In a fast-moving, highly regulated market like mortgage broking, staying organised isn’t just helpful, it’s essential. Mortgage advisers across the UK rely on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to streamline their workflow, improve client service, and stay ahead of compliance demands.
But with so many options on the market, what do brokers really need from a CRM? We’ve rounded up the five most valuable features that make the biggest difference for busy advisers.
“When we set up Binder, we knew what our own frustrations were with CRM systems, and we also looked at those that were coming on to the market. This influenced how we shaped the Binder mortgage adviser CRM - one that you can access anywhere and stay on top of your game wherever you are.
At the heart of our system is a single minded mission to improve everyone’s workflow efficiency and to make marginal gains that result in massive time savings, and an equally mass reduction in stress.”
Clients expect timely updates, whether it’s chasing documents, confirming valuations, or reminding them their fixed-rate deal is expiring. Your lenders also have a similar sense of impatience too.
We know that keeping an eye on so many different sources of communications, from so many different clients can be exhausting and overwhelming. And before you know it, your job has become focused on communication management, rather than the technical aspects of sourcing the best deals and ensuring you remain compliant, every step of the way.
So we created the Binder Live Chat function which brings all your client communications into a single, easily manageable funnel. No more juggling texts, WApp messages, emails and voicemails. Plus, with our latest feature update, the system notifies you when a client is active on their account so you can catch their attention and communicate directly.
All conversations are securely stored for data protection and GDPR compliance.
We always knew that integration with existing sourcing platforms was essential for user-friendliness, so Binder is already linked with Intelliflo, and we’re now in development talks with other big platforms such as Twenty7tec and Iress.
Whichever platform you’re already familiar with, our dev teams are working hard to make the user experience as efficient as possible, drawing on the key strengths that Binder brings to the whole client data management experience.
For every mortgage adviser (and their networks), the key baseline benchmark of being able to use the processing power of the big platforms, but with the workflow efficiency of a mortgage-specific CRM like Binder.
As we always remind our clients, Binder is a CRM portal designed by mortgage advisers by mortgage advisers. We know exactly where you’re coming from.
No one in our industry needs reminding that we operate in a highly regulated sector, with the demands of FCA Compliance increased by the additional responsibilities of Consumer Duty.
Covering your tracks and ensuring that you’re operating in a fully compliant way is essential for maintaining your licence to operate as a mortgage adviser. And for big mortgage networks, the stakes are even higher.
With the Binder mortgage adviser portal we’ve created a document management system that securely stores all your client details and documentation for downloading into a safe folder for retrieval whenever you need it. All the data you need to get your hands on regarding each of your client’s mortgage applications can be accessed either by you or your admin team.
Again, this is another key feature aimed at improving workflow efficiency and reducing the burden of ongoing compliance admin. Plus, our organisation management feature enables you to define who in your admin team has access to key areas of the portal - helping you delegate important back office admin tasks so you can focus on client contact and business development.
One of the biggest causes of log jams in the mortgage application process is data gathering, correspondence composition and client authorisation at key stages of the journey.
Maintaining momentum with so many client applications, all at different stages, can be time consuming, frustrating and unnecessarily complicated.
First off then, is Fact Finding. This is the foundation of every successful mortgage application, so we’ve created a mortgage-specific Fact Find platform that focuses on the precise information that you need to gather on your clients. No unnecessary data fields to fill in, and no time-consuming duplication of data. Fast, efficient and intuitive - and designed to obtain the exact information that lenders are looking for.
Further down the line we also recognised that deals were being held up by the simple need to obtain signatures from all parties. The old school approach was to try and tie people down to come into the office. But modern life and time pressures make this, worryingly, almost impossible. So we’ve used technology to our advantage and created legally compliant electronic signatures that enable your clients to authorise documentation on the move. And again, everything is encrypted for security and compliance.
Finally, to further enhance your productivity we’ve now developed automated correspondence. Clear, concise and compliant communications are essential at every step of the way but, again, they can be time consuming. Even adding in those elements of charm to make your letters welcoming, can be onerous. And, on occasions, there are complex letters such as lender rejection that need careful attention too.
With our new suite of automated letters, we’ve taken away some of the thinking time, and freed you up to work on sourcing the best deals for your clients, and developing your new client bank of clients. You can adapt them as you deem necessary, but the core compliant elements are there to structure the right letter, for the right client at the right time.
Top-performing mortgage advisers know what’s coming in, what’s moving forward, and what’s stuck. A CRM with strong analytics is essential for helping you gain an instant picture of daily, weekly and monthly performance goals.
Whether you’re an independent adviser or a large mortgage network, performance data is essential for monitoring sales, conversions and to see where the focus of your energies need to be on a week-by-week basis.
Binder Analytics is the very latest feature that we’ve added to the system to help you get the performance metrics you need to sharpen areas of focus where you could be losing productivity and profitability.
Data reports can be run across a wide range of activities, and the data is particularly useful for identifying potential trouble spots coming up, particularly if, for instance, you’ve had a heavy month focusing on progressing mortgage applications at the expense of developing new business; or to see whether some clients are taking more time for less return on effort, than others.
Affordable. Accessible. Accountable - a mortgage CRM system that works as hard as you do.
With the prospect of further rate reductions forecast for 2025, depending on inflation and other economic factors, mortgage advisers will, once again, be caught in another round of sourcing the best set of deals put on the table by lenders.
So having a CRM system that keeps you in control of every touch point in your mortgage adviser business is a no-brainer investment. And for just £70pcm, with no limit on caseloads, Binder is designed to be affordable too. No up front fees or licence payments.
Plus, we can support you with on-boarding to make the data transfer easy and simple.
“With the Binder mortgage adviser CRM we’re on a single minded mission to change the whole CRM market with a portal that brings outstanding levels of workflow efficiencies to our daily jobs. Simply put, Binder is a feature-packed system focused on saving mortgage advisers valuable time - time that can be spent on developing new business, or enjoying time with your family and friends.”
