New American
How New American’s Revamped CRM Platform Gave Them the Edge Over Major Competitors
Technology
- .Net / ASP.NET / WCF
- SQL Server
Overview
New American prides itself on being a family-owned, independent Southern California mortgage lender. They evolved from a small call center with a limited workforce into a leader in the national mortgage scene. They facilitated their early success through innovative marketing efforts that helped them undercut the powerhouses in the home loan industry.
The level of competition in the mortgage loan business makes the first contact with customers crucial. Seventy percent of people contacted close with the first company that makes the initial connection, highlighting the importance of speed in outreach efforts.
New American’s Challenge
The limited availability of web-based, flexible customer relationship management systems (CRM) during the late 90s made it hard for New American to find the right out-of-the-box solution. The company ran into the following problems that led to struggles in figuring out where they should be focusing their monthly marketing spends.
- They were unable to obtain metrics around the number of leads burned through before a successful loan closure.
- Their current solution was incapable of tracking company-wide marketing efforts.
- It was difficult to identify their most successful lead-generating direct mail campaigns.
- New American had problems keeping up with agent lead utilization.
- Their current platform was too slow, keeping them from initiating immediate follow-ups with customers.
- They did not have a chat system that allowed real-time communication with customers.
- The company did not have a reporting solution capable of giving them agent-level detail that rolled up to the branch level.
The Growing Threat of Obscurity
New American needed a platform that could give them the necessary insight and perspective to shape the direction of their business. They lacked the technological knowledge base required to build out a flexible, web-based CRM system they could utilize for all their enterprise needs.
Without one, New American ran the risk of missing out on making those critical first contacts with customers. Competitors like QuickenLoans threatened to eliminate them from their standing in the Southern California mortgage industry.
Willingness to Change
New American understood the need to push forward with an experienced custom software development company with experience creating interactive data-driven platforms. They were more than ready to embrace new ideas and transform the way New American captured information and managed customer interactions.
A Web-Based Interactive Solution From Baytech
New American company representatives made their position clear when we sat down for an initial consultation. They wanted better tracking across all marketing campaigns and a faster communication platform. The company needed a solution that could give it a clear line of sight into the internals on agent performance, marketing campaigns, and various lead generation strategies.
Giving New American what they needed would require constructing a new architecture from the ground up. It had to be capable of supporting complex behind-the-scenes business logic while presenting visuals back to users in a clear, easily understandable format.
Forward-Thinking Development
Baytech created custom web-based Microsoft .Net software architecture coded in C#. The web interface we constructed using ASP.NET gave New American employees clean, reactive web forms for cataloging and managing customer contacts and marketing campaigns. Baytech developers made sure every relevant data point ended up in a secure SQL Server database.
The centerpiece of our effort was the instant message lead delivery system we built for New American. Baytech enabled the company to become one of the first in the country to use the technology in day to day business.
How New American Regained Their Edge
The response competitors received when they followed up on internet leads showed off the success of our efforts. QuickenLoan representatives found themselves continually being told by customers that they were already on the phone with a New American agent. That’s how quickly our new system enabled them to follow up on viable leads.
Better Marketing Management
New American could finally generate the metrics and reports needed to refine their business and marketing strategies. Here is a sample of the new information they could produce.
- The cost and overall return on generated leads
- The exact spend on all direct mail campaigns
- The value of an agent’s time in comparison to successfully close leads
The key to New American’s success was their willingness to commit to an innovative approach. Our Baytech team made sure to keep their needs in mind during every phase of the process. We believe in delivering a workable product that matches the culture of the company.
New American could continue competing – and winning – against larger market competitors thanks to their new platform. Baytech gave them the future-facing platform needed to keep New American profitable and adaptable in an ever-evolving industry.
