lockdown can cause top producers to leave or use unsanctioned tools because the approved tools are so limited. This can expose the lender to fines but the pressure to keep these high performers is high in a competitive labor market. A CRM with a well-designed approval management function allows organizations to assert control where necessary while offering leeway to the qualified, trustworthy individuals who deserve it.
Individual loan officers can harness the power of Surefire to perform like a large enterprise while maintaining the personal touch their clients appreciate. Like an extra employee, Surefire CRM will gather leads, nurture them, help you close more loans and earn more repeat and referral business. Open and solidify referral relationships by truly standing out to real estate agents with professional property sites, co-marketing materials and more.
Larger organizations with multiple team members will benefit from the organizational structure of Surefire as you’ll be able to assign users to branches and centralize your marketing and communication from one system. Plus, you can easily deploy award-winning marketing messaging on behalf of your LO team members without them needing to lift a finger.
Larger enterprise organizations benefit from key integrations to their technology stack, including their LOS, POS, and more. This seamless integration gives them a leg up against the competition. The system structure also makes it easy to manage branding throughout the organizational hierarchy. Plus, improve hiring and retention by offering LOs easy-to-use tools that will want them to stay part of your winning team.
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