The Official MyLoanBiz Blog

Michael Haigh: Top Retail Loan Officer with CitiMortgage

I just wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge and congratulate one of our users, Michael Haigh at CitiMortgage for an outstanding 2007. Michael has the honor of being ranked number one in the United States out of the more than 500 CitiMortgage loan consultants for 2007. In a conversation I had with Michael yesterday he noted that 2008 was already off to an incredible start.

Michael's story is similar to that of many Loan Officers I have spoken with that are having early success in this market (even before this past week's events). They all seem to have a strong focus on building long-term relationships with their customers and are looking for ways to leverage technology to accomplish this task. Michael has put a lot of emphasis on putting processes in place to become more consistent, timely and relevant in the way he and his team serve and in interact with their clients.

Michael talks a lot about doing what is right for the client. He puts it this way, "My number one priority is to ensure my clients receive the best real estate loan that matches their needs, but does not put them at risk. My team and I stay on top of every part of the process to insure our client's goals are achieved. Our job is surveying our client's results. If we do that well they will tell their relatives, friends and acquaintances. That is the best compliment we can receive. Many of our long time customers and new customers say they "were not expecting" how much we do to help them."

Michael also genuinely cares about the communities he and his team work with. They have designed and implemented special programs to serve non-profits such as, Habitat for Humanity, Mission Hospice, Samaritan House and The Boys and Girls Clubs. His generosity extends to other non-profits such as HIP Housing, HEART of San Mateo County and many others. "Giving back to the communities we call home" was the title for one recent donation project that provided thousands of dollars to charities.

I think Michael is a classic case that demonstrates that if you focus on the needs of your clients and the community you work in you have an opportunity to both help people and build the foundation of a strong mortgage practice.

To learn more about Michael visit www.michaelhaighteam.com

The Fundamentals of Mortgage CRM: Part 1

Understanding why capturing the data is important and what data must be collected.

Why do Fortune 500 companies spend tens of millions of dollars on information technology systems? They understand there is nothing more important than having accurate information about their customers and the transactions these customers represent. Think about what happens when a major lender starts servicing a loan you originated? They begin a never-ending marketing campaign to win the loyalty of your borrower so they can capture the borrower's next refinance or purchase loan.

In the past a broker or an individual LO did not have the resources to compete at this level. The cost of the technology, its complexity and the resources required to make it all work were out of reach for most of us. The goal of MyLoanBiz is to change all this.

You have the initial touch point with your clients, which means you have the relationship. If you can market to them with the same sophistication that the major lenders do then you will be in a position to retain your customers for life.

The heart of your business must be your database. It is your platform for:

• Managing leads
• Tracking loans in process
• Monitoring closed loans for refinance opportunities
• Marketing to current prospects and past customers
• Ranking & communicating with your referral partners

In order to accomplish all this, your database must contain accurate data that is well organized into these three major components:

1. Contacts & Accounts
2. Referral Sources
3. Deals

Once you accomplish this you can start the business of making money from you data.

One of our many goals for 2008 is to make it easier for our clients to start utilizing the technology we have developed. The quicker you can set it up and begin leveraging it the faster you will start reaping its rewards.  Over the next few months you will begin to see blog posts on how to utilize all the functionality we have developed as well as a new series of online training demos. We look forward to making 2008 a banner year for your origination business.