Josh Friend saw a hole in the market. With 17 years of experience in the mortgage industry and the launch of six call centers under his belt, Friend thought that the sales support technology for mortgage loan officers was distinctly lacking.
“I understood what the marketing managers needed, what the loan officers needed, and there wasn’t any good, viable solution available in the marketplace that had all the tools and technology that we needed,” Friend says. “And so, we built our own.”
Friend created InSellerate, a customer relationship management system designed to help loan officers stay connected to their prospects. The software utilizes a three-step process to help originators engage leads:
Flow: A sales force automation and lead management tool
inSight: A dashboard featuring sales reports in real time
inTouch: An automated, customizable email marketing platform
The system can also be easily integrated with online lead providers, web lead sources and call center controls.
Friend says InSellerate is particularly helpful to reverse origination because of its helpful reminder functions.
“For reverse mortgages, the consumer’s buying cycle is very extended. The first time someone asks about a reverse mortgage, they are not buying one,” he says. “Around month six, after it’s been percolating for some of these folks, they try to get back in touch and engage. So you have to stay in front of people and keep constantly communicating. Our lead management and market automation sends out an email at the appropriate time, reminding you to give them a call. It continually reminds you of your database of leads so they don’t go stale.”
Impressed with InSellerate’s abilities, longtime industry investor Mike Sekits offered his financial backing through his company Sekits Capital, which invests between $50,000 and $1.5 million in financial services and financial technology companies. Sekits worked previously for Jacob Asset Management, which has invested heavily in the reverse market, and has served on the board of directors for AAG, RMS and Security One Lending. His backing allowed for a major upgrade to the software, making it even more appealing for mortgage call center operations.
Sekits says there is a considerable need for specialized CRMs like InSellerate. “Most small and midsized mortgage companies don’t have the resources to customize off-the-shelf platforms to meet their needs, and there’s a lot of risk in trying to build your own proprietary system,” he says. “InSellerate has created what we think is a great customized product for midsized call centers.”
Currently, most of InSellerate’s users are forward originators, although HighTechLending, based in Irvine, California, has been using the CRM for more than three years.
Friend says he thinks InSellerate has a lot to offer reverse companies. “We can give them tools to help them become better at their job. Our goal is to continue to innovate and give people the right tools and technology so they can sell more and sell more efficiently.”
Learn more at insellerate.com.
