It’s no secret that managing relationships in any type of business is key to success.  This couldn’t be more true when it comes to relationships with reverse mortgage customers.

I’m sure everyone reading this has done some if not large amounts of direct mailings to prospects and current customers… wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to automate the task of preparing and mailing out all of those pieces of mail? 

Lucky for us there are solutions out there like Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamcis CRM, as well as countless others that offer online and local solutions.  Looking for a few examples of reverse mortgage companies utilizing CRM technology for their businesses?

Recently Stay In-Home Reverse Mortgage Inc. chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM to help manage their reverse mortgage relationships.  Microsoft’s system has helped to automate  many processes that the company otherwise would have done manually, such as title requests, appraisal requests and cover letters, thereby reducing administrative time and costs for its personnel.  So why did they choose Microsoft’s CRM solution?  According to the press release, they chose the Microsoft solution because of its high degree of integration with applications that its loan officers used every day, such as Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel, and because it could host its own copy of the software for customization, rather than be tied to Web-hosted software that it cannot shape to its needs. 

The biggest obstacle that companies face when switching to a CRM solution is getting employees to use it on a daily basis.  Everyone is used to doing things a certain way and changing those habits can be difficult, especially if you start using software that employees arent familiar with.  The fact that most people have used Microsoft Office is a big reason that firms like SIHRM choose Microsoft. 

Another CRM solution that has a large part of the market is Salesforce.  Salesforce is an on-line solution that has seen huge growth in the past few years and recently began allowing developers to build specific solutions around their software.  Recently, One Mortgage Network, who owns RMLN began using Salesforce to manage their Internet advertising with Google Adwords.  According to an article published by Salesforce, within three months of implementing Salesforce for Google AdWords, the company doubled its loan production without increasing marketing costs.  Using Salesforce, the company improved their lead management which lead to a higher closing ratio.

Another feature that CRM solutions provide is the ability for managers/owners to manage their sales staff.  By utilizing a CRM you have the ability to see things like how many calls, applications, mailings, ect. that your employees are doing on a daily basis. 

I used to love using Microsoft Outlook but as time went by I became frustrated with the speed of the program and I now use Google Apps and I dont think I will ever go back to using Outlook.